Considering how popular she was in WWE as Paige, there was a lot of excitement when Saraya made a surprise debut at AEW Grand Slam on Wednesday night in New York. But that enthusiasm might be tempered just a tad because of questions about what her role will be going forward.
Specifically, it’s not clear whether Saraya is medically cleared to wrestle. She hasn’t competed in the ring since December 2017 after suffering a neck injury, and all of her appearances between that date and her departure from WWE this summer were in non-wrestling capacities.
Saraya has signed a full-time contract with AEW, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll be wrestling. In his latest Wrestling Observer newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that it might be telling that Saraya didn’t get physically involved at the end of the women’s four-way title match at Grand Slam.
There is no answer to the question as to what role she will play, if she will wrestle regularly, sparingly, or not at all. … If she is going to wrestle, and can go at her prior level, she will be a good addition. But it was notable in her run-in she didn’t touch anyone, and with WWE, not only was she not allowed to wrestle, but nobody was allowed to touch her. We were told that she had not been cleared as of very recently, which would explain not touching anyone, but would like to be cleared.
Meltzer also added that while AEW has had success allowing performers like Bryan Danielson and Christian Cage to wrestle again after suffering potentially career-ending injuries (as WWE has had with Edge), it would be a bad look if the company cleared Saraya and she ended up getting reinjured.
The follow-up question, then, is what would AEW do with Saraya if she isn’t medically cleared to compete? She’s shown a knack for making an impact as an authority figure, though that’s not something AEW really does — even Tony Khan rarely pops up on TV to make matches. Still, that doesn’t mean the company couldn’t use Saraya that way, and maybe having her oversee the women’s division would help ease gripes from fans online that the AEW women don’t get the time or attention they deserve.
But fans, clearly, want to see Saraya in the ring if possible, and the presumption here is that AEW would not have given her such a showy entrance if it didn’t think a medical clearance was in the cards. Saraya’s first appearance got people buzzing, but it’s her next few that might tell the tale of where her career is headed over the coming months.
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