Paige Comments On How 'Everyone Wants To Come Home' To WWE With Triple H In Charge
Triple H has taken over as head of creative and head of talent relations for WWE following the exits of Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis from the company (via Business Wire). Their departures came after allegations regarding potentially illegal payments made to women that were considered hush money. Following the reveal in WWE's latest SEC filing that $5 million more was paid by Vince than originally reported, the total adds up to about $19.6 million dollars with multiple women being paid different increments of money.
McMahon stepped down from his CEO and Chairman positions in June and then announced his full retirement from all duties in July, while Laurinaitis' contract has been quietly terminated. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan have since stepped into the role of co-CEOs in WWE.
14-time world champion Triple H was head of creative during the "Black and Gold" era of "NXT," a brand that was known to put on incredible matches and compelling stories. One woman who saw success under Triple H's version of "NXT" was Saraya, formerly known as Paige, as she became the inaugural "NXT" Women's Champion in 2013 and still has the third longest reign with the title in history. With that in mind, it's no surprise that she sees Triple H being in charge as a good thing.
Paige thinks Triple H taking power will bring wrestlers back to WWE
"I really do feel fantastic," Saraya said on "The Sessions with Renee Paquette." "If I was to have to be in the ring, it would be for a really big moment, to wrestle ... I would love to face Sasha [Banks] again ... I feel like [Triple H] is going to get her. I feel like now that Hunter took over, everyone's going to be like, 'I'm ready to come home.'"
Sasha Banks has not wrestled for WWE since she and tag team partner Naomi walked out of the May 16 edition of "Raw" due to being unhappy with the booking of the tag division. The pairing was indefinitely suspended, but that came at a time when Vince was still in charge.
The former Paige has not wrestled since late 2017, dealing with neck injuries following a kick to the back from Banks at a WWE live event. Notably, she doesn't blame Banks for the incident. Later in the "Sessions" interview, Saraya joked about having a retirement match in the future. "I'm like Ric Flair, I'm going to have a ton of retirement matches," she said. "Ric Flair, I'm going to be your age and I'm going to be like, 'It's my last one, I promise.'" Ric Flair recently had his ostensibly final retirement match at the Ric Flair's Last Match event, where he teamed with Andrade El Idolo to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Sessions with Renee Paquette" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription