Saraya is All Elite.
At AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam, Toni Storm defended her AEW Interim Women’s World Championship against Britt Baker, Athena, and Serena Deeb. After the match, Baker, Deeb, and Jamie Hayter beat down Storm and Athena until a familiar faced debuted.
Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE, made her official AEW debut to a thunderous reaction inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. While she didn’t get physical, her mere presence was enough to scare off the heels. The segment ended with Saraya raising Storm and Athena’s hands.
.@Saraya is HERE at #AEWDynamite Grand Slam and we are LIVE on @TBSNetwork! pic.twitter.com/bBqrfVUvS6
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) September 22, 2022
Following the shocking appearance, Tony Khan tweeted the official #AllElite graphic to confirm Saraya is now under contract. She departed WWE over the summer and has not been cleared to compete since suffering a career-ending injury in December 2017.
During an appearance on The Sessions with Renee Paquette, the former Paige spoke about her current health as well as the fact that she sometimes teases making an in-ring return. Saraya said she’s feeling fantastic and would entertain doing promos, but she’s not going to work a match unless it’s for a big moment.
“I feel fantastic, I really do feel fantastic. I still have that mental block of like, ‘Oh my God, if I was to get in the ring, what if?’ If I was to have to be in the ring, it would be for a really big moment, to wrestle. Like I’ll do promos here and there, for big companies, but to actually wrestle, it would have to be a really big moment. I would love to face Sasha [Banks] again, for real. Because, like, it ended the way it did.”
Related: AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam Results (9/21): Five Title Matches
