10 British Wrestlers Who Had Profound Impact In America
5. Paige
When you win the top championship in American womens wrestling on your first night, you know youve made an impact, and thats exactly what Paige did at the age of just 21. America has the Funks and the Von Erichs. Canada has the Harts. And the UK has the Knight family, owners of WAW, one of the UKs longest running promotions. The daughter of wrestlers Rowdy Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya, Paige had no intention of becoming a wrestler initially, but fell into it over time while being surrounded by the business. Not only did her parents wrestle, but so did her brothers, two of Britains most solid and spectacular talents, Roy Zebra Kid Knight and Zak Zodiac Knight. Debuting at the tender age of 13 to fill in for an absent wrestler, she displayed a natural aptitude for the business, and would often travel abroad with her mother or even alone all across Europe. I witnessed some of the matches that she would have with her mother Saraya (whos one of the scariest heels EVER!) and, well, lets just say that they didnt go easy on each other, putting on some of the most hard-hitting womens matches ever seen outside of Japan. Paige and Sarayas exploits were making waves all across the wrestling world, and they didnt go unnoticed in the United States. In 2011, Paige (wrestling as Britani Knight) and Saraya ventured across to compete in Shimmer, the all-female independent promotion based out of Illinois. They had a couple of unsuccessful tag team title challenges before the team imploded, and the mother and daughter combination had a typically brutal no-DQ match which proved to be Paiges last match for Shimmer. When the WWE reinvented their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, as NXT, Paige featured prominently in the opening titles. Her debut match came in the third episode and she was given time to display her talents. With the main WWE roster being very much glamour over graft at the time, it was clear to see that the best womens wrestling was happening in NXT rather than WWE itself. When NXT created a womens championship, it was clear that they viewed Paige as the best wrestler they had on their roster, and she became their inaugural champion. This meant that NXT viewed Paige as the person they could rely on most to deliver when it came to the headline female matches. In April, on the day after WrestleMania, in front of a crowd filled with travelling European fans who were very much familiar with her from NXT and her European exploits as Britani Knight, Paige made an unannounced appearance on Raw and captured the WWE Divas Championship from a stunned AJ Lee. This meant that Paige would be appearing on every episode of Raw and every PPV as champion. She is currently embroiled in a highly entertaining feud with AJ over the title, which has switched between the two and is currently back with Paige. Its clear to see that womens wrestling in the WWE is in safe hands with Paige at the forefront for many years to come.
Dean Ayass is a well known name to British wrestling fans. A commentator, manager, booker and ring announcer who has been involved in the business since 1993, Dean's insight into the business is second to none.
