Ex-WWE champ Paige aka Saraya joins forces with AEW women’s division to reveal the difficulties of female wrestlers

Paige, also known as Saraya, has consistently advocated for individuals in her gender and initiated the “Give Divas A Chance” movement in 2015. The 31-year-old, a former WWE star, transitioned to AEW and marked her debut for the company in September 2022 at the Grand Slam event.

Since officially joining All Elite Wrestling, Saraya has played a pivotal role within the women’s division. Building on her actions in WWE that sparked the “Women’s Revolution,” the former NXT Women’s Champion aligned herself with AEW’s women’s division to shed light on the challenges faced by female wrestlers in the industry.

Paige and the AEW women’s roster discuss female wrestler concerns

Paige officially retired from active wrestling due to a neck injury she had suffered while performing for WWE. The former WWE Divas Champion took a few years off, after her pictures and videos leaked, from in-ring actions until she made a surprising comeback to AEW in 2022. Since the start of AEW, their women’s division faced a lot of criticism and negativity from fans due to the focus people had on the male division of the main roster.

Recently, the AEW women’s roster took to social media to share their frustration with being treated as a female wrestler and defended themselves for equal rights as an athlete. The first part of the video received a lot of support from fans, which led to the second part being released on January 7. The video theme is called “We’re Female Wrestlers,” where the AEW women’s roster points out the difficulties they face regularly as wrestlers.

AEW wrestler Mariah May appeared in the video and said, “We’re female wrestlers which means every time I meet a guy and he’s like ‘What do you do?’ And I’m like ‘I’m a wrestler’, he goes, ‘Can you wrestle me?!’”

Ruby Soho, another member of the women’s roster, closed the clip by saying, “We’re female wrestlers and if we sell you our ring-worn gear, we don’t wanna know what you do with it.”

The “We’re Female Wrestlers” movement has garnered support from fans globally. The question of whether Tony Khan, the President of AEW, will address make necessary changes remains uncertain. However, it is clear that AEW will need to balance attention between the male and female divisions and initiate a transformation within the company.

What is Paige up to now?

Paige made a legendary comeback in AEW, during her debut she saved Toni Storm and Athena from Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Serena Deeb following the AEW Women’s World Championship match. Since her return to the Florida-based company, she has won the AEW Women’s World Championship on August 27, 2023, during the “All In” event in London, England.

Saraya won the AEW title in a 4-way match between Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm, and Dr. Britt Baker at Wembley Stadium. During Dynamite on October 10, Saraya would lose the AEW Women’s World Championship back to the previous champion Hikaru Shida. Although she lost, her fans loved her and supported her with everything. She is presently in a relationship with Ronnie Radke from the rock band Falling in Reverse.

Paige adopted the band’s song “Zombified” as her entrance theme in AEW in January 2022. Her last match was against Riho on the December 20 episode of Dynamite, with the winner earning a shot at the AEW Women’s Championship. Saraya, formerly known as Paige, is expected to make a return in significant AEW events in 2024, contributing to the ongoing efforts to elevate the women’s division with strong fan support.