AEW’s Saraya Talks Her Mystery Partner, Reacts To Vince McMahon Rumors

Even after making her triumphant in-ring return in AEW, Saraya still hasn’t watched her return match.

Despite being equal parts young and a living legend—and perhaps because of it—Saraya (formerly known as Paige in WWE) is her own biggest critic. And after a pay-per-view victory five years in the making, Saraya is just happy to have her return match behind her so she can focus on what lies ahead in All Elite Wrestling.

“I can’t get myself to watch it, and it has nothing to do with Britt, it’s all me,” said Saraya in an exclusive interview.

“I’m really hard on myself anyways, so watching my matches back has always been difficult, unless I do it on my Twitch and people really want to watch, it I’m like ‘okay, yeah, we can definitely do that.’ But even when I’m talking to them about it I’m like ‘okay, ignore that part (laughs).’”

“I’m very, very hard on myself. I’m fully aware that I had a long time out of the business, and it’s really difficult to get back in and be 100% straight away like how I used to be. With age, and with time away, things change. And that’s okay. So it’s going to take me some time to get back in the full swing of things, and now that I’ve got the match out of the way I can deep dive into some character stuff, too.

“I was kind of too nervous throughout my time there so far. All I kept thinking about was ‘okay, these promos. Okay, this match.’ Now that I’ve got the first match out of the way, I can really start getting back and creating Saraya.”

In her much-anticipated comeback, Saraya started at the top. She feuded with one of AEW’s biggest stars in Britt Baker, whom she defeated at AEW Full Gear 2022. Baker leads a loaded women’s division in AEW that is often overlooked due to the limited television time for the fourth-year company. AEW recently trademarked “All Elite Women,” which has led to speculation of everything from a merchandise line to a television series. And even as AEW continues to add to its belt collection, Saraya sees nothing wrong with an AEW Women’s tag team division.

Saraya Wants AEW Women’s Tag Team Titles

“I’m always for an all-women’s show, for sure. I feel like there could be a tag division we could get going as well,” said Saraya.

“Like [women’s] tag team championships. I don’t think we should load wrestling with a ton of championships, but there is space for a women’s tag division, too. There are a lot of women we have backstage that are not on the show, and that could give them an opportunity to be on the show. There is always so much we could do with the women, and people don’t realize how much talent we have backstage.”

Saraya is no stranger to tag team wrestling as the former leader of WWE’s Absolution stable alongside then-future stars Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Saraya now finds herself in quite possibly the biggest women’s tag team match of 2023. Even though it takes place on just the second Dynamite of the year (January 11, 2022 from Inglewood, Calif.), AEW has begun a hefty one-month build toward the reveal of Saraya’s mystery tag team partner.

Expectations are high, and Sasha Banks (Mercedes Varnado) is currently leading the charge.

Saraya Praises Sasha Banks, Talks Mystery Tag Partner

“I feel like anytime there’s a mystery, everyone always goes straight for Mercedes (laughs). They’re like—straight away—it’s her!” said Saraya.

“There’s plenty of women out there, I’m not going to say yes or no to anybody, but there’s a lot of exciting prospects for a potential tag partner.”

Saraya has a long history with Sasha Banks, who unenviably injured Saraya in a freak accident during a house show. This injury led to Saraya’s retirement for five years. The incident led to garden-variety toxicity online, but Saraya has remained one of Banks’ biggest fans throughout.

“I’ve always said that I would want to work with Sasha again in any capacity, because she’s a pro. In the wrestling side of things, she’s such a fantastic athlete, you can’t deny her talent. She’s fantastic.”

“People can be really tough on people,” lamented Saraya. “Especially female athletes, which can be super frustrating. Especially female athletes who carry their weight. They can go toe-to-toe with most of the guys. So if someone gets a little bit hurt, especially in the women’s division, the whole internet blows up and they’re just like ‘this person’s unsafe, and this person’s unsafe…’”

“I remember this one time, I think Brie [Bella] hurt somebody, and it really annoyed me because she never hurts anybody. But the fact that people blew up on her like ‘you hurt her, you’re unsafe,’ it’s like it was just one person. In a 15-year career, that’s actually really good. You can’t go into a business without accidentally hurting someone at some point.”

“The people who take it personally, are the people on the internet. People on the internet take it personally for you, but me and Sasha have always been on good terms. It is what it is, but Sasha—mentally—it f—ked with her, and that’s not fair.”

Sasha Banks will reportedly appear at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom inside the Tokyo Dome, further fueling speculation due to New Japan’s working relationship with AEW. Banks in AEW would add to the dynamic of former WWE stars taking their talents to Jacksonville. Though this dynamic was exploited to perfection during Saraya’s storyline alongside Baker, Saraya insists any WWE vs. AEW tensions are overblown in real life.

Saraya Feels WWE vs. AEW Tensions are Overblown

“When I was backstage in WWE, I didn’t see people talk s—t about AEW,” Saraya said.

“People were just happy that there was another place for people to go. When people would get let go in WWE, we’d be so devastated for people. It would be like someone just died or something like that. But now, we’re just like ‘you have an opportunity in AEW now.’ We get happy for people who have a place that they can go that’s just as big, just as Goliath and just as gigantic.”

Saraya left WWE after a wildly successful 11-year run where she’ll be a shoo-in for the WWE Hall of Fame. She entered AEW to open arms and a massive pop on the September 21, 2022 broadcast of AEW Dynamite. But wrestling fans are as fickle as any. Even during her first feud against Britt Baker, the audience became split as Baker garnered support as a Day 1 AEW wrestler. There were points where Saraya even approached Baker backstage to suggest that Saraya turn heel.

In the end, both women played their roles with Saraya as the babyface and Baker as the heel, and they embraced their polarizing reactions. As Saraya continues to get her feet wet in her second act, she yearns for the day when she can become a villain in AEW.

“I would love to be a heel, if I’m being honest,” said Saraya. “I have so many different ideas being a heel. I always say to people it’s so much easier to be a heel than it is to be a babyface.”

“Being a heel, it’s so much easier to get people to hate you. It’s so easy! You can just walk out and people start booing you, like ‘I don’t like the way that she walks,’ so I’d love to be a heel and I could be really great with that. I feel like even in WWE, I felt more comfortable when I was doing more of my heelish work. I felt better, and you don’t take things as personally when you’re a heel, too. You’re like ‘whatever, I’m a bad guy.’ If you’re a babyface, you’re like ‘why don’t they like me?!’”

Saraya Reacts to Vince McMahon WWE Return Rumors

Saraya in AEW means a new boss in Tony Khan. Saraya’s old boss was the most famous wrestling promoter who ever lived. And after a turbulent downfall, McMahon is back in the news for reportedly wanting to come back to WWE. Saraya couldn’t help but react.

“He’s only been out for a couple of months!” Saraya said with a laugh.

“I feel like WWE’s doing a really great job with Hunter in charge. And I feel like everyone backstage is very happy from what people have been telling me. People across the board are just happy, not saying they won’t be if Vince comes back, but I felt this breather was needed to really shake things up over there and get people excited. But if he comes back, is he going to undo everything Hunter [Triple H] has done? That’s the question, you just don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t work there anymore, so I don’t have to worry about it.”

“I have Tony [Khan], and he’s fantastic as a boss to me, so if I have any issues I can tell him and he’ll always be very clear with stuff. Whereas I just get nervous if Vince comes back for them because you just don’t know what he’s thinking on a a day-to-day basis.”