Paige Officially Says Goodbye To WWE

Saraya Knight officially bids farewell to the name of Paige tomorrow, and she does so with a lot of gratitude. The former "NXT" Women's Champion and WWE Divas Champion had the opportunity to pen a goodbye to her tenure in WWE, and she took the time to thank a lot of individuals who had helped her along the way via the Player's Tribune. Paige tipped the cap to names such as Tenille Dashwood, Dusty Rhodes and plenty more.

"When I first got to WWE, we weren't very far removed from the time of bra-and-panties matches," Knight wrote. "A lot of people still considered the women's match on every show to be the 'pee break.' And I'll always feel such a kinship with the women of my era, because we worked so damn hard to prove ourselves. To prove that we couldn't just wrestle — we could wrestle our asses off."

On a recent episode of the "Gentleman Villain" podcast with William Regal, the former "NXT" General Manager named Knight and Dashwood as the pioneers who laid the groundwork for the so-called "women's revolution" in "NXT," but Knight herself gave an immense amount of credit to people all across the board.

"I'm also grateful for the CURRENT group of female wrestlers in WWE," she wrote. "Everyone seems to have a different idea on where and when our Women's Revolution started, but to me the where and when don't matter. What matters is that it happened, and that women's wrestling is in good hands with the talent on this roster. I'm incredibly honoured to have gotten to be a part of something so special, and can't wait to see what the future brings."

Knight last wrestled in 2017, when she suffered an injury that led to her in-ring retirement, but she notes that when she returned to WWE in front of a live crowd, she got some special words of reassurance.

"As I was getting ready to go out there for my 're-debut,' Stephanie pulled me aside. And she just held me for a minute. She gave me the biggest, longest hug. And she said, 'Hey — everyone out there loves you. They're going to be excited to see you. You want to know why? Because you're a survivor. You SURVIVED. And that means something. So hold your head up, and enjoy this moment. It's yours.' Stephanie was right (as usual). I went out there ... and it was the most amazing feeling. No one hated me! They were actually glad I was back. I was still Paige. The connection was still there."

Knight is set to appear at special stage show coming at the end of July during Starrcast V in Nashville.