AEW superstar Saraya recently discussed some her adventures—and misadventures—from her time in WWE. Arriving in the WWE system in 2011 via Florida Championship Wrestling, she debuted on the main roster in April 2014, defeating AJ Lee for the Divas Championship on RAW.
AEW Superstar Saraya Discusses Her Inactive Period in WWE as Paige
While her in-ring period was a little over three years as her career was halted because of a serious neck injury, she achieved a lot in that period.
She held the Divas Championship twice, was involved in several feuds and rivalries in the division, and became one of the bridges to the Women’s Revolution along with other talented Divas Era superstars such as Natalya, AJ Lee, Beth Phoenix, Victoria, Melina, and so on.
Following her injury, Saraya remained with WWE as an on-screen authority figure while she also promoted WWE-co-produced film based on her life. The McMahon Family’s return to television came just as promotion for the film required more of her time and Saraya was dropped as GM of SmackDown.
She would make her return to television as a manager for The Kabuki Warriors. By late 2019, she had moved on to a broadcasting position.
During those gaps of time where she wasn’t on-screen or involved in something, were hard for Saraya who was on The Mark Hoke Show and discussed that the ring is where she belonged:
“The feeling that you get from something you love is just not replaceable. You can’t just fill it with something else. I was doing Twitch but I was also being held back so much when I was in the WWE because they just didn’t give me the freedom to do what wanted to do, to even try and find something else that could potentially fill that void and then also, they didn’t want me doing media, they didn’t want me to do anything so I was sitting on my ass for a couple of years and people thought I enjoyed that.”
She went on to say that she was “miserable” during those periods as she was unable to do anything while not being able to do what she was initially brought in to do.
Fast forward roughly five years and Saraya is back in the ring with AEW and heading up a faction which is shaking up the promotion’s women’s division.
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