‘The Whole Time I’ve Been Thinking About Coming Back’ – Paige Addresses WWE Absence & Royal Rumble Return Rumors

Published: 1 hour ago by Jamie Toolan | Last Updated: 1 hour ago by Jamie Toolan

Jamie has been covering the world of wrestling for four years and currently holds the position of Assistant Editor of WrestleTalk.com. During his time working for WrestleTalk.com he has written and published over 4,000 news and feature articles covering events and happenings from WWE, AEW, TNA and a variety of international and independent wrestling promotions.
‘The Whole Time I’ve Been Thinking About Coming Back’ – Paige Addresses WWE Absence & Royal Rumble Return Rumors WWE

Paige has addressed her absence from WWE after returning top the company at WrestleMania 42 Saturday on April 18.

Just over one year on from her AEW departure, and over eight years since she was forced into an early retirement due to a neck injury, Paige made her return to a WWE ring this past Saturday at WrestleMania 42 Night One.

Paige’s return was the culmination of a long and arduous journey for the WWE star, as she now gears up to compete as a part of the women’s division that she helped build a decade ago. However, it will not be her first time competing inside the ring on a consistent basis since she was forced into retirement almost a decade ago.

After departing WWE in mid 2022, Paige jumped to AEW, where she got cleared to compete inside the ring once again.

The run saw highlights such as becoming AEW Women’s World Champion in her home country of England at AEW All In London in August 2023 and forming The Outcasts along with Toni Storm and Ruby Soho, but she would eventually depart the company in March 2025 after mutually agreeing her release with Tony Khan.

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Appearing on Stephanie McMahon’s What’s Your Story? podcast, Paige admitted that all she’s wanted since her last match was to return to WWE and wrestle again:

“Two years ago (her last match). The whole time I’ve been thinking about just coming back to WWE, that’s all I wanted and to wrestle again.

Paige would then address rumors she was going to make her return at the 2026 Royal Rumble, saying:

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“Because at the Royal Rumble people thought I was coming back then. They were going crazy thought I was gonna be number 30. I was like, ‘The interest is still there.’ It’s a great feeling… It was in my head (that people might not care).”

If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page.

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What Next For Paige In WWE After Return?

Paige’s immediate future in WWE of course seems set to revolve around the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, with herself and Brie Bella now leading the charge in a stacked division across Raw, SmackDown and NXT.

While that will be on the docket for Paige now, it will be interesting to see how WWE handle her and Brie’s partnership once Nikki Bella gets cleared to return from her ankle injury.

There’s no firm timeline for when we can expect to see Nikki back, however, one would expect that she, and perhaps Brie will still be keen to hold the Women’s Tag Team Titles together for the first time, despite Paige filling in for now.

That situation seems perfect for a jealous betrayal of some kind from Nikki on Paige, or perhaps the English star could simply gift the Women’s Tag Title to Nikki before pivoting into singles competition.

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With potential matches with the likes of AJ Lee, Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley on the table, fans will be keen to see Paige mix it up with young and experienced talent in WWE.

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