Saraya is one of AEW’s newest acquisitions after recently signing to the company after getting let go from WWE. She was known as Paige, spending eleven years under the WWE banner after signing with developmental all the way back in 2011.
During her time of over a decade in the company, it is easy to forget quite a lot of the things she did in WWE, especially with some long-term hiatuses and a career cut short through injury. She did quite a lot during her time in the company when all things are considered, even if it wasn’t all that perfect at times.
10 Alliance With Alicia Fox
Following Paige’s first heel turn in WWE, in which she became more of a crazed individual with a strange obsession with AJ Lee, she joined forces with Alicia Fox. Fox became somewhat of a sidekick to Paige, though they didn’t have a whole lot of chemistry.
They both played slightly unhinged characters on occasion, but the similarities ended there. Their duo was short-lived though when Paige turned on her due to Fox costing her a title opportunity. Their rivalry ended with a few 2 minute matches on Raw and Main Event.
9 First Match With Emma
Most fans will remember the incredible match between Paige and Emma on NXT Arrival - the first ever live show on the WWE Network, and the precursor to NXT’s TakeOver events.
However, some will forget their first NXT Women’s Title match against each other, when they fought to crown the inaugural champion. In 2013, the two squared off in the finals of the NXT Women’s Title tournament, which Paige would win.
8 WrestleMania Tag Team Match
Although the “Women’s Revolution” was a couple of months away from beginning, the Divas match at WrestleMania 31 was perhaps a sign of things changing. It wasn’t a ridiculous multi-woman match or anything to do with “Playboy Bunnies”. Instead, it was a competitive tag team match.
The Bella Twins took on Paige & AJ Lee in a decent match, and whilst it felt a little like a Raw match, it didn’t feel out of place on the card. The lack of stakes makes it slightly forgettable though.
7 Insulted Charlotte Flair’s Brother
Following the implosion of the PCB alliance between Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch, it was Paige who struck out as a heel. During the feud with her former allies, Paige cut one of the worst promos ever.
Her delivery was fine, but the content was horrible, as she made digs at the death of Charlotte Flair’s brother. Due to backlash, WWE promptly deleted all mention of this and edited it out of replays, meaning that some newer fans may not be aware that it happened at all.
6 WWE Backstage
WWE attempted to add some more “sports realism” to the company with the WWE Backstage show, which ultimately ended up as a flop.
Fox would bring in CM Punk which was a major moment, and Paige was also a regular part of the panel. This show was a complete failure though, with fans losing interest even with the featured appearances of Punk.
5 Squash Match Loss Vs AJ Lee
Fans will remember Paige’s WWE main roster debut as she defeated AJ Lee in just over a minute, but the same exact opposite happened a few months later when AJ Lee returned to television.
In a minute, Lee shocked Paige with a victory and won back the Divas Championship. This wasn’t as big of a moment as their initial encounter was on the Raw after WrestleMania when Paige made her debut to a massive ovation.
4 Team “Total Divas”
On the WrestleMania 32 pre-show, Paige competed at her second WrestleMania event, this time in a ten-women’s tag team match which saw Team Total Divas take on Bad & Blonde.
This was a very basic match which was mostly in place to give Nikki Bella a send-off after her neck injury meant that she could not compete. She got a nice moment after the bell alongside the rest of the Total Divas cast. This also marked Eva Marie’s main roster return after two years.
3 Leader Of Absolution
The “Fire & Desire” team of Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville became quite a significant part of the women’s division on Raw and SmackDown, but they started off as “Abolution”, a trio led by Paige, who facilitated their main roster call up.
Following Paige’s injury, Rose and Deville continued using her theme music for a little while, before dropping the Absolution name and becoming “Fire & Desire”.
2 Tough Enough Judge
In 2015, WWE brought back the Tough Enough competition for its sixth season. Paige was a judge for the competition, alongside Daniel Bryan, Hulk Hogan, and The Miz.
This meant that her future alliance with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville made more sense, as they were competitors on that season of the competition. Tough Enough has yet to make another return, even though it did bring in the likes of Rose and Deville last time round.
1 Managing The Kabuki Warriors
The team of Asuka and Kairi Sane were quite a strong part of the women’s tag team division, and arguably the best Tag Team Champions to date. Their origins were quite weird though, as Paige made her return to television to manage the pair and introduce them to the division.
However, they’re beginning was stop/start, spending weeks at a time off television, especially when Paige took time off for surgery. When she came back, Asuka and Sane turned on her, ending their alliance before it had been given a chance to even develop.