The Raw after WrestleMania is typically the craziest show of the year. But 2018’s edition was marked by the heartbreaking retirement of Paige. As sad as it was to watch Paige say goodbye, the 26-year old knew it had to be done in order to move on.
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And thanks to Edge, she had a mentor for what may have been the toughest moment of her career.
In an interview with The Mirror, Paige discussed how Edge, who had to retire under similar circumstance, helped her through the process of closing her in-ring book.
“The person who helped me with that too was [retired former WWE Champion] Edge, because he was like ‘I promise you…’ he told me the day I was about to retire, he pulled me to one side because he had sort of the same thing – spinal stenosis – he told me ‘I promise you after you make this retirement speech you will have so much weight off your shoulders and you will feel so much better,’” she said.
The building of that moment could not have been comfortable, yet Paige went on to give one of the more poignant addresses in WWE history. While it was tough to watch her leave, the catharsis was undeniable.
“And I did, it did make me feel better,” she said. “But he was like ‘you’ll also constantly be reminded of it and you will be upset, but you will be in a better place once you say goodbye’. And he was right. I do feel in a good place, but sometimes it can get me down, you know?”
#ThankYouPaige 😢 pic.twitter.com/DwQakyWTDv
— WrestlinGifs (@WrestlinGifs) April 10, 2018
“I want to thank WWE for letting me do this, and every single one of you for the past four years,” Paige said. “This, New Orleans, for years ago is where I debuted and won the Divas Championship and four years later New Orleans is where I want to retire. So I want to say thank you to every single one of you.” I love you all so much,” Paige said. And yes, this will always be my house!”
Since her retirement, Paige has settled in nicely as the SmackDown General Manager. As someone who has always had a healthy relationship with the WWE audience, it’s great to see her still on camera. Considering she’s so young, Paige could end up being one of the more prominent on-screen characters in the company—if that’s what she wants.
