It’s possible Jay White will show up in WWE in the near future after finishing his contract with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. But if it’s a done deal, some of the people who would usually know about it either don’t know or are keeping it very quiet.
In this week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription needed), Dave Meltzer confirmed earlier reports from the Super J-Cast that White’s NJPW deal had officially expired and he was free to sign with anyone. That was the direction he had been trending for some time, first dropping a Loser Leaves Japan match to Hikuleo, then tasting defeat at the hands of Eddie Kingston with a Loser Leaves NJPW stipulation at Battle in the Valley in San Jose last month. It’s hard to signal any harder that someone is leaving a promotion.
Yet while White has been tight-lipped, perhaps out of contractual necessity, about his next move, the rumor and scoop mill has been churning with reports that WWE was his likely landing spot. Meltzer threw at least a little cold water on the hopes of it being imminent in the newsletter.
While all the circumstances seem to indicate he’s headed to WWE, there has still been no confirmation of that. If he is going to WWE, it’s not something well known within the company by many because multiple people who normally know haven’t heard his name mentioned.
Could White be signed and the circle who knows about it just be smaller than usual? Of course.
It could also be a matter of timing. WrestleMania is now less than a month away, and even though only four matches have been announced so far, a number of others are far enough along in terms of the seeds WWE has planted for them that the show appears pretty full.
White would make more sense as a post-WrestleMania addition, someone to help shake things up as new storylines begin after the big event in Los Angeles. All of which is to say WWE fans might get to breathe with the Switchblade at some point, but they shouldn’t hold their breath waiting for it on any Raw or SmackDown for the next few weeks.