Paige with some heart-wrenching comments about her road thus far.
The current SmackDown Live GM Paige has made the transition from in-ring performer to on-screen figurehead due to her having to retire from in-ring competition because of an injury she suffered in late 2017. Paige took a kick to the back from Sasha Banks at a live event and in that moment Paige shared that she thought she was paralyzed and it was also in that moment that she knew that it was time for her to hang up her wrestling boots. Paige officially announced her retirement from in-ring competition the night after WrestleMania 34 on RAW.
Paige is looked at as one of the pioneers of the women's revolution in WWE and she got a chance to watch that revolution take the next step on October 28th for the all-women's PPV 'Evolution'. Sky Sports spoke with the 26-year old and discussed what it was like for her to watch this historic night for the women of WWE unfold and Paige stated that it was bittersweet.
“It's really… again, I feel really sad that I don’t get to be a part of it so kind of bittersweet." She said. "But I do get to be here. I get to be on the panel and I get to be with Renee, I get to be with Beth Phoenix - a Hall Of Famer, also the first-ever female commentator on RAW so I’m in good company but it’s just really nice to sit back and see how far the women have came. From Bra & Panties matches to now having their own pay-per-view, it’s incredible. I’m super proud.”
During this interview Paige pointed out a intertwining connection between her debut and retirement. She shared that it was at the 'Smoothie King Center' that she made her in-ring debut for WWE and had to retire in. It was also at the Nassau Coliseum that Paige suffered that career-ending injury and that very arena also played host to 'Evolution'.
“Yeah, because this is actually the hotel I stayed in after that too so I remember coming back to this hotel, and I mean in the venue I knew that was it. Laying in the ring I was like, ‘I’m never gonna wrestle again’. Like I could feel it, you could feel it. Just because the fact that I was completely paralyzed for a couple of minutes. I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m gonna come back from this’ but I was stubborn about it." She continued, "I was like, ‘I’m fine’ and then I get back to the hotel and I can just feel it and I remember sitting at the hotel bar with Nia and we were eating some food and stuff and it was fans around and I didn’t know what to say to them but I could just feel it. I was like, ‘Man you guys are never going to see me wrestle again’. It’s really sad. It’s like I had to retire in the place where I debuted, and the first-ever female pay-per-view is where I had to retire in the first place. This is where I got the injury’."
On a related note, the other figurehead of the blue-brand Shane McMahon took it upon himself to win the WWE World Cup tournament for SmackDown at Crown Jewel and for more information on that, click here.
If you are going to use the quotes above, please credit Sky Sports with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.
