Bayley’s WWE future may really be coming down to one decision. She still hasn’t signed a new contract, and WWE appears to have already left itself two very different endings depending on what she chooses.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer provided the latest on Bayley’s contract situation and said the message he’s heard is pretty simple: the decision is hers. And apparently, she hasn’t made it yet.
“The only thing I’ve heard from them when it comes to Bayley is that Bayley has a decision to make. So that’s the story, Bayley has a decision to make. She has not signed a contract. When she signs a contract I’m sure she’ll be back on TV.”
That suddenly makes everything WWE has done with Bayley over the past few weeks look a lot more interesting. Lyra Valkyria defeated Bayley at Saturday Night’s Main Event before planting her with a Nightwing onto the steel steps. Two days later on RAW, Valkyria claimed she had “run Bayley out of here,” while there was already backstage talk that Bayley may have wrestled her final match at Madison Square Garden.
According to Meltzer, WWE may have deliberately created an ending that can work either way. If Bayley signs, he believes WWE can simply bring her back to continue the Lyra Valkyria program. If she doesn’t, the MSG attack has already given the company its explanation for why she disappeared.
“I think the situation with her is if she signs a contract she’ll probably come back and attack Lyra, and that’ll probably be her storyline. If she doesn’t sign, then she doesn’t come back and the Madison Square Garden thing was a write-off.”
That’s quite the fork in the road considering what Bayley has been doing away from WWE television. On August 9, she uploaded an Instagram video showing herself training alongside several wrestlers, including AJ Lee and Mercedes Moné. Then she gave wrestling fans exactly the kind of material they were always going to overanalyze: “all or nothing, baby.”
Bayley paired that caption with a song called “All In.” With All In and Double or Nothing both sitting prominently on AEW’s pay-per-view calendar, the timing led to a lot of discussion. There’s nothing confirming Bayley intended either one as an AEW tease, but with her contract still unsigned, it certainly didn’t make the speculation disappear.
She was also quietly removed from WWE’s advertised SummerSlam Prospect Tryout VIP Experience, with Ivy Nile replacing her without an explanation. Now the situation looks considerably simpler than all the clues surrounding it.
Bayley hasn’t signed. WWE believes she has a decision to make. And if Meltzer’s read on the situation is correct, the company has already booked an exit that can become either the beginning of her next storyline—or the ending of her WWE run.
Do you think Bayley ultimately re-signs with WWE, or is it finally time for her to make the jump to AEW? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
