Saraya may now be All Elite but that doesn’t stop her being proud of her era-defining time as WWE’s Paige.
Describing herself as the “pale, goth chick”, Saraya recently spoke about her move from NXT to the main roster in WWE.
Having joined WWE on a developmental contract in 2011, Paige would be a presence when Florida Championship Wrestling was rebranded as NXT going onto to become the first ever NXT Women’s Champion in 2013.
2014 would see her make her main roster debut, defeating AJ Lee to become the youngest WWE Divas Champion at just 21 years old.
Recently, Saraya spoke about the WWE name who was instrumental in getting her one to the main roster.
In a recent interview on The Mark Hoke Show, Saraya revealed:
“My [‘NXT’] t-shirt got released, which was the ‘Think Again’ t-shirt that Triple H had made for me and it sold out instantly. Like that.
“It’s sold out so I think they were just like, ‘Oh, she could make us money,’ and so they were like, ‘Let’s bring her up on the main roster.'”
She would go on to say that her unique appearance was something that she feels WWE valued, adding:
“I feel like there was only one of me down in ‘NXT’ at the time. The pale, goth chick who wore a lot of black and studs and stuff like that.”
With Saraya describing herself as a “different flavor of ice cream” in the WWE roster, it was also revealed that Vince McMahon saw the value in Paige on the main roster making only one change to her presentation.
With Triple H’s backing, Vince McMahon agreed to bring her to the main roster as long as she wore purple ring gear.
Saraya would be a fundamental part of the Women’s Revolution that brought the time of the Divas to an end in 2015 but be forced into retirement in 2018 due to a neck injury sustained in December 2017.
Although she would remain an asset to WWE, she would eventually leave WWE in July 2022, arriving in AEW in September of that year and competing in her first match since 2017 on the November 2022 instalment of AEW Full Gear.
Saraya is now a member of The Outcasts in AEW, alongside Ruby Soho and the new AEW World Women’s Champion Toni Storm.
Full results from AEW Double Or Nothing 2023 were as follows:
HOOK, Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy def. Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn & Ethan Page
International Championship Blackjack Battle Royal – Orange Cassidy (c) def. 20 others, last eliminating Swerve Strickland
Unsanctioned Match – Adam Cole def. Chris Jericho
AEW World Tag Team Championship (Special Guest Referee Mark Briscoe) – FTR (c) def. Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett
TNT Championship Ladder Match – Wardlow (c) def. Christian Cage
AEW Women’s World Championship – Toni Storm def. Jamie Hayter (c)
AEW World Trios Championship Open House Rules Match – Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black (c) def. The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn
TBS Championship – Jade Cargill (c) def. Taya Valkyrie
TBS Championship – Kris Statlander def. Jade Cargill (c)
AEW World Championship – MJF (c) def. Darby Allin, Jack Perry, Sammy Guevara
Anarchy in the Arena – Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta def. Adam Page, Kenny Omega & Young Bucks thanks to interference from Konosuke Takeshita w/Don Callis
Transcript from Wrestling Inc.
If you want to stay fully updated on all the latest wrestling news, click the red bell in the bottom right of your screen to receive notifications from WrestleTalk.com straight to your device!
Trending
- Potential WWE Bloodline Signing Offers Help To Roman Reigns
- AEW Star Reunites With Former WWE Tag Team Partner
- Former Champion Wins First WWE Singles Match Since 2017
- Rey Fenix Responds To Report Regarding ‘Ugly’ AEW Situation
- WWE’s Bronson Reed Comments Ahead Of Surgery
- Top AEW Star Doesn’t Know If They’ll Be Able To Wrestle Again
- Eric Bischoff Addresses WWE Contract Status After NXT Appearance
- Roman Reigns Reacts To CM Punk WWE Survivor Series 2024 Meme
- AEW Star Getting ‘Positive Reviews’ For Continental Classic Performances
- ‘Canceled’ AEW Crossover Match Officially Back On For NJPW Wrestle Dynasty