Former groundbreaking WWE star makes final AEW exit decision
03/26/2025 02:28 PM
In a surprising twist, AEW star Saraya (aka Paige) has announced that she is leaving the company. The former WWE Superstar is a free agent.
She made the announcement on her new podcast, Rulebreakers with Saraya, which premieres on Thursday, March 26, 2025. Entertainment Weekly broke an exclusive tidbit from the episode where the two-time Divas Champion announced her decision.
“I’m here to tell you that me and AEW’s relationship has come to an end,” she said. “I had an amazing time there. There’s no bad blood between us. I had such a magical time.”
She further explained her decision. It sounds like Saraya did not see her place within the company. However, it is unclear if she will continue wrestling or give it all up.
“And then I got to thinking — what is there left for me to do in wrestling right now?” she pondered. “Right now, there’s really no storylines where I would fit in.”
Did she leave because of Tony Khan?
Saraya clarified that her decision does not involve AEW founder Tony Khan, who she called “f**king awesome” later in the podcast. She once again reinforced that the decision was about her not fitting into the current landscape of the company.
“It’s just me thinking that I just don’t fit in right now,” Saraya explained. “I feel like I might be taking someone else’s spot, someone who could be doing something really special.”
She also thanked the company, which she was with for over two years after debuting in September 2022. Saraya seems grateful for the stint she had, praising Khan and the locker room.
“Thank you, AEW. Thank you to the AEW fans — I loved my f**king time there,” she praised. “Tony’s f**king awesome. And anyone that goes to work there will just enjoy their time. It’s just great.
“And I’ll miss the girls’ locker room. I’ll miss you, but don’t be a f**king stranger! You know where I am. I see some of you outside the company anyway,” she continued.
Will Saraya return to AEW or WWE after leaving?
For now, Saraya is out of AEW. However, she did say that the door is open for a return to AEW in the future if it works out. She is putting all of her effort into the podcast in the interim, though.
“That’s not to say I will never come back to AEW — I absolutely love it,” Saraya said. “But I’m taking a little step back and focusing on myself for a bit and putting my energy into the podcast with all the crew here. What a wonderful crew I have here.”
Saraya joined AEW in September 2022 after her WWE release in July 2022. She had not wrestled in nearly a half-decade due to a neck injury, and AEW allowed her to get back in the ring.
During her time in AEW, Saraya won the Women’s World Championship once. She held the championship for 44 days before dropping it to Hikaru Shida.
Before joining AEW, Saraya was known as Paige in WWE. She became the youngest Divas Champion, winning the title at 21 years old.
She retired from in-ring competition in 2017 due to her neck injury. Paige continued to appear as an on-screen character for the remaining years of her career.
While in WWE, a biopic was made about her. Fighting with My Family, which stars Florence Pugh as Paige, was released in 2019. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson produced and starred in it. Lena Headley, Nick Frost, Jack Lowden, and Vince Vaughn also starred in the biopic.
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