Daniel Bryan at All Out Rumors, Orton vs. Lashley at WWE Extreme Rules, AEW Contracts

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Daniel Bryan Reportedly Scheduled for AEW All Out

In addition to CM Punk competing in his first wrestling match in more than seven years, AEW All Out will reportedly feature the debut of another major star.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), multiple sources have said that Daniel Bryan will make his AEW debut at All Out on Sunday.

Meltzer noted that if Bryan does not appear, it will be because the original plans changed in some way.

Bryan wrestled under his real name, Bryan Danielson, until he signed with WWE in 2009, and he will likely revert back to that name in AEW.

The 40-year-old veteran became one of the biggest stars in wrestling during his WWE tenure, winning the world title five times in addition to being a former Intercontinental, United States and Tag Team champion.

Bryan also competed in the main event of WrestleMania twice at WrestleMania 30 and earlier this year at WrestleMania 37.

The WrestleMania 37 main event saw both Bryan and Edge fall to Roman Reigns in a Triple Threat for the Universal Championship. Bryan then lost a match to Reigns on SmackDown at the end of April, resulting in him having to leave SmackDown.

Shortly after that, it was reported that Bryan's WWE contract had expired and he was a free agent.

Rumors have been circulating for the past several weeks that Bryan was either poised to sign with AEW or had already done so, and Meltzer has essentially confirmed those reports.

If Bryan does appear at All Out, it is safe to assume he will show up after the main event. Punk vs. Darby Allin or Kenny Omega vs. Christian Cage could be in that spot.

Either way, Bryan would represent another massive signing for AEW just weeks after the arrival of Punk.

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Orton vs. Lashley Reportedly Scheduled for Extreme Rules

WWE reportedly has plans for a big WWE Championship clash at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on Sept. 26.

According to Meltzer (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), WWE is moving forward with Bobby Lashley defending the WWE title against one half of the Raw Tag Team champions Randy Orton.

WWE seemed to tease the start of that rivalry on Monday's episode of Raw, as Orton and Riddle defended the Raw Tag Team Championships against Lashley and MVP.

Just before Raw went off the air, Orton hit Lashley with an RKO out of nowhere, which may have been the catalyst for their feud.

Putting Orton in the WWE Championship scene would be an interesting decision on WWE's part given that Orton and Riddle are the Raw Tag Team champions and have been one of the hottest acts in the company as RK-Bro.

Additionally, AJ Styles and Omos are still very much in the Raw Tag Team title picture after dropping the championships to RK-Bro at SummerSlam, and they were at ringside from Monday night's title match.

It stands to reason that Orton could pull double duty at Extreme Rules by defending the Raw Tag Team Championships and vying for the WWE Championship in the same night.

If WWE doesn't want to go in that direction, however, the rematch with Styles and Omos could take place on Raw instead.

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When Top AEW Contracts Reportedly Expire

AEW reportedly won't have to worry about the possibility of some of its top stars leaving for two years.

According to Meltzer (h/t Mukherjee), many of the big names that signed with AEW when the company was officially formed in January 2019 signed contracts that will keep them in the fold through early 2023.

Meltzer noted that while many of them were three-year deals, "most" had a fourth-year option that are likely to be picked up by AEW.

Although Meltzer didn't provide any specifics regarding precisely who could become free agents in 2023, some of the wrestlers who have been with AEW from the start include Omega, Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, "Hangman" Adam Page, Chris Jericho, The Lucha Bros., Britt Baker, MJF, Jungle Boy and Allin.

Given that AEW has signed many former WWE stars who were either released by the company or chose not to re-sign, there is some intrigue regarding whether WWE may try to raid AEW's roster in 2023 when some free agents become available.

To this point, the roster jumping has been one-sided with WWE paring down its roster and AEW bringing in the big names.

As wrestlers continue to make a name for themselves in AEW, however, there could potentially be some desire on WWE's part to poach that talent.

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