Saraya (Paige)

Saraya Jade Bevis is an English Professional Wrestler who is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling under her first name Saraya. Saraya is best known for her time with WWE under the ring name Paige. She is the former two times Divas Champion and the youngest diva to hold the championship, inaugural NXT Women’s Champion and the first to hold both titles simultaneously. She was ranked No.1 Female Wrestler in 2014 by Pro-Wrestling Illustrated.

Early Life

Saraya was born on August 17 1992 in Norwich, England in a professional wrestling family. Her father Patrick Bevis is an English pro- wrestler / trainer, and her mother Julia Hamer Brevis is a Professional Wrestler better known under her ring name Sweet Saraya. Both her older brothers Roy Bevis and Zak Bevis are wrestlers. Saraya and her family members run a wrestling promotion in Norwich named World Association of Wrestling and her mother owns and operates a women exclusive wrestling promotion named Bellatrix Female Warriors. With Saraya in the womb, her mom Sweet Saraya unknowingly wrestled being 7 months pregnant. Saraya hated wrestling in the early days fearing injury and wanted to be a Zoologist. However, she wrestled occasionally with her brother by guidance of her father. Saraya has also worked as a bouncer and bartender in her parent’s pub.

Professional Wrestling Career

European Independent Circuit (2005 - 2011)

Saraya started her wrestling career in 2005 at the age of 13 in her father’s wrestling promotion as a replacement wrestler. Her earliest taped match was in April 2006 at World Association of Wrestling, where she wrestled under the name Britani Knight in a tag team match teaming up with her mother Sweet Saraya in a losing effort. Britani Knight then formed a tag team with Melodi with the team name Norfolk Dolls and wrestled under multiple wrestling promotions in England.

Multiple Championships

Knight worked with multiple European Wrestling Promotions in countries like Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Turkey, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Norway and in the United States. Knight had multiple pursuits for singles championships in Wide Wrestling League in Scotland, WAWW in England but was unsuccessful. She then transformed herself better to position herself to the championship position. Knight won her first championship in Herts and Essex Wrestling in 2009 by defeating her mother Sweet Saraya in a two out of three falls match to win the vacant HEW Women’s Championship. Her championship success continued as she won the WAWW British Championship later that month and captured the RDW Women’s Championship and RQW Women’s Championship later that year. She then formed an alliance with her mother to capture the PWF Ladies Tag Team Championship in May 2010. But lost the HEW Women’s Championship to the mother the following month, which she gained back sooner.

In early 2011, Knight won the German Stampede Wrestling Ladies Championship by defeating Blue Nikita. She also had subsequent appearances in Turkish Power Wrestling to capture the TPW Ladies Crown but failed. Knight returned to PWE and participated in a PWE Championship tournament which she won by defeating Nikki Storm in the finals. Knight also won the SQW Ladies Championship and WAWW Harcore Championships in the first half of 2011. Although she captured various championships from various promotions in the first half of the year, she lost all her gold in the second half of the year.

Shimmer Women Athletics (2011)

Saraya Bevis then moved to the United States and made her debut in the women exclusive wrestling promotion “Shimmer Women Athletics” in March 2011 under the name Britani Knight. Knight and her mother Saraya Knight formed a team named Knight Dynasty and competed for the SWA Tag Team Championship against seven sisters but was unsuccessful. Britani was unsuccessful and had three consecutive losses, which led Saraya to lose her temper and slapped Britani and both started a brawl. Britani challenged Saraya for a no disqualification match at Volume 44, where Britani defeated Saraya marking the last match at Shimmer Women Athletics.

WWE (2011 - 2022)

Florida Championship Wrestling (2011 - 2012)

Saraya Bevis participated in the 2010 try out in England but was not successful in her first try. She again participated the next year and signed a contract with WWE to wrestle in the developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). She made her FCW debut in January 2012 under the ring name Saraya but was later changed to Paige on her television debut. Paige and Cortez formed a tag team in the name Anti-Diva Army and made their debut against Audrey Marie and Kaitlyn which they lost. Paige had a championship pursuit for the FCW Divas Championship but lost by disqualification. Paige had a feud with Audrey Marie and had a match, where Cortez turned on her, ending the alliance. The feud with Audrey Marie ended at the final episode of FCW in a No Disqualification match.

NXT Women’s Champion (2012 - 2014)

The FCW was rebranded as NXT in 2012 and Paige made her NXT debut on the third episode of NXT losing to Sofia Cortez in a one on one match. Paige got a huge recognition and gained the support of the fans sooner. Which made Paige begin a winning streak over Audrey Marie, Sasha Banks, Emma, Aksana and Alicia Fox. Paige was assaulted by the ring announcer Summer Rae, who was jealous of Paige's success and popularity. Paige and Rae had a huge brawl which resulted in a shoulder injury to Paige and ending her winning streak. Paige recovered from her injury and defeated Summer Rae besides the pre-match attack by Rae. Paige then participated in the championship tournament to crown the inaugural NXT Women's Championship. Where she defeated Emma in the final to begin her reign as the first ever NXT Women's Championship. She successfully defended her championship against Summer Rae in her first championship defense to end the feud. Paige held the championship for 301 days and was forced to vacate the NXT Women's Championship as she won the WWE Divas Championship.

Divas Champion (2014 - 2015)

Paige made her main roster debut in April 2014 on the Raw after WrestleMania XXX to wish AJ Lee for her successfully defending her Divas championship. But, AJ Lee slapped Paige which led to an impromptu championship match, where Paige won the championship so quickly to become the youngest Divas Champion at the age of 21. She is the first Diva to win the championship on her debut and become the only woman to hold both Divas Championship and NXT Women's Championship simultaneously. She had defended her championship against Brie Bella, Tamina Snuka, Alicia Fox, Cameron, and Naomi.

At Money in the Bank PPV, AJ Lee returned and defeated Paige to win the Divas Championship back in a squash similar to how Paige defeated AJ Lee. Paige tried to recapture the championship in a rematch at Battleground but was unsuccessful in her attempt. Paige formed a friendly relationship with AJ Lee to have a match against Emma and Natalya and won. However, after the match Paige turned heel by assaulting AJ Lee, which led to a championship match at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam Paige defeated AJ Lee to win the Divas Championship for the second time which she lost to AJ Lee a month later at Night of Champions in a Triple Threat Match.

Championship Pursuits

Paige soon became a fan favorite again when she came to the aid of Natalya after a post match assault by Nikki Bella. Which led to a non-title match at the main event where Paige won. Over the weeks the feud has been teased and it led to a championship match at Fastlane, where Nikki Bella won. Following night on Raw Paige was attacked by The Bellas, where AJ returned to save Paige resulting in a tag team match at WrestleMania. Paige and Lee won the match, marking the debut win at WrestleMania for Paige. Paige then unsuccessfully pursuited for the Divas Championship but lost again to Nikki Bella as a result of interference by Naomi as she attacked Paige for injuring her in the past. Paige then had a triple threat match for the Divas Championship and lost again.

Women’s Revolution (2015 - 2016)

In 2015, Stephanie McMahon, Alicia Fox and The Bella Twins called for a revolution in the Women's Division, introducing Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch as an ally of Paige; Sasha Banks as the ally for Naomi and Tamina. Paige and her team were called "Team PCB" combining the first letters of their names. The three teams collided with each other at SummerSlam in a three-team elimination match where Team PCB won. Charlotte Flair then became the #1 Contender by participating and winning in the Beat the Clock Challenge. Charlotte then defeated Nikki Bella to become the Divas Champion at Night of Champions. Paige turned on their teammates by claiming Charlotte was only there because of her father. Paige then tried to win the Divas Championship from Charlotte but failed on multiple occasions. Paige then had multiple tag team matches aligning herself with Natalya and Sasha Banks.

Injury & Retirement (2016 - 2018)

In the 2016 WWE Draft, Paige got drafted to Raw, but her mother on twitter announced that Paige has been suffering from a neck injury and got suspended for violating the company's wellness policy. She then had neck surgery and announced that she would not be able to wrestle for an undisclosed amount of time. She got medically cleared and returned as the heel with debuting Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville on the November 20, 2017 episode of Raw by attacking Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, and Alexa Bliss. The stable was later named Absolution. After weeks, Paige suffered another neck injury during a six man tag team match. Which made her stay away from in-ring matches and further made her retire in December 2017.

SmackDown General Manager (2018)

Although retiring from in-ring competition didn't keep her away from wrestling as she continued to accompany her team Absolute. In April 2018, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that Paige will be the New SmackDown General Manager by disbanding her relationship with Absolute. Paige turned face and continued her role as a General Manager and was given an additional role to promote the film Fighting with My Family. McMahon and his family then took control of the business and removed the General Manager role away.

Shane announced that Paige will stay in SmackDown but in a different role as she became the manager of the Kabuki Warriors but it doesn't last longer. Paige then made occasional appearances on television and announced her departure from WWE in June 2022.

All Elite Wrestling (2022 - Present)

In September 2022, Bevis made her AEW debut under her ring name Saraya at Grand Slam in Queens, New York. On the October 5 episode of AEW Dynamite, Saraya confronted Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D and it turned out to be a physical fight. Saraya later announced that she is medically cleared and would wrestle her first match since 2017 against Baker at Full Gear and won. Saraya had her second match teaming up with Toni Storm and lost to D.M.D and Jamie Hayter.

Saraya and Storm then turned heel the following week by attacking Willow Nightingale and slating AEW homegrown talent. Saraya then pursuited for the AEW Women's Championship in a triple threat match against Hayter and Soho, where Hayter won and joined with Saraya and Storm. The stable is then named The Outcasts and is managing a winning streak against the homeground talents by humiliating them with their branding.

Saraya Awards and Achievements

Championships

Awards

Saraya has won numerous awards throughout her pro-wrestling career, which includes

• WWE Year-End Award and General Manager of the year award in 2018 from WWE.

• Diva of the Year Award in 2014 from Rolling Stone.

• Worst Feud of the Year in 2015 for Team PCB for feud against Team BAD and Team Bella from Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

• Ranked No.1 of the Top 50 Female Wrestlers in 2014 and No 2 in 2015 in the list by Pro-Wrestling Illustrated.

• Ranked No.17 on WWE's list of The 50 Greatest Women Superstars of All Time.