Saraya announced on Dynamite that she’s cleared to wrestle and challenged Britt Baker at Full Gear. She went on The Sessions with Renee Paquette to tell the story of how this all came about.
Saraya came to AEW in part because for her friendship with Paquette. When she signed with the company, she told Paquette she didn’t 100 percent know what she was going be doing. “I know I’m going there to support the division in some way on TV or behind the scenes. You know, I’m just there to try and help as much as possible. The division’s doing really well, it can always be elevated.” She said that’s why Madison Rayne is there too.
“When I came in, I didn’t really know what the deal was. I knew I was going to be a part of something and I was going to be part of something special. Then, when I got there — the great reaction when I walked out — oh my God! You cannot throw a wrestler out there and tell them they can’t do anything. (laughs) I came to terms with not being able to wrestle anymore and that’s fine.”
“A couple years ago, I did do some x-rays and they were looking great. I didn’t do the full MRI, but I did do the x-rays a couple of years ago. There’s not like the perfect read on your neck. X-rays of the bones, but you can see everything like all the inner workings of your neck; like the important part. You know they can see exactly how much fluid is around there. It’s really crazy how an x-ray works. And a CT. I just did the x-rays, so I was a little nervous about doing the MRI.”
Stone Cold Inspired Her To Wrestle Again
She thought things looked good, but didn’t want to rush anything. The return of Edge and Stone Cold Steve Austin having a good match without any bumps was really inspiring. After seeing Stone Cold versus Kevin Owens, she thought “I could do a Stone Cold match.” She told Tony Khan her idea. He told her that they did tag matches with Sting and suggested doing that for her, but she wanted a singles match if she came back.
Saraya clarifies that Dr. Sampson didn’t “clear me for anything.” She said when she first went out there with Baker, she didn’t ask for clearance. He advised her not to take a bump. If she wanted to wrestle, she would have to have x-rays, MRIs, and CTs. Saraya agreed, but didn’t want to see a doctor associated with wrestling because “there’s a little bit of bias there. I don’t want to make the same mistake where I came back and I was like, wrestling every single day and just doing all these crazy things. I really want to be aware and careful of my neck this time. I want to get to the nitty gritty of what my neck looks like and if I’m even going to be paralyzed because that would be the biggest scare that if I did wrestle, I could potentially get paralyzed.”
Saraya Gets Medically Cleared with No Restrictions
On Halloween, Saraya went to a doctor in California. He has seen patients that compete in the NFL, NBA, and actors and actresses that are action stars. She thought he was perfect because he’d tell her no if he didn’t think she should wrestle and also his job would be on the line if he cleared her when he shouldn’t have.
Although her x-rays looked good, he said “we still have to triple check.” She went downstairs for the MRI and across the street for CT scan and then brought them back in the same hour. Upon hearing the news that she was cleared, she burst into tears. She said she started asking questions like, ‘what about the fluid in my neck?’ The doctor told her the fluid was back and her “fusions look perfect. There’s no fractures above and below, there’s no issues.”
He also told her that paralysis is rare. “If you get kicked there, you have some cushion now.” He advised her to take time if she isn’t feeling well. When she asked how many matches she can have, he told her “let’s take it easy. Like, one match a month and then gradually start building up.”
Full Gear is live from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Saturday, November 19.
