Of all the wrestler call-ups from NXT to WWE’s main roster, few can say they made a bigger impact on their first night than Paige. The British wrestler first popped up on an episode of Monday Night Raw on April 7, 2014, the night after WrestleMania XXX. In a shocking turn of events, she ended up pinning AJ Lee in her first match, becoming the first woman to ever hold the Divas and NXT Women’s Championships at the same time. The victory instantly inserted Paige as a major player in WWE’s women’s division, leading to notable matches with the likes of Lee, The Bella Twins and Charlotte Flair over the next few years.
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Paige’s surprising debut served as the climax for her biographical film Fighting With My Family, which hit theaters back in February. And while numerous NXT stars have thrived like Paige once they get the call-up, many struggle to find their footing with the audience and wind up floundering in the midcard. In an interview with ComicBook.com this week, Paige talked about what NXT call-ups have to do in order to earn their spot on Raw or SmackDown.
“I would say it’s all about patience because you know when it comes to having a role on the main roster, you kind of like are on a Ferris wheel, right? You have a good time and then you come back down again, and then you’ll be back up again,” Paige said. “Honestly, just don’t take any of that personally. It’s business, everyone needs their time to shine.
“So, I would just say be patient. I would say the same thing that Dwayne [‘The Rock’ Johnson] said to me… be humble and hungry,” she added. “You want to stay humble because you want people to be able to work with you and hungry because you don’t want to get complacent on the road. I did that once where I was just like I got too comfortable and I was like, “Nah. I don’t have to work too hard now.” Never think that way. Always work hard. Always set goals. Your job doesn’t end once you make it on the main roster. You have to continually make it.”
On the subject of complacency, Paige added that the best thing to do is to keep consistently pitching new ideas that get you on television.
“Always bring some ideas. Always have ideas in your head. Because it could all be over,” she said. “Your storyline could be over and then someone else’s turn,” she said. “But now it’s your job to come up with something creatively where you can pitch it to the writers and stuff and say, ‘What do you think about this?’ They can get you back on TV next week or a couple of months, but you should always have an idea of where you want to go to next.”
After being off of television for several months, Paige returned to SmackDown Live in mid-April to serve as the manager for a the new tag team of Asuka and Kairi Sane.
Fighting With My Family is available now on Digital, and on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand May 14.
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