Paige: From WWE Women’s Division’s Future to Afterthought
By Jay Sichler
At one time being considered the future of the Women’s division for years to come, Paige’s once bright career might be coming to an abrupt end in WWE.
The women’s revolution has caused quite the buzz in WWE for the last two years. The division went from a complete joke, where fans would rush to the bathroom during their spot on the show, to now headlining episodes of RAW and stealing the show at WrestleMania. The revolution helped exterminate the Diva moniker and rid away that awful looking butterfly belt. However, the one female who began this new era, Paige, is now being seen as nothing more than a distant memory.
Before the Four Horsewomen of NXT (Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch) graced joined the main roster, the WWE fans were introduced to the Anti-Diva. The original Queen of NXT made her debut the night after WrestleMania 30.
The current and first ever NXT Women’s Champion (at the time) shocked the world when she defeated AJ Lee for the Divas Championship. For the next year, The Diva of Tomorrow would become the face of the division, succeeding Lee.
Paige would become the most popular female in division, being the only one who could put on fantastic matches. She was viewed by many as the female who would lead the division into a new era.
However, in the summer of 2015, Stephanie McMahon announced a women’s revolution with Banks, Charlotte, and Lynch all joining the main roster. This led to Paige’s status as the top female start to dissipate.
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In the year that Paige was on the main roster, Becky, Charlotte, Sasha began to steal the show in NXT. They put five-star matches with one another the trio and began to change the view of women’s wrestling.
Originally on the same level as the newcomers when they joined the roster, the Scream Queen soon started to fade into the background. Within the first few weeks of the revolution, it was made clear that the company viewed Charlotte as the top star.
Soon after, The Nature Girl won the Divas Championship and went on to the be the face of the division going forward. Banks and Lynch would also find success as the two, along with Charlotte, stole the show at WrestleMania 32 for the Women’s Championship.
In the meantime, Paige spent the year barely on television and in a pre-show match at WrestleMania 32. After such a bright future and so much potential, it’s worth wondering what happened to this former prodigy.
With fame and success at such an early age, maturity seems to be the factor as to why this promising young star has fallen to the back of the pack. These last few months have been troubling for her as personal life has gotten in the way of her career.
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Since Paige entered a relationship with former WWE star Alberto Del Rio, her stock in WWE has dropped due to her behavior outside of the ring. Incidents in Las Vegas and recently in Mexico City have certainly soured WWE’s feelings on her.
Once commended for her strong responsibility skills at such a young age, recent decisions have changed those views. WWE being so upset with her recent actions tried to end the relationship when they moved the Anti-Diva to RAW and Del Rio to Smackdown.
This, however, failed as the couple is still together. Paige even furthered her decline when she failed the WWE Wellness Policy not just once but twice. She’s now out with a neck injury, which will keep her out for an indefinite period. It leads to questioning whether she’ll ever be back in a WWE ring.
The Scream Queen has multiple years left on her deal and WWE is not ready to let her leave just yet. However, time away from WWE could do her some good. Many stars have left the company in a similar manner and have come back to have fantastic runs. Jeff Hardy is an example of this. He was young, immature and had a horrible drug problem. So, the company cut ties with him for a couple years.Hardy was able to clean up during this time and came back to have a fantastic three-year run.
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Only being 24 and having so much success could be a burden and responsibility that Paige might not be ready for. A few years on the indie scene could benefit and help her mature.
While WWE might not want to let such a talented female go, it might be in everyone’s best interest if she did step away for a short time. Could a six month sabbatical be enough to help Paige get her head back on straight again? Only time will tell, but at a young age, there is still plenty of time for her to become the star many believe she can be.
With so many potential routes and outcomes, it will be interesting to see if Paige will go down as one of the greats like Trish Stratus or Lita. Or will she a competitor who had all the potential in the world but threw it away?
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These next few months with her decisions behaviors and actions away from the WWE will pay strong dividends if Paige can rise or fall to the bottom of the women’s division.