Saraya Gets Candid About AEW Departure

Two and a half years after she joined AEW at "Grand Slam," Saraya's time with the promotion has come to an end. The former AEW Women's World Champion announced her departure from AEW this morning, and further explained the reasons behind her leaving shortly after on "Busted Open Radio."

"When it came into AEW, the thing that I wanted to do was just to...help build stuff," Saraya said. "I didn't want to be the top dog or the face or anything. That wasn't my...that's not what I wanted. What I wanted to do was put girls over, if that helped them in any way. That's all I wanted to do. And I feel like I was coming to the end of that. There wasn't very much left I could do. I don't think there was a place for me anymore in there."

Saraya did express interest in wrestling Mercedes Mone, who she said was "up for it," but stated Mone had several storylines planned before Saraya's contract expired in September. She confirmed she was planning on leaving AEW once her deal was up in order to focus on her new book, her new podcast, "Rulebreakers," and an upcoming acting role. Saraya noted that her AEW departure was amicable, and had nothing but kind words for AEW owner Tony Khan.

"He was really great," Saraya said. "He was like...he's been so supportive since I asked for time off in November. I've been gone for a minute. And I was just like 'Well, there's really no place for me anymore.' So yeah, we came to that decision, and I'm happy about it. And he wished me luck and everything, and the door is always open. But yeah, it's nice to just...it's scary, but I'm taking...I'm exploring everything else outside of wrestling."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription