Paige reveals emotional reaction to getting cleared by WWE
At WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Paige made her WWE return and replaced the injured Nikki Bella in the women’s tag team titles match.
Paired with Brie Bella, the two proceeded to win the women’s tag team championships from Lash Legend, Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, and Charlotte Flair.
Paige last wrestled in WWE in 2017 and suffered a neck injury that forced her to retire. Not cleared for in-action by WWE, Paige joined AEW in 2022 as Saraya. A former AEW Women’s World Champion there, Paige left the promotion in 2025. After months of absence, she made her WWE return in 2026.
On Instagram, Paige now revealed the immediate moment she found out about being cleared for an in-ring return by WWE. The video shows Paige sobbing and trying to control her emotions. She further talks about her journey and how long the road was before WWE cleared her. The video also received multiple positive comments from her WWE colleagues.
“The day I found out I was cleared to come home to [WWE]. What an emotional journey. Thank you [Gilbert Boyas] or being there and capturing this moment! It was a long road but man it was worth it!! Thank you everyone for the love since I returned, it means the absolute world to me,” she wrote.
While AEW allowed her to wrestle, WWE stopped all chances of her wrestling in 2017 due to injury concerns and moved her to a much more non-physical role. Battling all the adversities, Paige is now back as an in-ring competitor in WWE and is a champion too!
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
Shounak takes particular interest in soccer, closely following top clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal. Beyond sports, he enjoys fiction writing, photography, gaming, and cinema.