Paige Makes Shock Return At WrestleMania 42, Wins Gold (WWE News)

Paige is back in WWE!

by Andrew Pollard
WWE WrestleMania 42 The Bellas Paige
WWE

One of the genuine standout moments of WrestleMania 42 Night 1, Paige made her surprise WWE return last night.

Heading into 'Mania, there was plentiful speculation over Nikki Bella's status, with the WWE Hall of Famer picking up an ankle injury last month. That speculation suggested that, should Nikki be unable to compete, the Kabuki Warriors might replace the Bellas in the four-way match for the Women's Tag Team Titles, featuring defending champs Nia Jax and Lash Legend, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, and Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss.

Instead, WrestleMania 42 Night 1 saw the Bellas make their entrance for that tag team match, only for Nikki - who was on a crutch and in a walking boot - to announce that she hadn't been cleared to compete. However, Nikki then said that she'd called an "old friend" to take her place in that match alongside Brie, and with that, Paige made her shock return to the company.

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Not just did Paige make her return to WWE, though, for she's also now one-half of the Women's Tag Team Champions, scoring the win for her team by hitting the RamPaige DDT on Alexa Bliss for the 1-2-3.

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Paige had previously been with WWE from 2011 through until 2022, though the last four years of that run were spent in non-wrestling roles, be that as the SmackDown General Manager, the manager of the Kabuki Warriors, an analyst on the short-lived WWE Backstage, or as a talking head on various WWE projects.

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Of course, Paige announced her in-ring retirement in early 2018 due to significant neck issues. Skip ahead to September 2022, and the former Divas Champion would debut at AEW Grand Slam, restarting her in-ring career after overcoming those neck issues, and would go on to have a 44-day run as the AEW Women's Champion. That big title win came at All In 2023, at a packed Wembley Stadium, in a moment that was a clear highlight of what unfortunately became a somewhat so-so run in All Elite for the Brit.

That AEW stint came to an end in March 2025, and the second-generation star has spent the past year or so talking up how she'd like to return to WWE at some point in the future. And now, that WWE return - which was rumoured in the hours leading up to WrestleMania 42 Night 1 - has finally happened.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.