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Update On Saraya Choosing To Sign With AEW, News On Previous WWE Deal

By John Canton • Published 13th October 2022
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A new update has provided some insight into why Saraya chose to sign with AEW along with information on WWE’s old regime believing the “case was closed” in terms of clearing Saraya to wrestle again.

It was in July 2022 when Saraya’s WWE run came to an end. Her contract expired after spending nearly five years out of the ring due to a major neck injury that required surgery.

When Saraya debuted in All Elite Wrestling on the September 21 edition of Dynamite in New York City, it was a huge thing because fans were used to seeing her as WWE’s Paige for a decade prior to that. Since then, Saraya has done promos saying that the AEW ring is her house while also starting a feud with former AEW Women’s Champion Dr. Britt Baker, DMD.

Following Saraya getting physically involved with Baker on the October 5th episode of Dynamite (including a superkick on Rebel), it was reported that Saraya was medically cleared to compete in wrestling again. It’s not known when she might have her first match in AEW, but it’s expected that it will happen fairly soon.

It was reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select that former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis decided to not renew Saraya’s deal which eventually expired in July. The Fightful story noted that her deal with WWE was for a “surprisingly low” amount while adding that it also limited her outside projects. An outside project that means a lot to Saraya is her Twitch channel where she has over 230,000 followers.

The Fightful story added that while there were rumors that WWE would try to get Saraya cleared to compete, apparently that’s not true at all. It was added that Saraya went through “three extensive health checks” in order to gain clearance to compete in AEW. It was also mentioned that WWE’s previous regime (led by Vince McMahon) wouldn’t even sign off on x-rays with the company believing the case was closed in terms of Saraya wrestling again.

It is also believed that having the freedom to do outside projects and other deal terms is what ultimately led to Saraya signing with AEW.

While Saraya joining AEW was a big deal, she did not appear on the October 12th edition of Dynamite. However, she did react in a very positive way to her good friend Renee Paquette’s signing with AEW as an announcer.

Saraya and Renee are good friends that also worked together closely on the WWE Backstage show on FS1 as well.