WWE had two conditions that needed to be met for Paige to return at WrestleMania 42
As seen during WWE WrestleMania 42 Saturday, Paige made a surprise return to WWE and had her first match with the company in over eight years. While appearing on Stephanie McMahon’s podcast, Paige reflected on the conversation with WWE President Nick Khan that led to her comeback…
“He told me two things: ‘Your neck has to be okay, and we have to do a drug test.’
I was like, ‘fair enough.’ I can control the drug test—I’m clean as a whistle. The neck, though, I wasn’t sure. It had been a few years since I got it checked, but the last time I did, it was perfect, so I wasn’t too concerned.
So the next week, I flew to Birmingham. Nikki [Bella] was there at the same time getting her ankle looked at, which was kind of crazy—perfect timing.
I was at the doctor from like 5:45 a.m. until 3 or 4 in the afternoon doing all these tests. They had to be thorough, making sure my neck was perfect.
At one point, I thought something was wrong because all the doctors were around the screen, pointing at stuff and talking. I was like, ‘Something’s happening. They’re not going to let me go back.’
I’m just sitting there exhausted, waiting for the answer.
Then the doctor comes in and says, ‘You ready to go home, kid?’
And I just bawled my eyes out.”