Paige On Sasha Banks Being Blamed For Her Career-Ending Injury, Brie Bella Backlash
SmackDown Live general manager Paige had her promising in-ring career cut short when she suffered a devastating neck injury during a live event when she received a kick from Sasha Banks. Paige was recently a guest on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia and addressed Banks being blamed for ending her career. During the interview, she also discussed the recent botch between Brie Bella and Liv Morgan that resulted in Morgan suffering a concussion.
"Accidents happen," Paige said. "It's kind of the same thing that happened between Liv Morgan and Brie Bella. Accidents happen in the ring. I am not going to hold Sasha Banks accountable for what happened. It is what it is. We have all been doing this for years. At one point one of us is going to hurt the other person."
Paige went on to say Bella received an unnecessary amount of backlash for Morgan's injury. When Morgan took the kicks to the head and was clearly knocked out, her tag partners Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan didn't do enough to protect her. Morgan even remained in the match to receive a triple-team suplex despite the injury. Paige said she feels it was up to her partners to do a better job of helping her and Morgan herself should not have came back into the match.
"We are not going to be perfect all of the time, which is why I feel bad for Brie Bella; she has never hurt anyone. This is the first time she has hurt anyone and she gets blamed for it? Come on, dude. It was an accident. Liv Morgan doesn't blame her," Paige said. "The thing that I don't like about it is the fact that her teammates brought her back in to take a suplex even though they knew shew as knocked out. That was the thing that I didn't like. Don't come back in for the suplex, you know you are hurt. We have concussion meetings all of the time. Take care of yourself, but also, your tag partners, as much as I love them and are very sweet girls, but they know she got knocked out. You don't let her back in the ring again."
Paige compared the situation to the fateful night she suffered her own injury, but noted the stark contrast of Banks refusing to let her continue the match. Paige said it was Banks' refusal that stopped her from doing even more damage to herself, and she appreciated Banks' professionalism in that moment. Wrestlers are programmed to try to fight through their injuries, so Paige believes it was up to the people around Morgan to be concerned about her safety. She reiterated that Bella was unnecessarily chastised online just because of her name and stature.
"That was what Sasha Banks did for me. As soon as she saw that I got knocked out she said that she wasn't going to continue with the match. That is a professional. I was trying to continue the match but she told me to stop. She said that I was going to hurt myself even more. I get where Liv was coming from by wanting to continue but stop, it is not worth it," Paige said. "You can end up like me, but Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan, take care of your teammate. Don't let her back in the ring again. The referee in the match, don't let her back in the ring again. I felt so bad for Brie Bella. I felt bad for both of the women, but I felt bad for her backlash. Had it been anyone else there wouldn't have been that much backlash, but because she is a 'Bella' she receives that type of criticism."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.