Saraya describes how Edge helped her relax before she returned to the ring.
In 2018, the former Paige was forced to retire due to a 2017 neck injury. She left WWE when her contract expired in July and proceeded to sign with All Elite Wrestling. Saraya then announced that she was medically cleared to compete, so she wrestled in her first match in five years at AEW Full Gear on November 19. There, she defeated former AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker. Naturally, returning to the ring after her major injury was a nerve-wracking process, but she got some advice from WWE Hall of Famer Edge, who also came back from a career-ending injury.
In an interview with Alistair McGeorge of Metro, Saraya detailed how Edge used from his own experience to assure her that everything would be okay. She noted that the legend was also present for her retirement speech, so his kind words brought her full circle.
“Edge was fantastic, he was texting me just being like, ‘Everything’s gonna be fine, make sure you breathe’,” Saraya said. “He was there when I was walking out for my retirement speech too and helping with that, and then coming back it was like full circle.
“He was like, ‘I did this too, we’re in this elite club of neck injuries, me, you and Stone Cold!’ Having people that understood, and also my producer BJ Whitmer, he also is a wrestler and had a neck injury the same as mine.’
Saraya also credited producers BJ Whitmer and Dean Malenko as two people that helped her relax as they helped her put the match together.
“Having him as a producer – and Dean Malenko of course – really made me relax because he knew what I could and couldn’t do,” Saraya said. “He’d make suggestions and be like, “Let’s maybe stay away from that the first match, we’ll ease into the moves”. Having a support system really helped.”
The AEW star also noted that her family and Britt Baker were a vital part of this support system.
Saraya is set to team up with a mystery partner to face Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter on the January 11 episode of AEW Dynamite.
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