Report: Saraya's (Paige) Possible Future With Either WWE or AEW
Saraya Bevis (fka Paige) saw her WWE contract officially end back in July and has since agreed to a number of public appearances. And while she has indicated on Twitch streams that she's willing to finally get back in the ring years her career-ending neck injury, there's been no indication of when her first match will be. Fightful Select reported on Thursday that conversations between Bevis and AEW this Summer though it's unclear what has come from it, if anything.
"We weren't given additional context of that, beyond one person stating there stating that they believe WWE would also be interested in bringing her back considering the new regime. We were told that the conversations didn't result in anything at the time, but anything could have changed since then," Sean Ross Sapp wrote.
After suffering her neck injury in late 2017 and announcing her in-ring retirement the following April, Paige remained a consistent presence on WWE television for several years, first as the general manager of SmackDown and then as the manager for the Kabuki Warriors. But after WWE Backstage, an FS1 show she was on as a panelist, was scrapped, her appearances started drying up. She then clarified in a stream that the decision for her to be let go was a decision made by the company, not her. However, it's worth noting that was under the Vince McMahon regime, which ended upon his retirement weeks after her contract ended.
"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."
She 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."
