Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: Paige, saraya, wrestling, wwe

Paige Pens "Goodbye Letter" Before Departing WWE, Becoming Saraya

It was early last month when professional wrestler Paige announced that she will officially be going by the name Saraya (as in her real name, Saraya-Jade Bevis) as of July 7 when she officially departs the WWE. Now that we've reached the final day before her name change, Paige has penned a "goodbye letter" for the Players Tribune as a way of reflecting upon her time as a wrestler with the WWE as well as offering several rounds of thanks to those who supported along the way. In particular, she thanks the WWE for standing by her when she became (as she writes) "less of an asset " and "more of a liability" to the wrestling company.

"It was like, almost overnight, so many things changed: Suddenly my neck was fucked and I couldn't wrestle. I popped a drug test. My sex tape leaked. I got depressed. I started drinking. And I became less of an asset to WWE, and more of a liability, for a long time. I'm sure of it," Paige writes. "But they never lost faith in me — they never once threw me off to the side. They got me the help I needed when I needed help, and they gave me the time and space I needed when I needed time and space. They even gave me a full segment on Raw to announce my in-ring retirement. I'll cherish that for the rest of my life. Not just getting to make the announcement like I did, but also the respect it showed on WWE's part, that they viewed me as worthy of that kind of treatment — the kind normally reserved for an Edge, or a Daniel Bryan, or an HBK, or a Hunter. That they viewed me as someone who'd built a legacy of her own."

First signing with the WWE in 2011, Paige would go on to become a two-time (and youngest) WWE Divas Champion and also serve as the inaugural WWE NXT Women's Champion. After a number of injuries between 2015 and 2018, Paige would retire from in-ring at the end of those three years. Paige's life was the subject of the 2012 Channel 4 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family, which would serve as the basis for the 2019 feature film, Fighting with My Family. "That's a wrap [WWE] see ya again some time! Thanks, everyone for the support before, during, and now after! Let's see what the future holds! And thanks [Players Tribune]  for this awesome goodbye letter," Saraya wrote in her tweet, along with a link to the article she wrote for the Players Tribune (which you can read in full here):

Here's a look back at Paige's tweet from early June making the announcement, while also thanking the WWE for its support and the opportunities it offered her over the years as well as the fans who've always had her back (with full text following):

Paige here!

July 7th will be the last day with WWE. I'm so thankful and I appreciate the opportunities that the company has given me.

I will always be appreciative of the company that took in an 18-year-old British pale emo girl that didn't look like your average diva, giving me the chance of a lifetime and making me feel like a superstar.

I know after my neck injury taking me out of in-ring status, it was pretty hard to keep me around for as long as you did, and for that I'm thankful too.

Thank you to the WWE Universe. You guys are the most passionate group of fans I've ever seen. Hope you continue to stay on this journey with me.

I think the toughest part weirdly enough is having to let the Paige name go! But Saraya is helluva name. Kudos to my mum for that one.

FYI I'm not saying I'll never be in the ring. That day will most certainly come again! Wherever the return maybe.

Thank you, WWE,

Saraya

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