There are a lot of reasons why Saraya is helmed to be a trailblazer not only in the WWE but in the pro-wrestling circuit as a whole. She had a tremendous career in WWE coming from the United Kingdom. Traveling all over the pond at a time when she was barely 18 is something courageous that has been well-documented in the feature film made about her.
Besides, entering the WWE locker room as Paige back at a phase when the Women’s Evolution was yet to begin handed her a lot of speed bumps on the journey. Saraya admittedly faced tough times when she joined the Vince McMahon-owned company back in 2011.
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After spending years in the UK independent circuit, the teenage girl was thrilled to have been signed by the world’s biggest wrestling promotion. But after arriving in the promotion’s developmental territory, FCW, she had to deal with a lot of animosity.
Saraya’s colleagues weren’t very pleased to see her in the locker room which caused a lot of bullying experience. Talking in a recent WWE Biography episode on A&E, the former Divas Champion revealed that she was only treated well by Summer Rae, while the other girls weren’t kind despite her having prior wrestling experiences,
“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 sh*t out of the locker room… they told me I had to do my stuff in the shower and they were just awful.”
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Saraya shared painful experiences from WWE with her father
Saraya’s father also opened up about the phone calls that he used to receive from his daughter even after several months following her FCW joining. He could have only encouraged his little one by saying that it was testing time for her before she could eventually be presented with the big moment,
“I remember calling my mom and dad for like three or four months and I was crying my eyes out. These phone calls were really frequent at the start until she settled in. Many times she wanted to come home. All I’m saying is ‘give it time, it’s your big moment. They’re gonna test you.”
Despite all the curveballs thrown at her, Saraya her the determination and resiliency that helped her to succeed in the professional wrestling industry and thereby be an idol to millions of fans all over the globe. Even her career came to an end due to a neck injury but she overcame all the odds and came back to wrestling capacity in AEW in the fall of 2022.
Saraya enjoyed a variety of roles in WWE as Paige before the company let her go. The former anti-diva had been the youngest NXT Women’s Champion as well as the youngest Divas Champion to set up her own legacy. She came to AEW as a staple and hopes to carry that forward by having more career-defining moments.
