Saraya Recalls Asking To Manage Ronda Rousey In WWE
Saraya has recalled a time in her WWE career when she was unable to wrestle due to injury, so she pitched the idea of being a manager for Ronda Rousey.
The former Paige in WWE, now using her real first name of Saraya, joined All Elite Wrestling on the September 21st edition of Grand Slam Dynamite. The reason she was able to sign with AEW is because WWE chose not to re-sign her when her contract expired earlier this year.
During her WWE run as Paige, Saraya was a two-time WWE Divas Champion that was very popular with the fans and would always get reactions, even as a heel. In December 2017, she suffered a major neck injury that required surgery. Saraya officially announced her in-ring retirement on Raw following WrestleMania 34. After he in-ring career was over, Saraya served as SmackDown General Manager and also as a manger for The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane).
“I remember contacting them, Mark Carrano, just everybody, even WWE studios. I contacted them and was like, ‘If you want me to do media, I can do that. If you want me to do this, I can do that. If you want me to do managerial work.’ I think Ronda needed a mouthpiece at the time. I was pitching to work on doing that. I was constantly pitching all these different ideas and just being a manager in general, because, you know, I was doing managerial stuff for a bunch of women. I was like,’ I can do these things. I’m available. Just let me know.’ But I end up sitting in my house for like, three or four years. That’s the most depressing thing because you just feel like you’re completely useless.”
Even though Saraya asked to manage Rousey in WWE, it did not materialize on television.
Elsewhere during her appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Saraya talked about how she feels healthy with her neck although she added that she wants to take it slowly when she returns to the ring. Saraya also explained why she took a “shot” at former WWE boss Vince McMahon during her AEW debut while noting that she didn’t think it was a big deal and people “need to chill” about it.