Saraya says she followed through on her promise — and 2026 is shaping up to be a big year. Speaking with MuscleManMalcolm on the Muscle Memory podcast at WrestleVerse Anime Fest in Houston, the former WWE and AEW star confirmed she returned to in-ring training in January, teased a packed schedule ahead, and invoked "NXT Paige" as the standard she intends to meet.
I'm just trying to get my lick back," Saraya said. "I miss wrestling. I lost my passion for it for a second. I told people months ago I was getting back in the ring in January and I did just that — and I'm having such a great time.
The confirmation follows through on a promise Saraya made publicly late last year. She previously told Wrestling With Freddie that she started training in January and pushed back on skeptics who assumed it was a Royal Rumble ploy, insisting she had been telegraphing the move for months.
"NXT Paige" Is the Benchmark
The most pointed moment of the interview came when Saraya raised the bar on what a return would look like.
If I was to ever come back to wrestling, I'll be better than I was before," she said. "NXT Paige.
That's a deliberate reference. NXT Paige, the version of the character that captivated fans before her main roster call-up and eventual injury, is widely considered the peak of her in-ring work.
When pressed about what 2026 actually holds, she kept her cards close.
2026 is looking really great. I have a busy schedule ahead of me — and that's about it. Yeah, that's all I'm giving you.
Dream Tag Partners and Her Waffle House Crew
The rapid-fire portion of the interview produced some of the most quotable Saraya moments in recent memory. Asked who she'd pick as a tag team partner given the current state of the WWE Women's Tag Division, she didn't hesitate. "
AJ, baby, of course — my fairy godmother," she said, before adding Rhea Ripley as her backup pick with a playful apology: "If I couldn't have my girl AJ, I would pick Rhea Ripley. Sorry. Sorry, G — my steel rock."
The Waffle House fight crew question, a fan-favorite recurring bit on the channel, got an equally colorful answer. Saraya went immediately to the Samoans. "Tamina [Snuka], Nia [Jax] — they got headbutts on them, dude," she said, before rounding out the squad with Ripley and a shoutout to a revitalized Natalya.
When the host noted that Natalya "doesn't elevate, she decimates," Saraya co-signed without hesitation: "She decimates, baby. She does."
What Fans Mean to Her
The interview's most emotionally substantive moment came when Saraya reflected on the feedback she's been receiving from fans on the convention circuit. "A lot of them have been saying stuff about obviously sobriety, which is amazing," she said. "But a lot of guys and girls have said I taught them how to be themselves — and it's good to be the weirdo, the misfit, the outcast. Like that promo I did. And that hit home for them."
She summed up her motivation simply: "As long as I can help people be themselves, that's all I give a f*** about."
Saraya also confirmed her Rule Breakers podcast has wrapped its first season, with Season 2 on the way. She's active across X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube — all under the Saraya handle, with the podcast living on its own YouTube channel.
Saraya has previously said she prefers the Paige persona for any potential return and pushed back on characterizations that she's actively seeking a WWE job, noting she only addresses the topic when asked. Whether her confirmed training and deliberately vague 2026 tease signal something imminent remains to be seen — but she's clearly laying the groundwork.
