At AEW Dynamite Grand Slam, Saraya made her AEW debut in a surprise appearance.
Saraya's (Paide in WWE) contract with WWE expired in July and WWE made the decision not to renew her deal. She has not wrestled since December 2017 due to a neck injury.
On October 13, Fightful Select reported Saraya was offered a role by Triple H and the new WWE regime, which was ultimately passed on as she joined AEW.
Speaking to Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho, Saraya confirmed talks with Triple H and WWE.
"Hunter did reach out to me and he wanted to talk to me. He thought it was my decision (to leave) because he wasn't there at the time. He thought it was my decision to leave. 'No, bro' [laughs]. 'It was Vince (McMahon) and Johnny (Laurinaitis).' We got talking, but then I sat and talked to you guys, and I was like, man, I miss that side of wrestling where you can pitch your own ideas, and you can just have fun. I haven't felt excited about wrestling in a very long time so the first day of being here, it was awesome. Everyone is so nice. It's crazy just how different it can feel," she said.
When asked if she thought about returning to WWE, Saraya responded, "I was. I was thinking about it. Again, I don't have issues with WWE. I just wish that some things were done differently, that's the only thing I have against them. There are so many years where I could have been utilized more. My friends were around me, I was so depressed about it. I was thinking about going back there. Then I spoke to you [Jericho], I spoke to Mox [Jon Moxley], I was speaking to Britt (Baker), I got on the phone with Tony and he was so excited. I was like, 'I think I'm going to give this a shot.'"
Jericho said he implored Tony to reach out directly to Saraya as he though she was close to returning to WWE.
"If you wouldn't have pushed it. I understand Tony is busy, he has two different football teams, British and American, and also this big company he has to run. I understand he's busy. A few months had gone by, I was like, 'I feel like he's not interested,' and that's okay and totally fine. I was getting the calls from WWE and was like, 'Should I? Am I going to be 100% happy going back?' Then you guys called me and made it sound so exciting," she said.
Saraya has been feuding with Britt Baker on AEW television and has gotten physical in segments with Baker.
During a recent Twitch stream, Saraya went into more detail about her decision to sign with AEW. You can find her full comments by clicking here.
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