A New Paige In History

Paige, a second-generation grappler hailing from Norwich, England, is WWE’s next breakout Diva after capturing the Divas Championship from AJ Lee on the post-WrestleMania 30 edition of Raw.

In her post-WrestleMania 30 “pipebomb,” Lee touted her successful title defense in the Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational, which saw her get past thirteen other Divas. Channeling her fiancee CM Punk, Lee referred to herself as the Divas Division’s savior, the best Diva in the world, not to mention owner of an unprecedented 295-day streak with the butterfly-emblazoned belt. As the New Orleans audience began to respond to the 27-year-old with chants of CM Punk, NXT Women’s Champion Paige arrived on the scene.

A favorite among diehard wrestling fans, Paige made her WWE debut on the April 7, 2014 edition of Raw, the night after WrestleMania XXX.

In her post-WrestleMania XXX “pipebomb,” WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee touted her successful title defense in the Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational, which saw her get past thirteen other Divas. Channeling her fiancee CM Punk, Lee referred to herself as the Divas Division’s savior, the best Diva in the world, not to mention owner of an unprecedented 295-day streak with the butterfly-emblazoned belt. As the New Orleans audience began to respond to the 27-year-old with chants of CM Punk, NXT Women’s Champion Paige arrived on the scene.

Although the NXT Women’s Champion insisted she only interrupted Lee to offer up her congratulations, the self-proclaimed “Queen of the Divas Division” was not appreciative and forced the 21-year-old to participate in an impromptu match. Lee’s title defense turned sour very quickly when Paige reversed the Black Widow into her signature “Paige-Turner” to secure the three-count and the title.

“I keep saying I’m going to be a history-maker. I was the first person to win the NXT Women’s Championship, I’m now the youngest ever WWE Divas Champion, and I’m the first joint ever joint champion, so whatever happens, I am making history,” Paige remarked to Fighting Spirit. “This is what I wanted, and I can’t even put into words how I feel. Being on WWE TV is an incredible honor, and a dream come true.”

Born Saraya-Jade Bevis on August 17, 1992 in Norwich, England, Paige comes from a professional wrestling family. Her parents, Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya, are professional wrestlers, as are her older brothers, Roy and Zak. The family runs World Association of Wrestling (WAW). She thanks them for assisting her in her journey to WWE.

“All my family: my mum, my dad, my brothers Roy and Zak, my sister, and my uncle Jason Cross These are the people that taught me from scratch, so I’d really like to thank them. They worked so hard on making me who I am,” said Paige. “My family were all so supportive when I first came over to America – I’d never been that far away from home. The first time I move out, and I move to the other side of the world! My dad and my mum would talk to me every day and make me feel better and a little less homesick, so I’d just like to thank them because without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Paige couldn’t have achieved her success in WWE as she owes a debt of gratitude to the sports-entertainment organization’s higher-ups.

“Everyone here is very supportive,” said Paige of WWE. “In developmental, Norman Smiley was a big part of my training when I first came over; he got me out of bad habits I’d picked up, and Sara Del Rey is one of the best in the world, so I’m grateful she’s here. Also up here is Hunter (Triple H) and he’s really taken NXT and made it into this phenomenon. Anyone who comes up through developmental now, you really, really feel like you’re in WWE. So I’d really like to thank Hunter and Stephanie (McMahon) for everything they’ve done for me.”

Paige held both the WWE Divas Championship and the NXT Women’s Championship until April 24, 2014, when NXT General Manager JBL stripped her of the developmental strap. Paige had her first successful title of the Divas title on April 28, 2014 when her impromptu bout against Brie Bella was ruled a No Contest due to interference from Kane. She achieved her first successful title defense on pay-per-view on May 4, 2014 at Extreme Rules by forcing the imposing Tamina Snuka to tap, out her trademark modified Scorpion Crosslock submission. Paige’s undefeated streak came to an end on May 19, 2014 as she suffered a pinfall loss in her home country to Alicia Fox. The match result, couple with Fox’s odd ringside antics set the stage for a title match on June 1, 2014 at WWE Payback. The Foxy Floridian, however, would come up short in the encounter as Paige forced her to submit to the Scorpion Crosslock. After that, what’s next for Paige?

“I want to try and have the longest reign of any Divas Champion, and I want to be on the next WrestleMania,” said Paige. “I’m hungry, and I always want to try and get more and do more and, work hard to get it.”

But who would Paige like to work with? She has some history with Summer Rae…

“We do, but I don’t only have history with Summer, but with Emma, too. She is absolutely incredible. Those two are probably my favorite opponents, along with Natalya,” Paige said. “I’m looking forward to what the future holds when it comes to my opponents: I think Emma is the number one girl I want to shape up against, because we did it for the NXT Women’s Championship. Now we can do it for the Divas Championship.”

Paige boasts a very unique offensive style in which she is constantly in attack mode, rocking opponents with a comprehensive arsenal of suplexes, sidekicks, submissions, locks and rolling cradles. She is also well-schooled in the British catch-as-can style and is adept as using the ring {ropes, turnbuckler and apron) as offensive weapons. A fan favorite in NXT, Paige is well-versed in roughneck tactics; she is Saraya Knight’s daughter after all.

As a precursor, Paige scored victories over Lee at two WWE live events in March 2013. She previously competed in SHIMMER (where she beat her mother in a No Disqualification Match in 2011) and held several titles in the United Kingdom before permanently relocating to the United States in 2011 to join WWE’s developmental program.