WWE Rumors on Bayley's Contract, Becky Lynch's Return, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton & SummerSlam

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

Bayley's Contract Status Revealed

Amid ongoing rumors about Bayley's future in WWE, she could reportedly hit free agency very soon.

On a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Geno Mrosko of Cageside Seats), Dave Meltzer said Bayley's contract is set to expire "in a couple months."

Speculation about Bayley potentially leaving WWE has picked up over the past few days, starting with her losing to Lyra Valkyria via ref stoppage at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Valkyria continued to attack Bayley after the match, laying her out with a nightwing on the steel steps. Lyra then addressed Bayley on Monday's episode of Raw in a promo segment by saying: "I'm probably glowing because I dropped the dead weight when I ran Bayley outta here."

While this could all just be part of the storyline leading to Bayley taking some time off before returning to get revenge, it does come after her longtime friend Mercedes Moné has been fueling the flames of a potential reunion between the two in AEW on social media.

AEW has not yet announced the date or location for this year's WrestleDream show, but it has historically taken place in October. That could potentially line up with the expiration of Bayley's WWE contract.

Bayley is in a great position of leverage right now because WWE presumably wouldn't want to lose one of its most popular women's stars to AEW, while AEW could absolutely use an infusion of top-level star power on its women's roster right now with Toni Storm out of action for the time being.

Where this ends up leading is only speculation at this point, but WWE is definitely doing a good job of writing Bayley off television if she is leaving soon.

Becky Lynch Return Planned Soon

Having been off television since losing a Queen of the Ring first-round match last month, Becky Lynch is set to return in the near-future.

Per WrestleVotes (h/t Mrosko), Lynch will be back after SummerSlam.

No specific date is given, though SummerSlam takes place from Aug. 1-2. The next major events on the WWE schedule after that are Saturday Night's Main Event on Sept. 6 and Money in the Bank on Oct. 10.

Lynch's last televised appearance was on the June 8 episode of Raw when she competed in a four-way against Liv Morgan, Alexa Bliss and Chelsea Green in the first round of the Queen of the Ring tournament. Morgan got the win by pinning Green.

It's a bit odd WWE wouldn't want to put Lynch, who remains one of the top stars on the entire roster, on the card for SummerSlam unless this time off was planned in advance.

Regardless, though, it will be a nice shot in the arm to add Lynch back onto the scene when she does return. It will be interesting to see where her character goes after losing the intercontinental title to Sol Ruca and coming up short in her quest to become Queen of the Ring.

NBA Stars Not Planned for SummerSlam

Despite Tyrese Haliburton and Jalen Brunson reigniting their onscreen rivalry this weekend during Saturday Night's Main Event, neither NBA star is expected to be involved in an onscreen angle at SummerSlam.

Per Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Mrosko), the angle between Haliburton and Brunson at the end of Saturday's show was only intended to be a one-off thing since the show was in Madison Square Garden.

Calling it an angle is overselling it to some extent since neither Haliburton nor Brunson really did anything. Brunson, who appeared with Roman Reigns, received a custom WWE title belt.

Haliburton came out with Seth Rollins, who attacked the OTC and was set to hit him with a curb stomp before Brunson simply stepped in front of him to prevent the attack from going any further.

Brunson was likely severely limited in what he was allowed to do after undergoing wrist surgery earlier this month following an incredible postseason that led to the New York Knicks winning an NBA title for the first time in 53 years.

It's entirely plausible that at least one of Haliburton or Brunson will attend SummerSlam as a spectator since both are well-known WWE fans, but anyone expecting more to the story than what we got on Saturday will likely come away disappointed.