Saraya Says She Pushed Tony Khan To Let Her Compete In Singles Matches
Going into one of the biggest matches of her career, Saraya has explained the process of getting cleared to wrestle again and what her initial thoughts were as far as matches go.
Saraya will be competing in her first pro wrestling match in nearly five years this Saturday, November 19th at Full Gear when she faces Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. in singles action. The reason Saraya didn’t wrestle for five years is due to surgery to repair a major neck injury she suffered in a WWE ring as Paige in December 2017.
It was recently revealed by Saraya that she was cleared to compete again by a doctor on October 31st. While she was optimistic about it, the 30-year-old former WWE Divas Champion didn’t know if it was going to happen.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet on his popular Youtube channel, Saraya talked about what she initially talked about with AEW Owner/President Tony Khan about a potential match while noting she wanted to be in singles matches.
“So I asked Tony about it. And at first he was like, well, maybe we can do tag matches, depending on how cleared you are, you know, kind of like how we did with Sting. And I was just like, Yeah, but like, if I was to come back, I would want it to be like a singles match. I feel like that’s such a big deal. Not that I didn’t want to work with the rest of the girls, I was just like, if I wanted to come back, I just had this dream in my head that it will be a singles match. And so I took it upon myself to be like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna go to a non-wrestling doctor.'”
“Nothing to do with WWE, nothing to do with AEW, just a doctor as like, doesn’t have like [bias]. I know doctors are not supposed to be biased, but that was in my head. There’s zero bias if I go to someone outside of wrestling, because this time around, if I was potentially able to get cleared, I would want it to be because I’m 100% ready to go. Not because they’re like, well, maybe we can squeeze her in these and these matches. Like I know, I want to be 100% ready. I want to go to a doctor that works with NFL NBA singers, like actors, just all these massive people were like, if it was declare me, it would be because again, I’m 100% ready to go because he wouldn’t want his job to be [in jeopardy].”
As mentioned, Saraya did get cleared and that match against Baker should be one of the most anticipated matches at Full Gear this Saturday in Newark, New Jersey.
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit Chris Van Vliet on Youtube and link back to this article with a H/T to TJRWrestling.