Saraya on signing with AEW, becoming a free agent, interest in appearing at WWE Evolution, whether she would return as Paige

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Saraya
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com

On the decision to sign with AEW: “I was never open to the idea of wrestling again, because I just assumed I wasn’t going to do it. So when me and WWE parted ways, I was like what the f*ck am I going to do with my life now? I can’t wrestle, what the hell am I going to do? I was a little stressed out, but then, within a couple of weeks, WWE was calling me again to come back. Hunter was the one that called me, and then AEW called me at the same time. So I was just like, well, what the f*ck do I do? Who do I go with? And then WWE was like, ‘If you want to wrestle again at some point, we can check your neck and we’ll keep that coin in your back pocket.’ And I was like, Okay. Then I was just gonna do a GM role again there. So I was like, Okay, that sounds great. But then AEW called me, and they were just like, ‘We’ll sign your brother.’ And I was like, ok.”

On being a free agent: “I’m a free agent now. I could pop up anywhere. No, my contract’s done, done. That’s one thing that helped is because they gave me the opportunity to walk away from this contract. Not a lot of companies or businesses would do that, but Tony was really, really great about it. So I was like, you can keep paying me, or I can just take a hike.”

On if there a non-compete: “No, Tony was great. It was a clean split.”

On whether the WWE return would be as Paige or Saraya: “Paige, 100%. I miss Paige so much. I tell people all the time. So again, when I went to AEW, I didn’t want to be close to my character in WWE because of the comparisons. I was like, Okay. And then I ended up being like a chicken sh*t heel with AEW, which is all fun and good, but there’s a ceiling to that. Whereas Paige, I mean, she’s generational. I love her. She’s bad ass, tough as nails, just screaming all the time. I loved being her. She was a f*cking badass, and that felt more like an elevated version of myself, rather than doing what I was doing in AEW. But again, that was my decision to be like that. But then I was like, Damn I wish I leaned more into my original character, but it is what it is. You live, you learn.”

On a possible WWE Evolution appearance: “It’s like a bittersweet thing, because the first one, I couldn’t be on it because of my neck. So if I had the opportunity to be on this all-female pay-per-view, of course, yeah, I would think about it.”

On possible WWE dream matches: “I always get Rhea [Ripley] to either be a tag team partner [or opponent], the original goth sister to now, the ultimate goth sister. So I’d love to be in a team with her or wrestle her, because that’s what people want. I would love to wrestle Mercedes down the line, because it’s a built-in storyline. All the girls now, they’re all superstars, dude. I would get in the ring with anybody at any point in time. They’re all amazing. Probably Nattie again. I love Nattie. I’ve wrestled her a billion times, but, oh my God.”