Saraya Beats Britt Baker in 1st Match Since Retirement From Career-Threatening Injury

In her AEW in-ring debut and first match of any kind since 2017, Saraya defeated Britt Baker at Full Gear on Saturday.

Saraya hit a pair of capture DDTs to earn the win.

Both had close calls before the ending.

In the end, Saraya completed her comeback with a victory.

Following the expiration of her WWE contract in July, Saraya made her surprise AEW debut on the Sept. 21 Grand Slam edition of Dynamite by interrupting a Baker-orchestrated attack against Toni Storm and Athena.

Saraya didn’t get physical at that time, leading to questions regarding whether she was medically cleared to do so.

The 30-year-old native of Norwich, England, first signed a contract with WWE in 2011 and made her debut on the main roster in 2014, winning the Divas Championship in her first match.

Wrestling under the name Paige, a neck injury kept her out of action for about a year and a half in 2016 and 2017, but she returned to action in November 2017.

Unfortunately, that return was short-lived, as she injured her neck again during a house show match in December 2017, forcing her to announce her retirement from in-ring competition a few months later.

Saraya remained with WWE and worked in several different capacities, including general manager of SmackDown, manager of The Kabuki Warriors and panelist on FS1’s WWE Backstage.

She was not utilized much at all in the final year of her contract, though, which led to WWE allowing it to lapse.

There was some thought that Saraya would serve in a GM-type role again in AEW upon signing, but it quickly became apparent that there were bigger plans, as she got physical with Baker on the Oct. 5 episode of Dynamite.

Then, on the Nov. 9 Dynamite, Saraya announced she was 100 percent cleared to compete, resulting in her return match against Baker being made official for Full Gear.

Saraya was widely expected to win, and by beating AEW’s biggest female star in Baker, she has already positioned herself to move toward the top of the ladder in AEW.

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