Saraya addresses free agency status, potential WWE return

Though she’s currently on a break from pro wrestling, Saraya is contractually free to pop up anywhere whenever she wants.

Saraya confirmed on a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet that her departure from AEW was a “clean split.” She is currently a free agent and has no restrictions on where she could appear, including a potential WWE return should that opportunity arise.

“I’m a free agent now,” Saraya said. “I could pop up anywhere. No, my contract’s done, done. That’s the one thing that helped, they gave me the opportunity to walk away from this contract. I mean, not a lot of companies or businesses would do that, you know? But Tony [Khan] was really, really great about it.”

Saraya has not wrestled since October 2024, instead focusing on projects outside the wrestling industry. She’s started a new podcast called “Rulebreakers” and is pursuing acting roles. Those projects are important to Saraya, but she’s also ready to end her wrestling hiatus if the right opportunity comes up.

“Yeah, I am,” Saraya responded when asked if she’s ready to come back. “I don’t want to like — if the opportunity is there, I’ll take it. I won’t chase it too hard, you know? Because, again, I want to be focused on stuff outside of wrestling. I want to get into a bunch of different things. But if the opportunity arises and I get a call to be like, ‘Hey, can you come in and do this?’ Sure.”

Saraya told Van Vliet that, if she were to return to WWE, she would want to do so as Paige rather than wrestling under her real name. She misses being the “badass, tough as nails” Paige, with Saraya feeling like that character is an elevated version of herself. She made the decision to differentiate herself from that persona in AEW. But, in hindsight, Saraya wishes she leaned more into that character.

It’s been nearly eight years since Saraya last competed in a WWE ring. She was medically disqualified from wrestling for the company due to neck issues following a December 2017 match but eventually made her return to the ring for AEW in 2022.

Last month, Saraya told the Orlando Sentinel that she has not had any conversations with WWE regarding a return. Van Vliet asked if she would be open to returning at WWE Evolution this weekend if the company were to contact her.

“It’s like a bittersweet thing, because the first [Evolution], I couldn’t be on it because of my neck,” Saraya said. “So if I had the opportunity to be on this all-female pay-per-view, of course, yeah, I would think about it.”

The 32-year-old Saraya said wrestling is still her first love. She never fully wants to walk away from the industry, even if she takes breaks from time to time.

“I want to go — I think I can squeeze 10 more years out of me,” Saraya responded when asked how much longer she plans to wrestle. “Yeah, 10 more years on and off. We’ll see.”