Paige Leaving WWE In July
The Anti-Diva announces her departure from her home of 11 years next month.
Paige's 11-year odyssey with WWE will end next month, the superstar confirmed Friday.
The anti-diva took to Twitter to thank WWE and the fans for following her on her journey from "an 18-year-old British pale emo girl" to a 29-year-old superstar who for a time was the focal point of the women's division. Paige said that her last day with WWE will be 7 July.
In her farewell message Friday, the soon-to-once-again-be Saraya said that "the toughest part weirdly enough is having to let the Paige name go." She added that a return to the wrestling ring "will most certainly come again."
First signed with WWE in April 2011, Paige came to the company already with five years of in-ring experience, due to being born into a wrestling family -- her father is Ricky Knight and mother is Saraya Knight. Paige would start out in WWE's developmental territory FCW, which morphed into NXT during her tenure. She would win a tournament to crown the inaugural NXT Women's Champion, with her final against Emma being lauded as a glimpse into a brighter future for women's wrestling.
Paige would debut on the main roster on the Raw after WrestleMania 30, where she'd end AJ Lee's then-record reign as Divas Champion. In many ways, Paige signaled a changing of the guard in the women's division, a bridge between the divas era and the "women's revolution" that would begin the following year. Her in-ring career would be cut short by neck injuries that caused her to miss more than a year, with another injury at a December 2017 house show ending her wrestling time with WWE.
Thank you @WWE ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9OhGjov13s
— SARAYA (@RealPaigeWWE) June 10, 2022
Afterward, Paige would return to WWE television in a variety of roles, including SmackDown GM, manager of the Kabuki Warriors, and a contributor for WWE Backstage.