Former WWE Star Paige Details Frustration With Vince McMahon's Expectations

Coming off a critically acclaimed all-female Evolution 2 PLE, women's wrestling has been the topic of discussion for the past week. The depth of the women's locker room in WWE is at an all-time high, and the matches that are taking place on weekly programming far exceed their counterparts from previous eras. 

Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE, remembers a time not too long ago where the style of wrestling applied by the ladies of today was frowned upon by then chief Vince McMahon. She speaks on the "Insight" podcast about what McMahon's line of thinking was back when she started on the main roster. 

"On the indies, I used to do death matches and stuff like that before I came to America," Paige said. "I got told that I had to tone it down, 'cause I was a little too tough on them, so I had to pull it back. I had to adjust to the diva style of wrestling, which I'm glad is different now. Vince looked at it like, you have to wrestle like a girl, hair pulling, the diva roll up, the catty style, rather than throwing punches like a dude."

The English wrestler makes it clear that she would love another shot in WWE, because of how different the landscape is now. 

"They're having stipulation matches and s*** like that. When I was there, we were beating down that door just to get an opportunity to do that. And I'm so happy that we, sort of, lit the match that started that revolution that happened, and for women after us to have these opportunities. I wanna do Money in the Banks, I wanna do Royal Rumbles."

Saraya goes on to note that she misses wrestling under the Paige persona. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" podcast and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.