Saraya Explains Teasing Crowd With Neck Bump Early In Full Gear Match
Saraya has described her thought process after teasing a neck injury during her in-ring return at AEW Full Gear.
At AEW Full Gear on November 19th, Saraya made her triumphant return to the wrestling ring by competing in her first AEW match after joining the company in September.
The reason Saraya did that is because wrestling fans are well aware that she broke her neck in December 2017 and had major surgery after that. For the next 4+ years in WWE, she was not cleared to wrestle again. Saraya signed with AEW while hoping she would get clear. Saraya has since revealed that she was cleared to wrestle again on October 31st. That led to the announcement of her Full Gear match.
During the match between Saraya and Baker at Full Gear, they did a spot where Baker got a shoulder tackle knockdown and Saraya sold it like she hurt her neck again, which is why she was grabbing it. Moments later, Saraya showed that she was just playing mind games after getting knocked down.
Saraya recently talked to former WWE Superstar Mojo Rawley about her return to the ring, while also talking about that neck injury spot.
“The first initial thing was, everyone was really excited that I was in the ring, right? So they’re very hyped, and then I did the first bump, and I wanted to do that first bump where I psyched everybody out. Because everyone was like, ‘As soon as she takes the first bump she’s gonna break her neck’… coming back, there was a lot of mixed reactions about it.”
“People were supportive or they were just really mean to me. And I’m like, ‘What is happening? Shouldn’t this be a very cool thing for people to witness,’ you know? So I wanted to go out there and prove everybody wrong but also troll them a little bit with the first bump.”
As she continued, Saraya spoke about the incredible she got from the fans.
“So I psyched them out and pretended that I hurt my neck, and everyone went dead quiet in the arena. They were like, [gasps]. And then I got up and just started laughing, you know? And 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.’ And I realized afterwards is because people just genuinely don’t want me to get hurt in the ring again… so once I got through it, everyone was clapping afterward like, ‘Whoo, she got through it you guys! Good job!”
Saraya’s second AEW match has been announced for the January 11th edition of Dynamite in Los Angeles. Saraya will team up with a mystery partner against Baker and AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter in that match.