Saraya returns to Twitch.
At AEW Dynamite Grand Slam, Saraya (Paige in WWE) made her AEW debut in a surprise appearance. Saraya's 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 her Twitch stream, Saraya opened up about her decision to sign with AEW.
"When I spoke to Tony (Khan) he was so great about it. He said, 'You can still do your Twitch.' The thing that got me was freedom. I just wanted to have the freedom to go do whatever I wanted," she said.
Saraya had kind things to say about WWE and noted that, even though in her first AEW promo she said she "has a boss that listens to her," Triple H did listen to her during her time in WWE.
"I love WWE, I just like the opportunities I'm getting with AEW. The one thing I don't like is, 'WWE got you that movie.' No they didn't. You know who got me that movie? The Rock. He made that happen. He asked WWE, 'You can be part of this, but I'm doing this anyway,' and WWE decided they could make money off of it and put their names on it. The Rock should get all the credit. Without him, there would be no movie. WWE were wonderful, they gave me a lot of opportunities, and I am forever grateful for that. The only downside that made me pick AEW from WWE is I don't like sitting on my butt and not knowing what I'm doing or if I'm allowed to do certain things. I'm pro-WWE, but I love AEW and I wanted something new and I wanted freedom. That was very important," she said.
When asked when she officially signed with the company, she replied, "It was like two weeks before because (Chris) Jericho, (Jon) Moxley, and Tony (Khan) were all like, 'it would be good if you were on Grand Slam in two weeks.' That's when it all started. Everything was good, literally until it....I signed literally the day. It was the craziest two weeks."
She revealed that she spoke to Moxley and his wife Renee Paquette before making her decision and that Moxley was helpful through the process and since she's arrived at AEW.
While Saraya would not confirm if she's been cleared to compete, she did provide some insight on her in-ring status.
"I'm not looking to bump around like crazy like I did before. I need to make adjustments and be smart about it. I'm very aware of what I can and can't do," she said while noting that she didn't make the proper adjustments when she returned from her first neck surgery in September 2017.
Saraya also revealed that she never talked to WWE about possibly wrestling again.
"We never had that discussion. I never had that discussion with WWE because they let me go. I've been working years to better myself and be healthier and stronger. Me, mentally, I never brought it up because I had this mental block. I want to be as safe as possible. I know what my body can do. Me and WWE never had that discussion about having a match. I never brought it up to them about me potentially wrestling. If I was to talk them about it, I'm sure they would do the research. I wasn't mentally ready. It still makes me nervous, but I'm way smarter about it. I know what I can and can't do. I'm not expecting to do six German suplexes off the top. I'm not that wrestler anyway," she said, while noting she did once did a tower of doom spot and admitted that wasn't the best idea.
Saraya was involved in a physical segment with Britt Baker on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite.
Among other things during the stream, Saraya said that she got "Zombified" cleared five minutes before making her entrance as there was a hold up with the label. "Zombified" is performed by Falling In Reverse, which is fronted by Saraya's boyfriend Ronnie Radke. She said Ronnie was willing to let her use it for free.
She also said she is looking forward to being a heel as she feels more comfortable in that role, but understands why she's a babyface right now.
Throughout the stream, Saraya praised the AEW women's roster and the AEW locker room in general. She also said Tony Khan has been receptive to her ideas backstage, but she hasn't laid out matches.
"All the ideas I've had so far, he's [Tony Khan] been great and using them. Every week he's said, 'I'm not going to be able to take every idea, but I'll try to make it happen,' and he has," she said.
Saraya said multiple times that she's happy and excited about moving forward with AEW. She also teased have other projects in the works but didn't provide further details.
Fans can check out Fightful's report on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite by clicking here.
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