Jim Cornette has now given his thoughts on the AEW debut of Saraya.
Even though the controversial wrestling figure is one of All Elite Wrestling’s biggest critics, Cornette did not shy away from pointing out the great reaction the former Diva’s Champion got from the AEW fanbase inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Speaking on the “Jim Cornette Experience“, he said:
And then finally, music played. And as soon as the word Saraya came up on the screen, the place went ballistic because I don’t even know if they would have cheered if that had happened in a WWE building. Because nobody, none of the WWE fans would have known.”
“Probably what Paige’s real name was, well, maybe the most devoted. But these fans, they’re the smart ones. They knew it was Paige and boy, the place comes apart and the heels bail out of the ring and the fans go crazy and Paige walks into the ring and walks around the ring and smiles at the people, and that was it.
Cornette then shared his skeptical opinion on whether Saraya is cleared to compete, and then questioned how signing with Tony Khan’s company help her if she still is not:
So she’s here, but has she been cleared to wrestle? If she hasn’t been cleared to wrestle, then what’s she gonna do here? Because she had history in the WWE. They wanted her to be an ambassador, the movie that came out they wanted her to promote that, there were things outside the ring that she could do there. What can she do outside the ring here if she’s not cleared to wrestle?”
“And if she has been cleared to wrestle then why did the WWE let her get away? She’s not with Alberto Del Maniac again anymore. She’s not you know, the f*cking, he’s not shoving the Colombian marching powder up her f*cking schnoz anymore. She’s not having public meltdowns.”
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famer then questioned WWE’s decision of not re-signing the former Paige if she is indeed heading back to in-ring competition:
“So if she was cleared to wrestle and could wrestle, how did the WWE let her get away? If she’s not been cleared to wrestle, and we have never heard that that was the case in the past what three or four years that she’s been out, then what’s she going to do here?”
As per Dave Meltzer, Saraya is still not cleared for in-ring action but is looking to get medically cleared soon. The former NXT Women’s Champion will be making her first announced appearance for AEW on the September 28th episode of Dynamite.