Former AEW Star Saraya Discusses Not Handling Initial WWE Fame Well

Saraya achieved success and fame quite early in her WWE career and in her life, which she has talked about recently, highlighting what she could have done differently.

Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE, joined WWE at 19 and became the Divas Champion at 21, a feat not many in the pro wrestling world have accomplished. With the success came the fame, which Saraya recently talked about on the "Lightweights Podcast," where she discussed how she could've handled it in a different manner.

"I don't think I handled it [fame] great. Like, I felt like I did at first, but then I started surrounding myself with — I always say community is so important because it's who you surround yourself with — but I started surrounding myself with people who were just like, 'I want her to buy my drinks, I want her to do this, and here's some drugs.' And they got me into drugs and stuff like that. I mean, ultimately, I said yes, they didn't hold a gun to my head. But I'm just saying, the people you surround yourself with matter. And when you're young, you want to be cool. You think, 'Oh, I didn't really have a childhood, so this is my moment to really have fun, shine, and have friends.' So yeah, I don't think I handled it the best. I think the internet saw enough of that," she said.

Saraya recently reflected on her early years in WWE and came to the conclusion that she was sad during that time of her life.

"I didn't realize what was going on at the time. I kind of just fell into this hole. I thought I was having a great time, but only recently — just this year — I figured out how sad I've been for so long," she revealed.

The former AEW star, whose WWE career ended in 2022, recently praised WWE, saying they "saved" her during her time with the promotion while addressing the possibility of returning to WWE.