In one of the most stunning returns in recent wrestling history, PWInsider is reporting that Saraya Jade-Bevis — known to fans worldwide as Paige — has signed with WWE and is expected to return to the ring this weekend as part of WrestleMania 42. According to the report, Paige will substitute for Nikki Bella in the Women’s Tag Team Championship Fatal Four-Way on Saturday night, with Nikki having failed to be cleared from the ankle injury she suffered several weeks ago on SmackDown.
PWInsider reports that WWE secretly brought Paige into Las Vegas, where she has been hidden from public view. She was seen taking part in a run-through for the match earlier this week. WWE did not return a request for comment at the time of the report’s publication.
The return is extraordinary given the circumstances surrounding Paige’s exit from WWE in 2018. She was just 25 years old when the company informed her she would not be cleared to return to the ring following a December 2017 injury at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island. During a tag team match, Sasha Banks kicked into Paige’s back from the turnbuckles, causing Paige to lose feeling in her extremities. Given her previous neck surgery, WWE removed her from the ring after testing confirmed the severity of the situation.
Paige Competed in AEW from 2022 to 2025 After Her WWE Deal Expired, Winning the AEW Women’s Championship
When her WWE contract expired in June 2022, Paige signed with AEW and made a surprise debut in September of that year — no longer bound by WWE’s medical jurisdiction, she returned to the ring and won the AEW Women’s Championship from Hikaru Shida. She was a prominent part of All In: London at Wembley Stadium and competed for the company through March 2025. Now 33, Paige returns to WWE under TKO’s ownership for a new chapter of a career that was once thought to be over permanently.
Paige’s place in the history of WWE‘s women’s division cannot be overstated. As the first NXT Women’s Champion, she was one of the earliest signals that a performance-first women’s division was possible before the Divas Revolution officially began. She arrived on the main roster the night after WrestleMania 30 and immediately shocked the world by defeating AJ Lee to become the youngest woman to ever hold the Divas Championship — becoming the first and only woman to simultaneously hold both women’s titles in the process. Her story was later portrayed in the Dwayne Johnson-produced WWE Studios film Fighting With My Family, with Florence Pugh playing a fictionalized version of Paige’s path to WWE in what remains one of the most critically acclaimed WWE Studios productions ever made.
The Women’s Tag Team Championship Fatal Four-Way at WrestleMania 42 Night One on April 18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas now features Paige teaming with Brie Bella to challenge The Irresistible Forces alongside Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss and Bayley and Lyra Valkyria. The show streams live on the ESPN App in the US and Netflix internationally.
About the Author
