‘My Heart Wasn’t In It’ – WWE Star Shares Honest Feelings On AEW Run

WWE/AEW

Paige has shared her honest feelings on her tenure in AEW after making her return to WWE earlier this year.

After four years away from the company, and almost a decade outside of a WWE ring, Paige made her return at WrestleMania 42 and immediately won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles alongside Brie Bella.

Paige’s comeback was the latest of several, at one point, unlikely returns to take place in WWE over the past couple of years, with the former two-time Divas Champion reuniting with former Divas Era legends The Bella Twins, AJ Lee and AJ’s husband CM Punk, who, like Paige also had a stint in All Elite Wrestling before coming back to WWE.

Appearing on a special episode of The Nikki & Brie Show alongside AJ Lee, Paige addressed her tenure in AEW when asked about her preparations for her in-ring return in WWE.

Paige said:

“Well, I did go to AEW, and you guys, I did have a great time there, but my heart wasn’t in it. And I feel like you could see that in my performance when I was in the ring there and my character, and it was just like, I’m a WWE girl man. I love WWE.

“I went there for a couple of years and we went our seperate ways and it ended really really great, I have nothing but love when it comes to AEW and Tony (Khan) and stuff like that.

“But yeah, when it comes to WWE, that’s just where I wanted to be forever. I had been there since I was 18 years old. I gave my neck for this company, I grew up here you guys. I was a kid, I was a baby.”

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Paige first arrived in AEW in September 2022, and wrestled what would be her first match since her 2017 WWE retirement, at AEW Full Gear 2022 against Britt Baker.

One year later, Paige captured the AEW Women’s World Title at the inaugural All In London event in her home country, but she only held the gold for 44 days. Then, just over a year after that, she wrestled her last match for the company on the October 8, 2024 episode of Dynamite, a match that proved to be her last until April 18, 2026, when she returned at WrestleMania 42.

Discussing her lack of preparation for her big WWE return match, Paige said:

“So, when it comes to getting the call I was so excited, but I didn’t have any preparation time for the match at all. Like it was Monday and my manager, he was like ‘Oh we’ve got stuff Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then we have Mania on Saturday.’

“I didn’t have any time to get in the ring. We did have rehearsals  but it was like I was just coming in at the end of the match. So I was like, thank gosh I don’t have to do too much, but then obviously we end up winning the Tag Team Championships.”

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• AEW
• wwe
• paige

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