WWE contract note on The Vanity Project
While they have lost two members in 2025, The Vanity Project made it clear on this past Tuesday’s WWE NXT New Year’s Evil that they plan on being around more in 2026.
However, our Bryan Alvarez had an interesting note on the trios’ contract status, reporting Wednesday night that Jackson Drake, Ricky Smokes and Brad Baylor are not under TKO contracts. Rather, they are still on WWE ID deals. It’s unknown if WWE is working toward changing that.
According to previous reports, the WWD ID deals give WWE the right of first refusal to match offers to ID talent if another organization is to offer them contracts. With TNA under their own WWE partnership, that would leave AEW as the only other organization that could realistically offer any of them full-time deals.
The inaugural WWE Evolve Champion, Drake has held the gold for over 250 days, but has not wrestled since last November. Smokes and Baylor as Swipe Right appeared in a losing effort on last month’s NXT year-end awards show episode. Both men wrestle frequently for Massachussetts’ Wrestling Open promotion.
Former Vanity Project members Zayda Steel and Bryce Donovan were also WWE ID prospects, but both exited the program in 2025.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.