Paige was forced to take a significant time off due to neck issues but when she finally returned to WWE to form a faction alongside Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, fans started getting excited about what might be next for her. Unfortunately, a match at a WWE Live event against Sasha Banks worsened her injuries and she was forced to retire from in-ring competition the night after WrestleMania.
However, the night after that took place, she was appointed SmackDown Live's General Manager and Paige has now talked more about what it was like to change roles so drastically within WWE.
"It was a surprise to me too because I knew it was coming, the week prior they said ‘this might happen…’ I lost my voice, and they said if you don’t get your voice back to make this announcement, you won’t be doing it at all. I was drinking tea, I was doing my best to get my voice back, but we managed to do it, which was great, and they texted me—I got a text from one of the writers—like ‘OK you have to stay here for Smackdown tomorrow.’ [And I was like] ‘Just let me be!’ It was like putting salt in the wound.
"It was good. Once I turned up there Road Dogg was literally on my right and bombarded me like ‘this is happening. Be quiet, no one knows.’ And I was like ‘Oh, really, this is great!’ And then we walked out, and it was great; I get goosebumps from the crowd. They’re so supportive. I thought it was the end for me, and then it wasn’t. It was a beautiful beginning, I love what I do now."
Paige has done a great job as SmackDown Live's General Manager and like Daniel Bryan before her, she's proved to be an entertaining presence each week despite not competing in the ring. We'll presumably see her stay in the role for the foreseeable future with any luck and if the day does come when she chooses to walk away with that, you have to hope she'll still have a place in WWE.