Earlier this week, Saraya announced her departure from All Elite Wrestling (AEW), marking the end of her two-and-a-half-year tenure with the company. The run culminated with Saraya winning the AEW Women’s World Championship at AEW All In 2023 in front of her hometown crowd at Wembley Stadium.
Reflecting on her exit during an interview on Busted Open Radio, Saraya shared insights into her decision to leave AEW and her overall experience.
“When I came into AEW, the thing that I wanted to do was just help build stuff. I didn’t want to be the top dog or the face or anything—that’s not what I wanted,” she explained. “What I wanted to do was put girls over, if that helped them in any way. That’s all I wanted to do. And I feel like I was coming to the end of that. There wasn’t very much left I could do. I don’t think there was a place for me anymore in there.”
Saraya also expressed gratitude for AEW owner Tony Khan’s support throughout her time with the company.
“Tony was so amazing with it. It was mutual. He was really great; he’s been so supportive since I asked for time off in November. I’ve been gone for a minute, and I was like, well, there’s really no place for me anymore, so we came to that decision. I’m happy about it. He wished me luck with everything, and the door’s always open.”
Despite stepping away from AEW, Saraya emphasized that she cherished her time working with talented women such as Toni Storm, Ruby Soho, and Harley Cameron:
“I’m really happy that I got the stories that I got because I got to hang with wonderful women… Even if not everyone was happy with the way storylines were or how I was portrayed, I had a great time behind the scenes”.
She also acknowledged occasional frustrations with certain creative directions but maintained that she enjoyed herself overall: “Even sometimes maybe I was like, oh, I wish we could be doing XYZ, but I was having a great time behind the scenes”.
Looking ahead, Saraya plans to focus on several outside projects, including her new podcast Rulebreakers, her memoir Hell in Boots, and an upcoming acting role. While she is stepping away from wrestling for now, she assured fans that this is not the end of her career:
“This isn’t the end of my wrestling career… Maybe I’ll do something later on down the line that everyone will be proud of and want to love”
