Paige officially leaves WWE: Legend thanks company for ‘never losing faith’ despite heartbreaking and difficult period-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Paige has officially left WWE (Picture: WWE)

WWE legend Paige has officially left the company 11 years after signing her first deal.

The former Divas Champion and all-round British wrestling legend – now going by her real name Saraya – had confirmed her WWE contract was expiring on Thursday (July 7) and now she’s reflected on her memorable career thus far.

As the day came to an end, she tweeted: ‘I wasn’t gonna be on social media today but popping on to say thank you all. Truly had a wonderful journey with @WWE and I’m excited to see my journey continue outside. Helluva run.

‘Thanks for all the messages. I feel truly loved #Saraya’

Paige has penned an emotional letter to the fans and WWE for the Players’ Tribune, and she took the opportunity to open up on a difficult period in her life back in 2017.

She wrote: ‘It was like, almost overnight, so many things changed: Suddenly my neck was f**ked 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. 

‘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.’

The 29-year-old star pointed to her in-ring retirement after she returned later in 2017 before suffering a devastating neck injury in the December and calling time on her wrestling career a few months later.

She added: ‘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.’

In a lengthy statement last month, Paige confirmed her WWE exit, but also promised to return to the ring despite not yet being cleared for action.

She wrote at the time: ‘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.’

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