Published: Aug 23, 2026 by Jamie Toolan | Last Updated: Aug 23, 2026 by Jamie Toolan
Jamie has been covering the world of wrestling for four years and currently holds the position of Assistant Editor of WrestleTalk.com. During his time working for WrestleTalk.com he has written and published over 4,000 news and feature articles covering events and happenings from WWE, AEW, TNA and a variety of international and independent wrestling promotions.
WWE
A WWE star has invited Bayley to attend SmackDown amid ongoing speculation regarding the veteran star’s future in the company.
Bayley has not been seen on WWE programming since being the victim of Lyra Valkyria’s post-match attack at the July 18 Saturday Night’s Main Event. This combined with reports that her WWE contract is due to expire at some point before the end of 2026 has got the rumor mill turning regarding whether she will be re-signing with the company she’s spent the past 14 years, or potentially reuniting with Mercedes Moné in AEW.
While ‘The CEO’ has admitted she’d love to have another match with her former tag partner and rival, a rising WWE star has now invited Bayley to show up on Friday Night SmackDown for their very first meeting.
On August 22, Blake Monroe took to Twitter to comment on her canceled WWE SmackDown debut match with Giulia on Friday’s SmackDown (August 21).
That match was thrown out due to Monroe attacking Giulia before the bell, with ‘The Glamour’ later stating that she’s only interested in wrestling if its for Chelsea Green’s WWE Women’s Championship.
Keeping with that narrative, Monroe posted the following to Twitter to write:
world championship material, don’t waste my time
Although she’s not involved in the situation, this comment elicited a response from Bayley, who simply wrote “ok.”
Questioning the short response from Bayley, Monroe then replied: “that’s it?” Which then led to Bayley to respond:
maybe…
maybe not.
Bringing an end to their back-and-forth, Monroe then proposed Bayley attend this Friday’s SmackDown or stop messaging her altogether:
no one likes a tease, see u on Friday or don’t tweet me again
Monroe’s social media posting after SmackDown also saw her exchange words with her planned debut opponent Giulia, with the Japanese star labelling her rival’s actions “ridiculous.”
We will provide further updates on Bayley’s WWE future as more information becomes available.
Have We Seen The Last Of Bayley In WWE?
The past 12 months has been a year of veteran departures in WWE. Veteran performers John Cena, AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar all retired, while WWE vets Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Tommaso Ciampa all left WWE under different circumstances.
With Ilja Dragunov exiting WWE at the end of his contract earlier this week, it was reported that even more departures could be coming in October, when several main roster talent’s deals come up.
While it was not stated who these talents are, one of the safer assumptions is that one of them could be Bayley given reports that her WWE deal is coming before the end of 2026.
Similarly to when Ricochet was written off WWE TV by Bron Breakker back in the Summer of 2024, the manner in which WWE booked Bayley’s last appearance on their program sets things up nicely for her if she was to re-sign, as she has that revenge angle with Lyra Valyria ready to go, much like Rochcoet would have on Breakker had he re-signed rather than left for AEW.
Alternatively, if Bayley is done, then Valkyria can boast to have driven one of WWE’s greats away for good. Meanwhile the former four-time WWE world champion can begin a new chapter in her career elsewhere.
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