Paige's impact on WWE's women's division in the mid-2010s was massive, starting with an unforgettable main roster debut in 2014 when, during her first night on RAW, she beat AJ Lee for the Divas Championship.
Unfortunately, Paige also battled addiction and neck issues, and while she's since managed to overcome those to step back into the ring for AEW, many fans remain eager to see her back in WWE, not as Saraya, but as Paige.
It's been nearly a year since Saraya left AEW, but she's yet to make a WWE comeback. Talking to Freddie Prinze Jr., the former Total Divas star explained how her approach to professional wrestling has changed and admitted she wasn't entirely satisfied with her AEW run.
"I’m taking wrestling so seriously. I lost my passion for it for a second. I kind of fell out of love with it, and it was kind of making me miserable at one point," Saraya explained. "I loved being in AEW. I had so much fun. But, the character I was doing, I wasn’t too happy with, and I wish I could have done certain matches and certain things, and it didn’t come to be, and it’s fine."
"I just kind of fell out of love with it, and so now, I’m just like, 'I need to start training again. I need to get my ass back into shape. I need to be the Paige that I was in NXT but better,'" she continued. "I can do it at 33 still. I still got it."
The hope had been that Paige might be part of last weekend's Women's Royal Rumble match in Saudi Arabia. She was nowhere to be seen, and Saraya is well aware of how much fans wanted to see her in the 30-woman bout.
"A lot of people were mad that I wasn’t in the Rumble, and a lot of people thought I was gonna be number 30 too. I’ve had that much support before but I thought I had lost all that support, because of all my controversy," Saraya noted. "But it was just absolutely bonkers. There was thousands of videos across all platforms on just a couple of training videos."
"It was at 13 million a couple of days ago, and now it’s like 18 million. It is just absolutely insane. I cried one day because of it, because I’m just like, 'I can’t believe people still love me. This is crazy.'"
"I’ve always dreamed of being a part of. So yeah, it was incredible," she concluded, confirming WWE didn't reach out about an appearance. "I wish I was part of it, but it’s more to it. WWE has to make that decision. Not me..."
We clearly haven't seen the last of Saraya in a wrestling ring, but where she lands now remains to be seen. An AEW return doesn't seem likely, and she's yet to hear from WWE, so it might be worth keeping a close eye on TNA.