Saraya got through her first match in AEW without any issues… and a memorable reaction.
Speaking with Dean “Mojo” Muhtadi on TMZ Sports, Saraya spoke about her AEW in-ring debut and how much people were concerned for her health. Saraya noted that although she is cleared, people just don’t want to see her get hurt again. She says she was winded after the match was over, but is proud of what she did in the ring.
“When it came to the wrestling side of things, the thing that I was worried about is if my wind was gonna get me through. It did, but I was dying. Everyone was really fantastic. Jerry Lynn was backstage, and he’s this old-school wrestler and legend. He was like, ‘You kept your head down a lot. You need to pick it up. I was just like, ‘Bro, I couldn’t keep my head up. I was blown up.’ I could not breathe. I was like face-down. I was like, ‘I can’t believe I went out and did that. I think we did like a total of 14 minutes, and the first initial thing was that everyone was really excited I was in the ring, so they’re very hyped.”
Saraya says she took her first bump and feigned hurting her neck again, knowing that she wanted to get a reaction out of people. She noted that part of her was out to prove people wrong, but she got a good laugh out of it as well.
“I psyched everybody out because everyone was like, ‘As soon as she takes that first bump, she’s gonna break her neck.’ Because it’s really crazy to me that people were so supportive of the men coming back, but I don’t know if it’s like a female thing or not, and I don’t want to make it about that really. But coming back, there was a lot of mixed reactions about it, like people were supportive, or they were just really mean to me. I was like, what is happening? Shouldn’t this be a really cool thing for people to witness? So I wanted to go out there and prove everybody wrong, but also troll them a little bit with the first bump.
“So I psyched them out and pretended that I hurt my neck on the first bump. Everyone went dead quiet in the arena. They were like [gasps]. Then I got up and just started laughing. Then the crowd went quiet again because after that, all the bumps, they were all just like, ‘Oh my God, please don’t get hurt.’ I realized afterwards, it’s because people just genuinely don’t want me to get hurt in the ring again. It’s a scary situation, and there was that viral video of me getting hurt in the first place. So I understood, and then once I got through it, everyone was clapping afterwards like, ‘Phew, she got through it, you guys. Good job.’”
Read More: Saraya: I Can’t Imagine Being ‘Paige’ Now Because I’m Not Her Anymore
