Saraya is often credited for being the progenitor of the actual Women’s revolution in WWE, alongside Emma. It was their match at NXT that proved that the female performers, if allowed to, could hang with their male counterparts. However, her early days with the promotion were not easy. In fact, it almost made her want to quit and leave the WWE.
Known as Paige at the time, Saraya was bullied early on in her WWE career by the girls in the locker room. She signed with the promotion all the way back in 2011 and was assigned to the FCW developmental brand but almost decided to quit after the hazing got to her.
Saraya wanted to quit WWE after being bullied by the girls in the WWE locker room
In the recent episode of WWE Biography, focusing on Saraya, the now AEW star talked about her early days in the WWE. She recalled the female talent in FCW being intimidated of her due to her prior wrestling experience. They would often throw her stuff out of the locker room and forced her to change in the shower.
The only person kind to her at the time was Summer Rae.
“I came in with previous wrestling experience and some of the girls were intimidated by that… The only person that was nice to me was Summer Rae… I remember they used to throw my **** out of the locker room… they told me I had to do my stuff in the shower and they were just awful,” she said. “I remember calling my mom and dad for like three or four months and I was crying my eyes out.”
Back-to-back episodes of Biography: WWE Legends continues with Paige! Tune in RIGHT NOW! pic.twitter.com/K3sD007i5q
— WWE (@WWE) March 20, 2023
She eventually had enough of the bullying and decided to stand up for herself.
Saraya recalled kicking the door down and threatening the girls. She warned them not to touch her stuff or she would beat them up. This worked, as the hazing stopped after.
Saraya has a Hall of Fame career
Paige may not have reached her potential due to several reasons, but she still has an impressive resume with the promotion.
After FCW was rebranded into NXT, a tournament was announced to crown the first ever NXT Women’s Champion. Paige came out victorious, beating Emma in the final.
A year later, she made her main roster debut, the night after WrestleMania and fought AJ Lee for the Divas championship which she quickly won. With this win, she became the youngest ever divas champion at just 21!
She was also the first female competitor to win the title on her debut, and the first ever to hold both the main roster and NXT title at the same time. She went on to win the title one more time. Unfortunately, she never managed to scale the heights many predicted her career would reach due to suspensions and a career ending injury.
Fortunately for the fans, her WWE career was not the end of her life with wrestling. She made a stunning return as Saraya in AEW, where she has competed for the AEW Women’s World Championship already.
At just 30, if she manages to take care of herself, there is still a lot of time for her to achieve everything she set out to when she had just started her career.
Click here for more Wrestling News
