Bayley faces contract decision amid WWE and AEW speculation

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It sounds like Bayley has a big decision to make between WWE and AEW, with rumors buzzing about her current contract status. Let’s see what today’s rumors have to say about it! Top rumor of the day: Bayley’s big decision on her future A lot of wrestling fans have been speculating about Bayley’s WWE contract status after she was seemingly written off the show following Lyra Valkyria’s vicious beatdown at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Is there a chance that she will really leave WWE for AEW? In his latest update on the situation, Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer said he was told that Bayley “has a big decision to make,” but her WWE deal “is not coming up for months.” He speculated that WWE wrote her off in a way where they can easily bring her back into the story if she does end up re-signing with the company. In that sense, it could be similar to the way Ricochet left WWE. Considering how easy it is for WWE to release wrestlers who are signed to big money contracts (like New Day), Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp has spoken to agents who believe Bayley is going to be “one of the first” wrestlers in position to “have leverage to maybe try to get either a no cut deal, a guaranteed deal, or something like that.” Meanwhile, even if AEW doesn’t match WWE’s financial offer, they can potentially make up for it by allowing outside bookings and very lucrative convention signings ($30K each), where she will be “in heavy demand” after leaving WWE. The rest of the rumors! According to WrestleVotes Radio, there was a “strong internal push” for WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley to fully recover from her current injury rather than risk returning too soon for a match at SummerSlam. WWE is hopeful that she will be back in the ring in the fall season. As far as SummerSlam goes, Votes heard that Penta’s Intercontinental championship defense against Chad Gable is expected to take place in the opening hour of the PLE on ESPN, though it’s not clear if that is planned for night one or night two of the event. A WWE source told Votes that one reason why the company has already started to announce WrestleMania 43 watch parties for cities across the United States is to counterprogram whatever plans Tony Khan might have to run a huge AEW event that same weekend in the USA, when WWE’s biggest show of the year takes place in Saudi Arabia. The outlet also claims that WWE thought Fanatics Fest was a big success. There is apparently an idea to go harder on nostalgia next year by bringing in legends like Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Per Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, it sounds like Kevin Knight wasn’t thrilled with the way his heel turn played out on AEW programming. He apparently wanted his JetSpeed team with Speedball Mike Bailey “to accomplish something first” before turning heel. For whatever it’s worth, there is a lot of speculation that Tony Khan hinted at Swerve Strickland’s surprise return to AEW this Sunday at the Redemption pay-per-view when he told the media he will be “happy to answer” questions about Swerve’s AEW status after that show is over. PW Insider mentioned that Doc Gallows was backstage at this week’s AEW Dynamite and Collision tapings in Nashville. Discuss these rumors and others in the comments below, and share your takes on any topic in The Feed!