Paige Reveals Jelly Roll Played a Key Role in Her WWE Return After a Chance Encounter at a Podcast Event

Paige has revealed the remarkably serendipitous sequence of events that led to her WWE return at WrestleMania 42 — and it started with Jelly Roll at a live podcast event and moved at a pace that surprised everyone involved, including Paige herself. Speaking on What’s Your Story with Stephanie McMahon, Paige walked through exactly how a chance encounter turned into a WrestleMania title win in a matter of weeks.

“I get there, and Brad Slayer is in there — I’ve known him for over 10 years because of Fighting with My Family. And then Jelly was just like, ‘What the f**k, when are you gonna bring it back? Give a call to your guy.’ And Brad looks and he’s like, ‘Do you want to come back?’ And I was just like, yeah, I would love to. And then he was like, ‘All right, let me make a call.’ So he calls Nick, and within 30 minutes Nick had said, ‘Sure, let’s get a meeting with her.’ A week later, he flies to LA to the WWE offices out there,” Paige said.

Nick Khan Set Two Conditions for Paige’s WWE Return — Her Neck Had to Be Clear and She Had to Pass a Drug Test

The meeting with Nick Khan in Los Angeles moved quickly and came with two specific requirements. “He goes, ‘Two things. Your neck has to be okay, and we have to do a drug test.’ I’m clean as a whistle. And I don’t know how my neck has been — it’s been a few years since I got it checked — but last time I got it checked it was perfect so I’m not really concerned about it. I thought I’d be intimidated by him but going in there, yeah, he’s easygoing,” Paige said. She flew to Birmingham for a 10-hour medical evaluation the following week, received clearance, and was back in a WWE ring at WrestleMania 42 winning the Women’s Tag Team Championships alongside Brie Bella.