Paige is back in WWE, and she is a champion again. The former Divas Champion made a surprise return at WrestleMania 42 on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, replacing an injured Nikki Bella and capturing the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship alongside Brie Bella in the Fatal Four-Way.
The moment carried an unmistakable echo of Paige's WWE origin story. When she made her main roster debut on the Raw after WrestleMania 30 in 2014, she won the Divas Championship from AJ Lee in her first match. Twelve years later, in her first WWE match back after an eight-year absence, she walked out with gold again.
Nikki Bella Personally Introduced Her Replacement
The Bella Twins' music hit during the match's intros, but only Nikki walked out, wearing a walking boot and using a crutch. She told the Allegiant Stadium crowd that she was unable to compete and had called in an old friend to make sure her sister Brie still had her WrestleMania moment.
That friend was Paige, who had not stepped into a WWE ring since December 27, 2017. Her appearance had been heavily rumored throughout Friday after PWInsider first reported she had signed a multi-year contract and was hidden in Las Vegas all week for rehearsals.
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How Paige And Brie Won The Titles
The match featured champions Nia Jax and Lash Legend (c) defending against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, and the Bella and Paige team. The finish came after Nikki Bella got involved at ringside, yanking Charlotte Flair out of the ring and striking her with a crutch as Alexa Bliss climbed the ropes for a Twisted Bliss.
The distraction allowed Paige to get her knees up, blocking the move. She then hit her finisher on Bliss to score the pinfall and win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships for herself and Brie Bella.
Paige and the Bella Twins celebrated together in the ring after the bell, a full-circle moment for three women whose last shared WrestleMania appearance came as opponents in 2015.
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An Eight-Year Wait To Wrestle In WWE Again
Paige had not competed in a WWE ring since taking a kick to the back during a house show match against Sasha Banks at Nassau Coliseum in late 2017. She lost feeling in her extremities, and WWE doctors ruled her medically unable to compete in January 2018. She was 25 years old and believed her in-ring career was over.
She remained with WWE in non-wrestling roles, including a stint as SmackDown General Manager and as the manager for the Kabuki Warriors, until her contract expired in June 2022. She then signed with AEW under her real name Saraya, was eventually cleared to wrestle again, and captured the AEW Women's World Championship at All In London in 2023. Her AEW deal expired in March 2025.
A Full-Circle Night With AJ Lee
The booking carried added weight given who else returned to a WrestleMania stage on Saturday. Paige's last WrestleMania match before tonight came at WrestleMania 31 in 2015, when she teamed with AJ Lee to defeat Nikki and Brie Bella. AJ Lee retired the following night and did not appear on a WrestleMania card again until tonight, when she defends the Women's Intercontinental Championship against Becky Lynch.
Both Divas-era stars are back on the same WrestleMania for the first time in 11 years. This time, Paige stood beside the Bellas instead of across from them, and walked out a champion.
By late 2017 she had fought through all of it and was back at the WWE Performance Center preparing for a television return, appearing on Raw as part of the Absolution faction with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville before the injury closed the door again just weeks later.
