AEW reportedly will have ‘major interest’ if Bayley hits free agency
AEW reportedly will have significant interest in Bayley if she ends up testing free agency.
Social media teases from Mercedes Mone — one of Bayley’s best friends — have helped fuel fan speculation about Bayley’s future. Her WWE contract is coming up later this year, and Fightful reports that, according to WWE sources, it’s believed that Bayley has not signed a new deal to this point. The report says AEW has long been keeping an eye on the situation and will have “major interest” if Bayley does come available.
On an episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet that was released in April 2025, Bayley said she had a year and a half left on her WWE contract at that point. That would put her free agency date somewhere around October 2026. An exact date has not been reported.
Mercedes Mone’s Bayley teases —
Mone shared a fan-made graphic at the end of June that had her defending the AEW Women’s World Championship against Bayley (using her old indie name Davina Rose) at WrestleDream 2026. AEW has yet to announce the date and location for that fall pay-per-view. Mone has also yet to actually become AEW Women’s World Champion. She’s slated to challenge Thekla for the title next month at All In.
July 13 saw Mone continue to fuel the Bayley rumors when she tweeted out an hourglass gif.
During her time with WWE, Bayley has become a cornerstone of the roster and a locker room leader. She is feuding with her former tag team partner Lyra Valkyria at the moment, and the two had a match at Saturday Night’s Main Event last weekend that saw Valkyria get the win. Potentially playing into the speculation about Bayley’s future, Valkyria cut a promo on Raw last night claiming that she ran Bayley out of WWE at SNME.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.