Why Saraya Was The Most Nervous She'd Ever Been In Wrestling For AEW Debut Match

Saraya never thought she would be back in action inside a wrestling ring. After suffering a serious neck injury in 2017, WWE doctors would not clear her while she was with the company. Saraya would eventually exit WWE, debuting in AEW last year, announced that she had been given the green light by multiple doctors to wrestle once again, allowing her to un-retire.

Speaking on an episode of "Inside the Ropes," Saraya confessed that she was intimidated heading into her comeback match at 2022's Full Gear against Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.

"It's probably because, you know, again, coming back from a career-ending injury ... mentally, it was really difficult on me," Saraya said. "I was just extremely nervous and I was in this new world of AEW and, you know, I didn't have the confidence. I didn't think I was what I used to be, so I had a lot of self-doubt about myself."

Saraya said on top of that self-doubt, her first promo in the company — perceived to be a disaster online — did not help. She said she felt like she might have made a mistake returning to wrestling.

"Now I feel like I completely have my confidence back. Like, no one can hold me back now. The girls have to hold me back. I'm like, 'We can do this, and this' and they're just like, 'We can take this slowly, we don't have to do anything crazy.' So they have to like tell me to calm down," she said. "I'm surrounded by a wonderful group of girls who want the best for me, too, which is really, really sweet."