Saraya Thought Her Pro Wrestling Days Were Over After WWE Let Her Go

Prior to her AEW debut in 2022, Saraya had not competed in a wrestling ring since suffering a devastating neck injury in December 2017. Then when WWE opted to not renew her contract last summer, she thought the door was officially closed for an in-ring return. The former Divas Champion recently appeared on "Wilde On" and recalled the events that led to her lacing up the boots again.

"I was really happy and then me and WWE parted ways, and then I get a call from Hunter being like, 'What happened? Did you want to leave or did they ask you to leave?' And I was like, 'That's surprising that you don't know about this.' But no, Vince didn't want to renew my contract," Saraya said.

She recalled how several people from AEW reached out to her about getting in contact with Tony Khan. Once they did make contact, Saraya was brought in quickly and signed a contract even though they didn't know what her role would be at the time.

"It was just awesome that they brought me in," Saraya added. "Maybe I was going to be a general manager, maybe a producer. I was going to be doing something there, but I don't know what. Definitely not wrestling because I thought, 'No way,' right."

After discussions with Khan, she was intrigued to see what her neck looked like, and that's what started the process of her in-ring return. On November 19 at AEW Full Gear, Saraya officially returned to the squared circle and defeated Britt Baker in her first match in five years.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wilde On" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.