Cody on CM Punk-AEW; Bayley Calls out Trish, Lita; Rey Mysterio Contract Rumors

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

Cody Talks CM Punk in AEW

While Cody isn't closing the door on CM Punk someday lacing up his boots in AEW, it doesn't appear imminent. The TNT champion spoke to Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT recently and said talks with Punk never got serious:

"The fact we were able to turn a profit as a company within only two years of being alive, very few other companies within wrestling – it's real limited, you can count on one hand who's been able to do that versus who has bled money – but in that situation the negotiations, I don't think they ever got too serious.

"Doesn't mean they won't one day, but they never got entirely too serious. I think there is a good relationship there. I think I have a good relationship with Phil, I believe Tony does too and I'm not sure really when it comes to him, it's not so much about the money. It's about are you interested in doing this?

"Because the price tag becomes a lot more justifiable if you're genuinely interested in what we're doing at the high speed we're doing it. And again, that's not even specific to him, just in general, if the passion is not there, the money is not there."

Cody said Punk asked for a "great amount of money" to potentially come out of retirement. While Cody noted that Punk is worth the money, it doesn't appear his price range was within AEW's budget to retain a level of profitability.

Punk has not wrestled since 2014 outside of sporadic appearances on the indies.

Bayley and Banks Want Trish and Lita at SummerSlam

If things go according to plan, Bayley and Sasha Banks will leave Extreme Rules with every women's championship. The women's tag team champions will each be in singles championship competition, with Bayley defending her SmackDown title against Nikki Cross and Banks going one-on-one with Asuka for the Raw belt.

It turns out Banks and Bayley are already looking forward to their next opponents—and they're calling out some legends: 

Bayley and Sasha never got a proper run during their first time as women's tag team champions—a fact that is well-trodden territory—but a marquee match at SummerSlam could be a pretty great make-good. Stratus performed in what was purportedly her retirement match last year at SummerSlam, losing to Charlotte Flair. Lita hasn't been in the ring since October 2018 during an appearance on Raw.

Rey Mysterio Working Under Terms of Old Contract

Rey Mysterio is in the midst of a heated program with Seth Rollins despite his contract with WWE expiring earlier this year. WWE and Mysterio have continued to work together without a deal in place, with Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling News Observer reporting they have carried over terms of his old deal.

Meltzer previously reported Mysterio had asked for a raise but was denied.

It's unclear whether Mysterio will continue working with WWE after the program with Rollins. Losing an "Eye for an Eye" match is a pretty easy way to write him off television for the foreseeable future—if not for good.