Paige Talks #GiveDivasAChance, Her WWE Career Thus Far, Not Being Well-Liked In Developmental
In the above interview with Justin LaBar of Trib Total Media, Paige speaks out on the the "#GiveDivasAChance" controversy, her less than warm welcome to WWE's developmental program, her dream WrestleMania opponent, adjusting to WWE's style, the cameras, Total Divas and more. Highlights from the interview are as follows:
You've been in the business your whole life. You've been a fan your whole life. You've been rookie of the year. Can you articulate this experience? Is it reality yet or does it still feel like a dream?
"I feel like it's always going to be mind blowing and crazy to me. I spent two and a half years in developmental, which is incredible. I never thought I could make it there, and you never know if you will ever make the main roster. So to graduate there, make the main roster, win the Divas Championship on my first day, it all came so quickly and so soon. I still cannot believe it. I can't believe I've already been the champion twice in under a year, which is completely mind blowing. So right now, no, it still doesn't seem so real. More people recognize you on the street when you walk around. It's crazy. I really don't know to explain it. My ultimate goal was to be in WWE, be a champion, and I've done it."
You had your first match at 13. Your family is a wrestling family. You had a lot of background coming into WWE. Did you deal with any resistance or clique kind of division? Or did everyone welcome you pretty well?
"I feel like there is always going to be a clique at any place you go into. There were handful of people who were really great to me, mostly the trainers. Norman Smiley was great. Terry Taylor was amazing. Dr. Tom was fantastic. Yes, some of the girls were a little standoffish from me, I feel like. I was completely different than they were and already had the wrestling experience. But I realized coming into developmental, I had to start over again from scratch. I guess my look, and you know, a couple of the girls said down the line when they started to like me some more, they were just like, 'Oh, we were just a little intimidated by the way you were and how you wrestled and stuff.' So I was like, 'You were just going to hold that against me because I could wrestle and make me feel terrible about myself?
"So it all worked out. Any place you come in, it's kind of like a high school thing. There are girls that have been together for a long time and a new girl comes in and it's like who is that? It's expected. It didn't last very long. Summer Rae was actually the sweetest girl to me the first day I got there. She's always been amazing and the same with me the whole time."
Lately there's been a lot of support for more television time for the Divas. I associate a lot of that to you, your popularity and the fan base you've created. You've been in the center of a lot of these controversies and segments of people wanting to see more of you. I think you really have generated this authentic fan base who want to see more women's wrestling in WWE. What's your take on that?
"Well, first of all, thank you. I appreciate that very much. I feel like it's just me. Me and The Bellas have been working really hard the last couple of months. We're really trying to build and tell a story and get the fans behind us. There is only so much you can do in a couple of minutes. I feel like the fans see that, and they really want to give us a chance. We only had a couple of minutes on RAW, and it caused this big uproar.
"They usually do give us a bit of time and the segment. I really appreciate the uproar started because now we're getting tons more. We got a promo, we got this, we got that. I've never had this much before, but I love it. I feel like it's definitely a two-way street. The fans love me, and they love the Bella Twins, too. They definitely have to get a lot of credit for how this big uproar started."