On the heels of her biographical film Fighting With My Family hitting theaters, Paige returned to WWE television back in mid-April with the revelation that she would be the manager for the brand new SmackDown Live tag team of Asuka and Kairi Sane.
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The move marked the first time Paige had appeared on WWE TV since being unceremoniously fired from her general manager role. In a new interview with ComicBook.com on Thursday, Paige explained that she pitched a number of ideas for getting back on television prior to representing the two former NXT Women’s Champions. The first was to be the manager for Ronda Rousey during her run as Raw Women’s Champion.
“I was sad, because I loved that role,” she said about her time as SmackDown’s GM. “I had such a good time with it and it pushed my boundaries a little bit because I had multiple promos in a day and I wasn’t used to that. So it really helped me grow creatively and professionally. But I was excited about another role. I was like, ‘Okay, no worries,’ because I knew the WWE would take care of me. They always do.
“I pitched to manage Ronda Rousey, kind of like the Paul Heyman-Brock Lesnar thing,” she continued. “And then also be with Asuka, because Asuka had trouble speaking on the mic sometimes. As much as she’s an amazing athlete, an incredible wrestler, and I was like, ‘I’ll help her, give me the microphone, I’ll talk for her.’ And then Paul Heyman called me one day and said, ‘We have a great role for you. You can be the next me with these two women.’ I was like, ‘Wow, what a crazy tag team, they’re incredible…. Absolutely, I’ll take it!’”
The pair won their first match as a tag tam on the April 30 episode of SmackDown Live, beating a pair of local wrestlers in Columbus.
After an 18-month hiatus, Paige returned to action for the WWE in November 2017 as the leader of the new Absolution trio. Unfortunately she suffered a career-ending neck injury at a house show just one month later, and announced the night after WrestleMania 34 that she was officially retiring as an in-ring competitor.
Fighting With My Family is available now on Digital, and on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand May 14.
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