Paige, one of the most popular female superstars in the modern era, was forced to leave the WWE on July 7 of this year. She is no more officially a WWE Superstar after the company decided not to re-sign her once her contract ran out. Given that she’s previously indicated to be back to competition, fans started to wonder which promotion could hire her, next.
Fans also immediately started to wonder if she would end up going to the AEW and that’s how things transpired in the WWE rival brand. Paige was originally forced to retire in December 2017 due to a neck injury. It was that same year that the former WWE Superstar had to go through a tumultuous set of events.
Paige Got Open Invitation To Move To Impact Wrestling Following WWE Departure
Back in March 2017 just prior to Wrestlemania 33, Paige got hacked and her personal photos and videos got leaked online at a time when she was already experiencing a tough time with another former WWE Superstar in Alberto Del Rio. This hack also occurred during the timespan when she was serving a second suspension for violating WWE’s wellness policy.
Things couldn’t go worse as she was already recovering from neck surgery and was sidelined from WWE TV for almost a year. Added to this was her overall health battle alongside the addiction to drinking and it was quite hard for her to digest all of these, at one. So, for once, Paige thought that she wouldn’t be able to take it, anymore.
Paige went through the toughest phase of her life in 2017
During a recent appearance on Renee Paquette’s The Sessions podcast, Paige recalled her reaction after private media content featuring her in compromised positions got leaked,
“I felt so f***ing stupid and I felt so embarrassed, and I was already a cokehead at this time and loved to drink. That really got me to the point where I didn’t want to be alive anymore. It was f***ing awful. I was just so f***ing sad. I didn’t want to be alive anymore.” (quotes courtesy Wrestling Inc)
Paige also said that immediately after finding out what had happened on the internet, she hid in a bush so that she could stay away from people. It was then when she rang her father, wrestler/promoter Ricky Knight from the UK to apologize for what had happened. Ricky appeared to be so supportive of his daughter by telling her that she had nothing to be sorry about.
“I remember being like ‘If my dad is disappointed with me, I don’t think I could be here anymore. I was just crying my eyes out, and I was like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ My dad was like, ‘What are you sorry for?’ And I was just like, ‘I don’t know. I just don’t want to disappoint you. I just want you to know that I’m still proud of you and I’m not disappointed.”
