AEW: Latest Update on Saraya's Contract, Whether or Not She's Cleared to Wrestle
Saraya (fka Paige) made her surprise debut in AEW at the Grand Slam event last Wednesday in Queens. She'll get the chance to cut her first promo with the company on tonight's episode of Dynamite and will likely address interfering in Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter's beatdown on Toni Storm, but more details about her deal with the company have already been made public. Per Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp, the former Divas Champion has signed a three-year deal with the young promotion. Sapp wasn't able to confirm whether or not she is cleared to wrestle again — she had to retire in 2018 due to a neck injury — but quoted a source saying the amount she is getting paid, "largely implies that she'll be wrestling in some capacity."
A separate report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer previously popped up stating that, despite getting signed to the company, she still hasn't been medically cleared. Stay tuned for more updates on that front as they become available.
Following her in-ring retirement, Saraya continued to be a consistent presence on WWE programming as the general manager of SmackDown, the manager of the Kabuki Warriors tag team and a panelist on WWE Backstage. But her appearances dried up following that show's cancellation and she confirmed on her Twitch stream that WWE opted to not sign her to a new deal when her contract expired in July.
"I'm appreciative of WWE," she said at the time. "I really am. They helped me so much they got me a therapist when I had drinking and alcohol issues. They kept me a long time even after my neck surgery, sitting on my ass. I felt like I had so much left to give there as someone who can cut a decent promo and do a managerial role. It is what it is. WWE doesn't want to re-sign me. It's not my decision. I don't want anyone to think it was my decision to walk away."
Saraya later added, "They weren't using me to my full potential, that's for sure. It's fair. Why do they [need to] employ me to not do very much for them. There is opportunities I could have done. I think they just want to focus on people who are wrestling."