The day after WrestleMania 34, Paige officially said goodbye to her in-ring career on Raw. However the next night on SmackDown, she debuted as the show’s new General Manager to everyone’s surprise.
Videos by ComicBook.com
And we have Vince McMahon to thank for that happy memory.
In an interview with TV Insider, Paige was asked about how her role as GM came to be. And according to Paige, it was the WWE Boss himself who had the vision.
“I knew a few months back that I pretty much wasn’t going to be wrestling anymore, so I was constantly pitching ideas of what I could do. Maybe I could manage someone and be the female Paul Heyman. I was constantly pitching. I think Vince [McMahon] already had the idea to make me general manager. That was his idea, she said.
A few months before becoming SmackDown GM, Paige suffered a career-ending injury from an in-ring accident with Sasha Banks. Soon after the incident, stories began to circulate indicated that Paige’s young WWE career was in fact over. However, Paife and WWE waited until after ‘Mania to make the announcement official. The next day, it seemed possible that Paige was actually done with the company too, but in SmackDown’s first segment, Shane McMahon introduced Paige as the Blue Brand’s new boss.
“…I’m just so happy. It was a rollercoaster of emotions over two days. WWE has been so fantastic. They still believed I should be doing something and gave me such a big role…Shane McMahon really helped me the first couple of weeks. Then he stepped down, so I could solidify my spot. I have been having so much fun. I love working with the girls and guys,” she said.
Paige as GM has been one of the more enjoyable details in WWE in 2018. The crowd clearly adores her, and she has the skillset to stand out as a non-wrestling personality. While she’s used to using the microphone, her new role as GM demands that she’s a strong public speaker. And luckily for Paige, she’s taken a few lessons from one of WWE’s best; The Miz.
“Any time I have a promo with him, and I like R-Truth too, but I always have the best chemistry with Miz. We really don’t stay on script perfectly. We kind of bounce off each other…He is the one I paid attention to when it came to promos. He helped me so much along the way with backstage segments. He made it so easy that it was great,” she said.
