It’s June 1, and for the first time in more than a decade, Becky Lynch is a free agent. Fightful Select reports that Lynch did not sign a new deal with WWE in the hours before her contract’s expiration, and as a result, her services are now available on the open market.

This news doesn’t necessarily mean that Lynch is finished in WWE; indeed, the odds of her returning remain high. Per Fightful’s report, WWE has expressed a desire to keep negotiating with Lynch and ultimately expect to come to a new agreement with her. That said, there’s also an expectation that Lynch will receive multiple big money offers — the largest ever secured by a woman in professional wrestling. Fightful’s sources in WWE described Lynch as “class” in business negotiations and informed the company some time ago that she was planning to take some time off. In fact, her Women’s World Championship win back in April came after she notified WWE of her impending hiatus; Fightful reports that there were no concerns about giving Lynch a championship for the final few weeks of her contract and strapped her for the sake of the story, knowing she would be more than willing to drop the title before her departure, as she did to Liv Morgan at WWE King & Queen of the Ring.

While it’s true that anyone could have signed Lynch in 2013, when she first joined WWE as part of the burgeoning “NXT” brand, Lynch had spent the previous several years away from the wrestling business, meaning that in reality, she hasn’t been an active free agent like she is now since about 2006. She’s a WWE women’s Grand Slam Champion, having held eight singles titles and one tag title, and she won the first-ever women’s WrestleMania main event in 2019.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE fans might have seen the last of Becky Lynch for a while. Lynch lost the WWE Women’s World Championship to Liv Morgan at King and Queen of the Ring, and was unsuccessful in her rematch against Morgan on the May 27 edition of “WWE Raw.” Following the loss, Lynch posted a cryptic message on social media as she has yet to agree to a new deal. According to Dave Meltzer of the “Wrestling Observer Radio,” the reason for this is because “The Man” is possibly looking to take an extended break from wrestling to spend more time with her family.

“Becky Lynch didn’t renew,” Meltzer said. “Lynch is taking an extended leave. From what I was told, it’s not like a short period of time; she was looking for a long period of time out. It’s probably if [Seth Rollins] isn’t on the road, it makes sense for her not to be on the road. They can’t be hurting for money or anything where they need it right now, and maybe she’s looking at other things or maybe she’s not. But she will be a free agent a couple of days from now.”

News of Lynch’s status with WWE has attracted a lot of attention from people in and around the wrestling business. AEW star Chris Jericho on commented Lynch’s future in wrestling, stating that having a company like AEW around is good for “The Man” as it gives her another option when she decides to get back in the ring.

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to Wrestling Observer Radio