Saraya is proud that she continued being herself.
Upon her arrival to WWE in 2011, Saraya, then known as Paige, stood out from the rest of the women's performers in the company, as she sported a grunge rock type of style look as opposed to the diva centric style that nearly the rest of the roster had.
After quickly establishing a huge fanbase, Saraya made history at the age of 21, as she became the youngest Diva's champion in history.
While speaking to Knotfest for a new interview, Saraya gave credit to her style, saying that it made her special. Saraya also recalled how Bill DeMott tried to change the way she looked and how Dusty Rhodes supported her in those moments.
“Once I got to FCW, the main trainer there tried to change the way I look too and I was so adamant about sticking to my guns when it comes to clothing and stuff. Dusty Rhodes, rest in peace, he was also an advocate for me for being like myself as well. So anytime Bill [DeMott] would tell me I need to be more divaish, I’m like, ‘Well, I didn’t get signed the first time for trying to be something different, I’m going to keep being myself.’ So I start screaming in my entrance, I start wearing more like — I start incorporating my leather and like my studs and stuff like that and it helped me because it made me stand out. If you put me in a line, I would stand out because I was so pale first of all, but I also was like a little emo kid compared to these beautiful, blonde hair, big manes of hair, perfectly tan skin, the makeup was perfect. I could barely brush my hair, still can’t, but that’s what made me so special back then and so relatable back then and that’s what made me like the girl next door rather than someone who was completely unattainable. I feel like I represented a lot of girls that were, I call them freaks and geeks, the outcasts, misfits, all that kind of stuff. The people that think they could never do something like that because of the way the girls were represented back then. So, that was very much my core message and I’m so happy that I stuck to my guns with that because If I would have changed in any way, I wouldn’t have been nearly as successful. The thing that made me a success if the way I looked, that’s it. It has nothing to do with my wrestling. Wrestling helped, sure, being on the mic helped, but it’s the way I looked that was a bit catalyst in my success I think.”
DeMott resigned from WWE back in 2015 after allegations of misconduct were levied against him by a number of NXT/FCW performers.
Back in November, Saraya stated that she was taking a small break from AEW after re-signing with the company. Check out her full comments by clicking here.
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