Paige revealed how she felt before her WWE return in 2017. The moment came after a very difficult phase in her life.
That year included controversy, injury, and time away from the ring. She had been out for over a year due to neck surgery and suspension. At the same time, her private videos were leaked online. The situation left her struggling mentally and emotionally.
Despite everything, Paige returned later that year on an episode of WWE RAW. She interrupted a match and introduced Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. The group formed the stable known as Absolution. It marked a major comeback moment for her.
Recently, Paige spoke about how she felt before that return. She explained that fear and anxiety took over completely. The focus was not just on the return itself.
Paige reflects on fear and anxiety ahead of WWE return
Speaking on What’s Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon, Paige opened up about that night. She said it followed a year and a half of what she called a very hard time. She remembered being backstage before going out.
She said, “And I remember the first day I was coming back after everything, after that year and a half of just pure hell, I was finally going to come back. And it was the “I’m back. Did you miss me?” And that’s when Stephanie before I went out, I was crouched down on the floor, and she picked me up. She came over. She was, like, busy, but she came. She picked me up. She gave me this big hug. She whispered in my ear, ‘This will always be your house.'”
“And she goes, ‘And you started this whole thing. Now go out there and enjoy the moment.’ And she said, ‘And then just stand there and just let it breathe. Just don’t talk. If they’re loud, don’t talk. Just let it breathe.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, okay, yeah, I got this, right.’ And I go out there, and the crowd just erupted. It was freaking fantastic.”
She also admitted she was extremely scared before the entrance. “But I remember an hour before, a couple hours before that, I couldn’t even walk in the building. I had to text Tiara at the time that we had Mark. And I was like, ‘I can’t come in there. I can’t come in there.’ And he gets me. He puts his arm around me, and my whole body just like, I was so scared. I was so scared of what everyone thought of me, and I still had, even with the therapy, in the back of my head that I was disgusting.”
“Not in a good way, you guys. And the new not the new, not the new way. I thought I was, like I was disgusting. I thought people didn’t like me. I thought you guys hated me. But like, man, you made me feel so great. Like, you gave me the warmest hug. I mean, you did it again today. You gave me the warmest hug. It gave me the warmest hug. Vince gave me the warmest hug. Like, you guys were just like, ‘I’m just glad you’re alive.'”
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