A second chance came Saraya’s way in AEW.
Despite retiring from in ring action in 2018 because of a neck injury, Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE, returned to the ring for All Elite Wrestling in November 2022. Her comeback ultimately led to a victory over Hikaru Shida, Britt Baker, and Toni Storm at AEW’s inaugural All In: London pay per view at Wembley Stadium on August 27, 2023.
Speaking with Poker Scout, Saraya recalled her conversation with Tony Khan in which the AEW president told her about the plans for her to win the title. She noted that she had believed she would never hold a championship again after her initial retirement.
“When Tony told me the night before, I cried my eyes out because I never thought that I would ever be back in the ring again, first and foremost. I never thought I’d win a championship again, I never thought that moment was ever gonna come for me ever again. I got told I would never wrestle again in my lifetime and then for some reason my neck miraculously recovered. I don’t know what happened. Maybe I’d like to say my sobriety and healthy living kind of helped, but having my family be a part of it and in my home country in front of my home people, it was just such a wild emotional experience, I was crying my eyes out. As soon as I came back, everybody was there, my buddies, everyone was surrounding me and giving me hugs and stuff, and it was just such a powerful moment and that’s something I’ll never forget and I’m so grateful for Tony for giving me the opportunity.”
-Saraya
Saraya has been absent from in-ring action since the October 8, 2024 edition of AEW Dynamite, yet despite now being a free agent, she recently revealed plans to resume her wrestling training in January. You can read more about that here.
Elsewhere during the interview, Saraya praised Triple H for his work as WWE’s Head of Creative and reminded fans that he isn’t the only person involved in the company’s creative process. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Saraya’s future as soon as we hear more.
