Paige reveals emotional reaction to getting cleared by WWE

At WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Paige made her WWE return and replaced the injured Nikki Bella in the women’s tag team titles match.

Paired with Brie Bella, the two proceeded to win the women’s tag team championships from Lash Legend, Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, and Charlotte Flair.

Paige last wrestled in WWE in 2017 and suffered a neck injury that forced her to retire. Not cleared for in-action by WWE, Paige joined AEW in 2022 as Saraya. A former AEW Women’s World Champion there, Paige left the promotion in 2025. After months of absence, she made her WWE return in 2026.

On Instagram, Paige now revealed the immediate moment she found out about being cleared for an in-ring return by WWE. The video shows Paige sobbing and trying to control her emotions. She further talks about her journey and how long the road was before WWE cleared her. The video also received multiple positive comments from her WWE colleagues.

The day I found out I was cleared to come home to [WWE]. What an emotional journey. Thank you [Gilbert Boyas] or being there and capturing this moment! It was a long road but man it was worth it!! Thank you everyone for the love since I returned, it means the absolute world to me,” she wrote.

While AEW allowed her to wrestle, WWE stopped all chances of her wrestling in 2017 due to injury concerns and moved her to a much more non-physical role. Battling all the adversities, Paige is now back as an in-ring competitor in WWE and is a champion too!

Paige on WrestleMania 42 return: ‘I’m a WWE girl forever’

Paige is back in WWE and is already a champion!

At WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Paige replaced an injured Nikki Bella to tag along with Brie Bella. She and Bella defeated Lash Legend, Nia Jax, Lyra Valkyria, Bayley, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss to win the Women’s Tag Team titles.

Later, Paige and the Bellas appeared at the WWE WrestleMania 42 post-show to address her return and her first WWE match since 2017.

WWE is my home, I was raised here, I’m a WWE girl forever, and a Total Diva. I didn’t know how anyone was gonna react, I’m walking out there, I forgot how big WrestleManias were. It was magical, it was surreal, I forgot how to skip at one point. I was like, ‘What do I do? What does Paige do?’” Paige shared.

Nikki Bella also opened up and shared that Paige was the only one the twins felt right about replacing her. Bella claimed that she wanted Paige to take her place at WrestleMania 42 because she did not want Brie Bella to lose her WrestleMania moment because of her injury.

Later on social media, Bella shared more details on the injury, while at the post-show, she also announced undergoing surgery on her injured foot.