Paige Opens Up About ‘Magical’ Return to the UK With WWE After Nine Years

Nine years is a long time to be away from home, and Paige felt every bit of that absence when WWE brought Raw and SmackDown to London last week. The former Divas Champion competed on British soil as part of the WWE roster for the first time since before her forced retirement, and she’s been candid about how emotional the experience turned out to be.

In a behind-the-scenes vlog released by WWE, Paige reflected on what it meant to perform in front of a UK crowd again. “It was so fun performing in front of my home country,” she said. “They’re always so loud, they’re interactive, there’s no point where they’re trying to take over the show, they’re just having a good time. They’re so supportive, there was a lot of Paige posters out there, and t-shirts, I was like ‘oh my God you love me’, it’s beautiful. I actually teared up during my entrance, I was like ‘ah shit you’re getting me’. My mum and dad’s here too, I had family in the crowd, it was magical.”

The London dates gave Paige plenty of in-ring action. On Raw, she and tag team partner Brie Bella picked up a victory over Bayley and Lyra Valkyria. She then carried that momentum into SmackDown, defeating Jacy Jayne in singles competition.

To recap how we got here: Paige was forced out of active competition in 2017 due to neck injuries before eventually departing WWE and signing with AEW, where she competed as Saraya — notably winning the AEW Women’s World Championship at All In London in 2023. Her full-circle return to WWE came at WrestleMania 42, where she and Brie Bella captured the Women’s Tag Team Championship in a four-way match.

With a wave of NXT call-ups populating the main roster and several veteran names no longer with the company, Paige’s return adds a familiar and credible presence to a women’s division that can use the experience. If her reaction to that London crowd is any indication, she’s more than ready to make up for lost time.