"He doesn't work there anymore" - Saraya (fka Paige) confirms being told she wasn't pretty enough to be in WWE
Saraya reflected on her initial WWE tryout when she was only an 18-year-old. She recalled being told that she wasn't pretty enough to be in the Stamford-based promotion during the trial.
Saraya first made a name for herself in WWE, although on her first tryout, a person she does not name told her she wasn't good enough for the company. She went on to prove him wrong and won the NXT Women's Champion and then went on to win the Divas Championship.
Saraya then played a major role in the women's revolution in WWE. Sadly, her career with the company was cut short after a serious neck injury. After being denied medical clearance to compete in the ring several times, the former Paige left the Stamford-based promotion and joined AEW.
At All Elite Wrestling, she quickly made an impact by capturing the AEW Women's World Championship. During a recent interview with Broad Ideas Podcast, the former WWE star reflected on her first tryout with the company. She mentioned that a talent representative, who was no longer working in the company, had told her she wasn't pretty enough to be there and that she needed to lose some baby weight.
The AEW star does not mention the talent representative by name or give any indication as to who it could be. She then went on to say that she felt that she was trying to be someone she was not and she returned to the company for another tryout a few months later with a new look that reflected who she really was.
"I was 18 at the time, I did the [WWE] tryout and they were just like, ‘No,’ and there was a guy at the time that worked as T.R. that pretty much said I wasn’t pretty enough to be there too, which broke my heart [… ] He doesn’t work there anymore. He hasn’t worked there for years but he said, you know, I wasn’t pretty enough to be there and I needed to lose some baby weight and all that kind of stuff. I was a kid and I was like, oh, that’s kind of hard to deal with and I tried to dress like how I thought divas should dress, right?" she said.
Saraya addresses her status for All In
The last year has been anything but good for Saraya. Last year at AEW All In, she won the Women's World Championship in front of her home crowd. However, this year, she is not yet confirmed for a match on the card.
Recently on AEW Rampage, the former Paige spoke about her status for All In and accused the company of trying to keep her off the show. She then mentioned that she didn't care who she had to step on to get to Wembley Stadium next month.
"You know why, though, it's because AEW is scared of me. The girls' locker room are terrified of me because I am the living legend in this business, I understand trust me. But last year at All In, I had the world at my feet, and right now, let's be real here, they're just trying to keep me off the show [...] They can't keep me off the show because, you know what, I am the show. And all roads are leading to Wembley for me, baby, and I don't care about who I have to step on to get there," Saraya said. [0:21-0:56]
It will be interesting to see how Saraya plans to get a match on the card at AEW All In on August 25 in Webley Stadium, London.