Saraya Wanted To 'Psyche Everyone Out' Doing This In First AEW Match

Back in September, Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE, made her return to professional wrestling at AEW's "Dynamite: Grand Slam." From night one, her mind was set on an in-ring return, something she believed was never going to happen due to her history of neck injuries which ultimately forced her retirement from in-ring competition in April 2018. Fast forward to the present and she'd get said match at Full Gear on November 19, defeating Dr. Brett Baker via pinfall. Yet as that match was getting underway, Saraya was hoping she'd be able to play some mind games first. While everyone was excited to see her back in the ring, there was only one thing on the minds of many: her neck.

"So they're very hyped," Saraya said to Dean Muhtadi (fka Mojo Rawley from his WWE days) on TMZ Sports, "and I wanted to do that first bump where I psyched everybody out because everyone was like as soon as she takes that first bump, she's gonna break her neck."

In recent years, wrestling fans have been greeted by the in-ring returns of both Daniel Bryan and Edge, two wrestlers whose careers also appeared to be lost to neck injuries. They were met with elation across the board, something Saraya pointed to as somewhat of a contrast to her return, which she notes was met with plenty of support but also a lot of rude comments. "So I wanted to go out there and prove everybody wrong," she continued, "but also troll them a bit, so I psyched them out and pretended I hurt my neck."

Recalling the audience falling quiet, that silence remained over the next few bumps she took. Though eventually, Saraya understood why. "I realized afterwards it was because people just genuinely don't want me to get hurt in the ring again."