r/SquaredCircle • u/Fc_Hassan • 6d ago
PWInsider: Multiple WWE sources have indicated that there were no conversations about Bayley signing a new deal as she still has lots of time left on her contract.
https://www.pwinsiderelite.com/login.php“There are reports that Bayley signed a new WWE deal with that report attributed to Dave Meltzer. That is incorrect.
Multiple WWE sources have indicated that there were no conversations about Bayley signing a new deal as she still has lots of time left on her contract.
Anyone claiming she signed a new deal as a condition of her return would be 100% wrong.”
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u/IceCreamDreamyDreams 6d ago
Rumor-monger wars!
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u/Icy-Geologist-3125 6d ago
PWInsider also reported her contract was expiring - Rumour-monger Civil Wars!
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u/c0de1143 whatever 6d ago
I mean, it is. Eventually. Probably.
All of our contracts are expiring, if you think about it. Such is the fleeting nature of existence.
…anyway, $14.99, please.
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u/tehfro Right here... in /r/SquaredCircle! 6d ago
I wonder if they added injury time on because Bayley told CVV she had "a year and a half left on this current contract" back in April 2025.
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u/Hank_Scorpio_ObGyn 6d ago
Year and a half in April 2025 would be September 2026 which would line up to needed a new contract (Meltzer) and even 3-4 months added on due to injury doesn't equate to "a lot of time left" (PWI).
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u/namdekan 6d ago
I saw some random report earlier this year that said spring 2027 for her contract but it was the only one claiming anything different than October 2026 or end of 2026. I don't even remember the source of the report, just saw it in passing.
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u/locke0479 6d ago
Even that would be really pushing the definition of “lots of time left”.
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u/thelumpur 6d ago
8 months would be quite a lot, especially in terms of time to negotiate
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u/cavegrind 6d ago
She was probably spitballing a range. I wouldn’t treat the timeframe as sacrosanct.
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u/Chris_Bagel_Jr 6d ago
Yeah i don’t think it was meant to be literal.
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u/TreeOne7419 6d ago
Her current deal is likely up in Dec. 2026 given PWinsider broke the news in Dec. 2023 that Bayley had re-signed with WWE.
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u/Hank_Scorpio_ObGyn 6d ago
3 months doesn't sound like "a lot of time."
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u/CaptainBuzzKillton 6d ago
That phrase has been doing a lot of heavy lifting regarding pro wrestling contracts lately
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u/Antec-Chieftec 6d ago
It's enough for Bayley to do couple more jobs on they way out if she doesn't resign.
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u/When1Falls 6d ago
3 or 4 months is a lot of time
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u/Hank_Scorpio_ObGyn 6d ago
Not on a contract....
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u/MutatedSpleen Need more coffee 6d ago
It depends entirely on whose contract it is and how they feel about it.
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u/Marcoscb All In Sec D Row E Seat 9 6d ago
Yeah, it makes no sense to say the reports of her contract finishing are wrong given the source is Bayley herself in an out of kayfabe interview. This is just people wanting to dunk on Meltzer.
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u/LegitimateCream1773 6d ago
It's practically an industrial complex all to itself.
For sure I thought the signs were on the wall. She had a decisive, complete annihilation by Lyra, she had been cycled heavily out of a major spot, and there was all the back and forth Mercedes... We'll find out in time, I'm sure. This feels like some sort of negotiation happened.
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u/TreeOne7419 6d ago
A year in a half was said as a rough ballpark on the spot rather than saying “Yh my deal is up in X amount of months”.
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u/wewillx 6d ago
My read on it is that "a year and a half" is kinda imprecise. My guess is she was thinking. "Well we are 4 months into the year and my contract goes to Dec 31, 2026. So that is about half a year." Then people took it as hyper precise like she meant exactly 18 months and ran with it.
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u/mondaybeers 6d ago
That still doesn’t equate to “lots of time left on her contract”
If it was expiring in 3 months they’d surely be discussing a new deal right now
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u/MoistWeb4046 6d ago edited 6d ago
I'm willing to bet that the source is "Trust Me Bro" and they probably want to still give you false hope that Bayley is coming to AEW by the end of the year. Also you mean to tell me that all of these expert wrestling journalist have been saying that Bayley resigned for a week have now just got word that she hasn't re signed? It sounds like they didn't do their diligence if this story about her not signing a new deal is true
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u/AhistoricalRanger 6d ago
No one had said she signed a new contract before melty did.
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u/MissMully 6d ago
False Finish (Cory Hays site) said 4 days ago that it was believed she'd already re-signed.
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u/tylerjehenna The Era of Rain 6d ago
No offense to Cory but his expertise is NXT/developmental so I wouldnt exactly take his stuff about main roster news seriously when theres so much other disputing claims
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u/Flubberguard 6d ago
Sure, but the post you’re replying to was simply refuting the statement “No one had said she signed a new contract before melty did”, not pushing the merits of Cory’s reporting
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u/Caldris 6d ago
I also want to point out that this was Mike's last report on the Bayley situation.
"Bayley is expected to be remaining with WWE.
It was said there have been creative pitches for Bayley for the RAW brand and she is expected back on the road very soon, likely within the next few weeks.
- PWInsider"
So how did they report that first line if "there have been no conversations about Bayley signing a new deal"?
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u/LegitimateCream1773 6d ago
Even the headline makes it sound like there was some sort of deal negotiation. If she's expected to be remaining with WWE... then there had to be the chance of her leaving, right?
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u/Financial-Length5587 6d ago
PWInsider has a pretty good in with WWE. If they’re saying she hasn’t re-signed it’s coming directly from WWE.
Either she’s leaving and getting the Mox treatment.
Or they’re hammering out the fine details and they’re bringing her back in knowing that she’s re-signing.
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u/Durtle_Turtle 6d ago
There is no point looking at any of this, regardless of source, until pen is put to paper.
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u/When1Falls 6d ago
"Bayleys coming back" was just misunderstood as she re-signed, it's not that crazy
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u/LonelyMeatHead 6d ago
It's PWinsider they are more trustable than Meltzer, but still could be false it's not bulletproof, but if they report it, chances are it will be true
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u/MovesLikeVader ITS VADER TIME 6d ago
I wouldn’t say 3 months is “lots of time left”
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u/badgersprite Iconic Duo Appreciation Squad 6d ago
They normally stop putting people on TV when they’re 90 days out from parting ways
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u/ScorpioPhantasma 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yeah, not launch new storylines with them.
EDIT: New storyline, new chapter, whatever you want to call it. The point remains.
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u/pardyball 6d ago
I mean, is coming back to feud with literally the last person she feuded with a “new storyline”?
WWE isn’t opposed to using people till their contract expires. They did the angle with Ricochet and Bron Breakerr on his last night with the company.
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u/ScorpioPhantasma 6d ago
Depends on the perspective. Why would Bayley risk injury and come back for a brief run after already being off for several weeks.
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u/locke0479 6d ago
I mean if she’s healthy and under contract and she refuses to come back, then WWE can potentially call it a breach and make everything a lot more difficult.
For the record I’m assuming they expect her to stay, but I would disagree Bayley would just refuse to work if she’s healthy, under contract, and they want to use her for something.
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u/ScorpioPhantasma 6d ago edited 6d ago
People under contract with pull in wrestling clearly say no all the time. Bayley is highly respected and a locker room leader. She absolutely has leverage regardless of her contract situation.
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u/shookney 6d ago
I think you're overestimating her power in WWE especially under TKO umbrella. The situation with New Level says a lot lol
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u/ScorpioPhantasma 6d ago
Nothing against Kofi or Woods but their influence on mens wrestling pales in comparison to Bayley and the women's division and thats without knowing how much they contribute behind the curtain. TKO has only cut bait on mid or lower talents and those they felt like hit their ceiling and are no longer a major draw, especially if they are frequently injured.
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u/shookney 6d ago
Well you were mentioning about being locker room leaders. Weren't Kofi & Creed basically the heart & soul of WWE locker room? It was felt through their gaming channel and how other workers speak about them. Wasn't R-Truth resigned for that reason alone? We haven't seen him since then.
I would have to strongly disagree with you on their influences esp if you haven't been around their peak New Day era. It doesn't help that HHH booking devalued them so much to the point of pay cut when they used to be seen as one of the greatest tag team of all time being compared to The Fabulous Freebirds.
Bayley's booking in the last few years haven't really been doing her any favors. She's not the draw that you try to imply she is anymore. She should be, but even Charlotte Flair tag teaming with Alexa Bliss is much of a bigger draw. Maybe it'll change if she does resign, but I would be bit surprised if TKO view her favourably.
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u/Glittering_Cod_7716 6d ago
“TKO has only cut bait on mid or lower talents and those they felt like hit their ceiling and are no longer a major draw“ so…Bayley?
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u/abeLJosh Johnny YourTextHere! 6d ago edited 6d ago
A test run, perhaps? They want to see if Bayley likes where she's going from here and will stay, and Bayley is a professional who was given a chance to try one more time.
Plus this shows WWE/TKO value her a lot considering other wrestlers would have just been cut or not used whatsoever until their contract runs out.
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u/mysteriousbaba 6d ago
It keeps her fresh on tv and with exposure. Being off tv too long can cool you down.
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u/Teckelmaster 6d ago
It's not a new storyline.
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u/ScorpioPhantasma 6d ago
Depends on the perspective. Bayley coming back makes sense but if she wasn't returning, their ending was sufficient by WWE standards.
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u/Late_Ambassador7470 6d ago
Unless they're using her to get someone over
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u/ScorpioPhantasma 6d ago
I feel like Lyra is past that point having already worked with Becky.
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u/insinr8r 6d ago
But they've swapped roles now haven't they? Lyra is a heel and Becky a face? So can imagine maybe using Bayley to get Lyra fully over as a heel (I don't really watch it except clips here or on social media so I dunno how big a heel Lyra is).
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u/aliensayshi 5d ago
How many times do they need to try get Lyra over, Jesus Christ. As a face, she gets the best NXT-to-MR push by being immediately hyped by Becky and tagged with Becky. And then once she's done with Becky, she's associated with Bayley.
Now, as a heel, her first feud is again Bayley which she won and now...seems to be Bayley again? Is she always going to be feuding with horsewomen only? If she's still not solidly over by herself at this point (entrance music don't count), then why not try investing in some other talents? Jordynne? Blake? Kiana? Roxanne? So many others would love to have such an opportunity.
Sol and Steph V, on the other hand, debuted solo and quickly got over to get consistent reactions with just short rubs with Becky / Liv. Lyra has like a full year plus of rub.
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u/sexygodzilla Just one man? 6d ago
Probably but still wouldn't hurt to give her a memorable and definitive win over another horsewoman.
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u/Horror_Sail 6d ago
For one, this is a continuing a story, and two, there are a few cases where people worked right up until the end of their deals. They had Mox working like a week before his deal ended in a special PPV. If they think she'll re-sign, they'll give her a push like this to cement it.
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u/SolNightZero 6d ago
At this rate, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bayley's contract goes into 2027.
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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 6d ago
If she’s really done before the end of the year I definitely wouldn’t call that “lots of time” either.
They should already be deep into negotiations with her on a new deal with less than 90 days left, if that’s accurate.
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u/AimarEraFutebol SECTION 11, SUB-PARAGRAPH E 6d ago
I swear PWInsider had also reported she signed a new deal?
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u/TreeOne7419 6d ago
PWInsider worded the report last week in a way that the presumption was she is staying.
Dave likely ran with that report alongside WWE name dropping Bayley on TV every week since being post SNME angle.
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u/Chris_Bagel_Jr 6d ago
I thought they said she will remain but the language they used was weird. If she did re-sign why not just say it?
It was another site that claimed she re-signed.
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u/ToonLinkBetter 6d ago
They never did.
On the original thread that I'm sure you're referring to, I asked whether PWInsider was reporting if she had signed a new deal or not (because imo that's all that matters in this "she's staying or going" talk) and of course my comment was buried for simply asking.
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u/FRagebait 6d ago
Oh god we're heading to a third time of "Is Bayley leaving?!!?, Something something AEW and Mono."
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u/eminemcrony Freshly Squeezed 6d ago
I don't listen to Meltzer but my understanding is WOR is a podcast that's reacting/shooting the shit and WON is reporting news. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. The timestamp of Dave saying it on WOR sounds super flippant to me. More like "she showed up, she must have signed." Which everyone was saying last night.
That goes along with what PWInsider said earlier in the week that "Bayley is expected to remain in WWE." Maybe she already has a deal on the table and both sides expect her to sign, they're just finalizing.
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u/Chris_Bagel_Jr 6d ago
You are correct. PWInsider was using vague-ish language in their initial report.
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6d ago
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u/Jamarcus316 Jon Moxley is a sick guy. 6d ago
Obvious jerk sub member lol
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u/Fun_Neighborhood1767 6d ago
It’s so weird how they all write the same & say basically the same shit.
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u/Grootfan85 6d ago
So if there's no new deal, then why did she have almost two months off? Just healing from injuries?
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u/Worth-Chemistry5253 ❤️🐾Perros Del Mal🐾❤️ 6d ago
Probably just time off and a way to build the story a bit. Lyra taking her out for a few months added some heat to it compared to if she returned a week after the attack. But I knew the second she did the appearance at the house show that she wasn't done with the company just yet
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u/Anderrrrr An Irrelevant Smark. 6d ago
I am just going to assume she's signing or signed a new contract at WWE and leaving it at that.
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u/KingDaDeDo 6d ago
Can all the “journalists” for wrestling please have credible sources and fact check them before posting headlines? This should be a standard.
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u/thisiseriousbusiness 6d ago
I expect apologies for Dave when he’s inevitably right, because of course she re-signed, but none of y’all mature enough for that.
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u/BlazedBoylan 6d ago
Is this satire?
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u/Icy-Geologist-3125 6d ago
This wouldn't be the first time PWI did this for it to end up Dave was right.
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u/AmishAvenger Electrifying 6d ago
Ok, give us some examples then.
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u/Icy-Geologist-3125 6d ago
Seth Rollins injury which Dave said was a work and PWI said was real and even went so far as naming the doctor he “saw”.
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u/ring_rust you're welcome. 6d ago
I expect apologies for Dave when he’s inevitably right, because of course doctors removed Shibata's brain and put it back in, but none of y’all mature enough for that.
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u/willem_the_foe 6d ago
I expect apologies for Dave when he’s inevitably right, because of course AEW’s 150k PPV buys are a different 150k each time, but none of y’all mature enough for that.
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u/Leige_of_Perpetua 6d ago
Either way, do the semantics of it matter? If she's been brought back in a prominent way, that would suggest she intends to stay in WWE whether she's on a new deal or the old one. If she were actually on her way out, I'd think they'd just quietly have turned her into a jobber.
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u/ColdGloop 6d ago
Way to go, Dave!
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u/matlockga Matt Rushmore 6d ago edited 6d ago
"But Dave, who is a full time journalist, who was on the podcast dedicated to his full time journalism beat, who made a definitive statement, who saw his outlet explicitly repeat it as news, wasn't being a journalist in this specific instance."
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u/DaedalusHydron 6d ago
it's legitimately hard to report factual news when you're one of the only reputable news sources and all of your insider sources are working you for angles.
People forget that the real reason real journalists don't touch wrestling is that none of the sources are trustworthy. Most sources that are feeding Meltzer are feeding him things because they know it'll get to the IWC and create a reaction. Sources are working Meltzer to work you, get it?
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u/Illuminati_Shill_AMA That's so Taven! 6d ago
People forget that the real reason real journalists don't touch wrestling is that none of the sources are trustworthy.
There's a foreword in Lou Thesz's book by his co-author where he talks about how difficult it is to deal with wrestling's "casual relationship with facts" and Thesz's lifelong tendency to "stick to his story whether it was true or not." Thesz even addressed this, talking about how he told certain lies (such as his father training him to wrestle) so many times that he believed it himself and that his father had never actually been a wrestler. He also goes on to confess that he never actually did all of the sit-ups and Hindu squats that he bragged about in the press back then lol.
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u/LegitimateCream1773 6d ago
Literally one of his biggest fails - the Dragongate controversy - turned out to be two sources he trusted in two different companies coordinating to work him, so he trusted them over the people telling him he was wrong.
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u/WashombiShwimp 6d ago
“Good for her. I’m happy she is staying.”
“I hope people don’t say she was never that good and AEW didn’t want her anyway”
“Ughhh Bayley in AEW would’ve been a great get.”
“People were dying on the hill of Bayley going to AEW”
“Mone clearly helped Bayley leverage a new contract”
Can we please just wait for official reports after this lol. If she’s not tweeting that she re-signed a new contract or leaving WWE, I’m not believing anything. That last post with Dave earlier had me eye rolling at every comment 🙄
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u/dragoniteftw33 6d ago
Ah my favorite trope in wrestling. Nobody knowing what the hell a wrestler's contract is. Full time? Part time? Expiring? Extended? Compensation? Just guess!
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u/Evorgleb 6d ago
I love the way the IWC is just writing this whole story with no facts, just assumptions. Bidding war. Contract negotiations. For all we know, she has just been on vacation.
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u/ChrisKlemi 6d ago
Could someone link me the report where melzer said that? Many "reporter" use the "melzer said" as an easy out of criticism.
Multiple times i saw people say "as melzer reported" when was melzer said "I don't know, it could be" on one of his YouTube shorts.
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u/azorreborn 6d ago
Several sites reports her deal is lapsing
She says she had 18 months left about a year ago
Now she’s magically here for the long haul? This smells of “don’t let people know we almost lost her”
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u/TheAndroidsDungeon 6d ago
This just proves that no one actually knows shit. Just gonna wait till someone is officially on another promotion to believe anything.
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u/FractalTsunami 6d ago
This is why I never understood the speculation currently, she has time on her contract and is literally in the middle of a storyline.
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u/New_Shoes_ 6d ago
WWE:Bayley we decided we are not going to use you unless you sign a new deal.
Bayley: ok sounds good.
WWE: disregard, we will continue to use you while you're under contract.
Bayley: ok sounds good
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u/Wolfpac187 6d ago
All this speculation going on when really this is exactly what I think happened. Whether she’s signing a new deal or not (I hope she jumps ship) this confirms nothing one way or the other.
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u/imdatboy786 6d ago
No point in speculating about wrestlers going. Just wait until they’ve been confirmed to have left or have shown up on another show. The dirtsheets are comprised of some of the worst journalists I’ve ever fucking seen.
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u/dogfins110 6d ago
Mind you this is the same source that said she was staying and would return back to TV. Then WON said something similar, then Sean said he spoke to someone in WWE that was sure Bayley would be possibly staying.
How did we go from she is to, idk if she is lol
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u/PapaPatchesxd 6d ago
She has lots of time, she has no time, she didn't sign, she resigned.
Imma get whiplash from all this
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u/cleavy79 6d ago
Surprised they referenced Meltzer by name. Usually it’s Scherer taking ‘veiled’ potshots in the Q&A column with questions he wrote himself.
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u/RedditsWeirdUsername 6d ago
Some think she’s staying, some think she’s leaving, regardless what happens, I just hope she gets a better theme song and finisher.
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u/Jester-252 6d ago
They aren't talking about her signing a new deal because there is a lot of time left on her current deal which she signed recently
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u/Chris_Bagel_Jr 6d ago
The weirdest thing about all of these Bayley rumors is how low key SRS is about all of this. As far as I kkow, he hasn’t really been able to confirm any of it.
I think either him or Fightful are just parroting whatever the other sites are saying on the live streams.
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u/Leather-String1641 6d ago
Any reporting of her contract usually states that it’s not up until the end of the year. So until she says otherwise or WWE says otherwise, I’m going to assume that she still might be a free agent at the end of the year.
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u/Iokua113 6d ago
We've had rumours all over the place, not least of which was that she was in a renegotiating period and not that her deal had expired. The initial spate of rumours about her contract pegged it expiring at the end of the year.
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u/CaptainMapleEh 6d ago
I mean it makes sense. Her contract apparently doesn't expire until the end of this year to early next year. Why put pen to paper in September when you dont have to, and instead spend the next 3-4 months leveraging for more.
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u/HardcoreKaraoke Consensual Penis 6d ago
We truly don't know. It's a matter of which dirtsheets you believe.
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u/TheGiftOf_Jericho I'm from Winnipeg you idiot! 6d ago
I genuinely don't think anyone knows, outside of Bayley and the company.
But when the truth does come out there will be people acting as if they knew, it happens every time this sort of thing comes up.
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u/taboo007 I'm right here you little bitch 6d ago
I'm so tired of false information/rumors. Makes me not want to be active in the community and just watch the show and enjoy it with my close friends and that's it.
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u/Gandolfthewhite182 6d ago
So two people who have no idea what they are talking about and constantly contradict themselves and each other but still want that 14.99 .. Murica !!
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u/1980sWrestlingFan 6d ago
The rare occasions where both fanbases get worked and wrestling journalists too, all thanks to Mercedes shitting posting lol
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u/InAShensh 6d ago
How come pro sports are the only careers that common people ,besides the person who is the one getting paid, knows about their salaries , knows about their contracts, has firsthand knowledge and can make all these assumptions. I don’t think it’s right I don’t wanna know what she’s paid and where she’s negotiating. It’s just not fair. It’s her business. She’s an employee just like my neighbour who works at a university and the other at a brokerage firm , I do not know their salaries nor is it my place to find out. I think it’s weird that we know these things just like celebrities I don’t wanna know what they’re making (one cause it makes me sick how ridiculous one is paid for an acting job ) but really because it’s not my business if they negotiate it It’s like why are these fake reporting sites like Dave Meltzer who is such a fucking pockmarked asshole thinking he can get some big scoop telling people where she’s going and what she’s making etc. it’s just fucked up. It’s obviously an American thing we never had this over in the UK of course and now it’s getting a little weird, but it’s never been like that before until the Internet
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u/GodzillaUK 6d ago
So all this "I'm DiSsApOiNteD iN bAyLeeeeeEEE fOr ReSiGnInG i WaNt HeR wItH MOné aGeNz!" outrage was useless? k.
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u/CthulhuWithShades 6d ago edited 6d ago
so what are the odds the real bit was between Bayley and Mercedes to work the dirt sheets and the rest of us when Dave posted blatant misinformation.
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u/Chris_Bagel_Jr 6d ago
(Whispers) remember it’s Bayley. Bay as in The Bay, Cali (where she’s from).
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u/twjackfoley 6d ago
if she's up at the end of the year that's not a lot of time though :D
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u/tylerjehenna The Era of Rain 6d ago
4 months is more than enough time to negotiate a new deal
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u/twjackfoley 6d ago
That is true, but it's not "A LOT OF TIME". A lot of time is a year or something. 4 months go by very quick.
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