Saraya says she feels fantastic after her return to the ring.
At AEW Full Gear, Saraya wrestled for the first time since 2017 when she faced Britt Baker in a high-profile match, and she defeated the former AEW Women’s World Champion.
During the AEW Full Gear post-show media scrum, Saraya discussed her return to the ring and emphasized that she felt great. She credited AEW President Tony Khan for taking care of the talent and being understanding with injuries. She also made it clear that she was happy she got to have her first match back in AEW.
“I feel fantastic. Tony really takes care of us, like down to a T, he was like, ‘I’m not gonna let you get back in the ring until you’re officially 100% ready to go,'” Saraya said. “I was like, I promise you, I’ve got this. So you know, MRIs, we did CT scans, we did X-rays, and my neck was just 100% ready to go. Even I was shocked. I was like, I didn’t realize it’d be 100%, but we got there.
“The thing is, again with Tony too, he’s very understanding when it comes to injuries and stuff like that. So I said I wanna take it slow coming back. I don’t wanna rush back in like I did the last time, where it was a lot of work straight away. He was just so understanding. I really appreciate him. So I’m happy that I got to do this in AEW, too. I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time, so it felt very cool that I got to do that here today.”
When WrestleZone’s Bill Pritchard asked Saraya about her neck and any protocols she needs to follow with her return to action, she detailed the procedure the medical team did before the match at AEW Full Gear. She noted that the doctors also checked on her after the match, and she assured them that everything was okay.
“The doctors are fantastic here, too,” Saraya said. “Again, they were also the ones that were like, we need to go to outside doctors too just to be 100% ready to go. So before the match, they worked on my neck. They heated it, they put those pads on, those electric pad things, and then they did all the pressure point stuff. They said we’ll do this every single time that you’re here, even when you’re not wrestling.
“Then afterwards, they came up and checked on me to make sure that I was okay. They massaged it a little bit, they felt around just to make sure everything was good. I was like, I promise you guys, I’m so good. But everyone is just so overly cautious, they want to me. But just know I’m 100% fantastic. I feel good.”
Saraya, formerly known as Paige, left WWE when her contract expired in July 2022. She then signed with AEW and made her debut on AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam on September 21.
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