Saraya on what she regrets about AEW run: “I wish I tried harder when it comes to the wrestling side of things”
While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Saraya aka Paige talked about making a return to wrestling in AEW after being inactive for several years due to her neck injury…
“I wish I trained more, because Tony was like, All right, you’re gonna be wrestling in like, two weeks. And I’m like, I’ve had five years out. How do I get back in the ring again? I didn’t have much time to train or anything. So I was traveling for AEW, and then I was working when I was at home, and I was like, When can I physically go in a ring? My brother Zak flew over, and he took me to a ring a couple of times, and we just tried to get some of the ring rust off, but it was really hard. The only thing I regret about my AEW run is that I wish I tried harder when it comes to the wrestling side of things. I think I went too easy on myself, because I was a little bit worried that something would happen like WWE, where I would f*ck up and my neck would get hurt again. And I was too overly cautious.”
Saraya also said the following about leaving AEW…
“It got to a point, I loved my time there, I really did, but there was nothing really much for me to do. When I was there, all I wanted to do was help elevate the division. So I’m like, ‘I’ll eat a pin here and there, I’ll do it, whatever someone needs.’ I don’t think there was much room for me there. You have big stars there, and I just decided that this is probably the perfect time for me to take a step back, because the only thing left for me to do there would be to wrestle Mercedes. But she already had stuff lined up all the way up until All In that they’re about to do. So I was like, What am I gonna do, stay at home? It’s nice to collect a paycheck sometimes, sure, but I’d rather be active and doing something I’m really enjoying. That’s why I wanted to do the podcast, my book came out, all that kind of fun stuff, so I can put all my energy into that, rather than being like, well, when am I going to be on TV next? I don’t want to have to stress about that. So it was just easier, and Tony was great. He was agreeing too. He’s like, okay, yeah, let’s do it. So it was a very nice split, and great business, which is wonderful. And like I said before, the door is always open for these places, which is really nice. I leave on really good terms. But yeah, I feel like my time came to an end, what else do I do?” (quotes courtesy of ChrisVanVliet.com)