Paige’s NXT homecoming came together fast. She wasn’t even the original plan.
Paige was reported to be in Orlando ahead of Wednesday’s NXT, and she turned out to be Kelani Jordan’s mystery challenger for the NXT Women’s Championship. Jordan retained.
Speaking on Busted Open After Dark, Paige said Triple H asked her days earlier.
No, so I got told last minute because it wasn’t actually supposed to be me. And then Triple H pulled me aside when we were in Brooklyn, because we were doing the double taping out there, and he said, ‘Do you mind going down to NXT?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, s—.’ Sorry about this. I was like, ‘Oh, okay. Yeah, definitely. I could definitely do that,’ you know?
But it didn’t give me much time to prepare, and, you know, maybe if I prepared a little bit more, I would’ve won. But hey, it is what it is. I know what to do next time if I get a little bit of time.
It was Paige’s first time in an NXT ring in more than 12 years, and she said the nerves hit harder than they did at WrestleMania 42.
It’s been over 12 years since I’ve been home and in an NXT ring, and it’s just, man, I had chills. I had chills. Before I went out there, I was really, really nervous, and it was the most nervous I’ve been since I came back, even more nervous than Mania.
I’m like, ‘This is where I started. This is my home, and I hope I do a good job for the home crowd.’ And I wanted to do a good job for Kelani, too. And yeah, I feel like we did together. We made a masterpiece there, at least to me.
