Saraya appeared on Renee Paquette’s podcast to talk about her return to the ring. She talked about the process of getting cleared to wrestle for AEW and when it took place:
“When it comes to signing with AEW, I remember telling you, I was like, I’m not really 100% knowing what I’m going to be doing there. Like I really don’t. I just know that I’m gonna go there to help the division in some way with them on TV or behind the scenes, like, you know, I’m just there to try and help as much as possible. Even if the division is doing really well, it could always be elevated.”
“When I came in, I didn’t really know, like, what the deal was. I just know that I was going to be a part of something and we’re gonna build something special here. But then when I got there, I got a great reaction when I walked out, and I was like, Oh, my God. You cannot, for a wrestler out there and like, tell them that they can’t do anything else.”
“I came to terms with not being able to wrestle anymore and that’s fine, although a couple of years ago, I did some X-rays, and they were looking great, but I didn’t do the full MRI, but I did the X-rays ago. It’s not like the perfect read on your neck and stuff like that, you know, with all the fluid thing.”
“So X-ray is just of the bones, and then MRI, you can see everything, like all the inner workings of your neck like, like the important part, you know, they can see exactly like how much fluid is around them, like they can see, it’s really crazy how an MRI works and a CT scan. It’s all kind of in the same family. But I was like I just did the X-rays.”
“So I was a little nervous about doing the MRI a couple of years ago. So I was just like, okay, they’re looking good. Maybe in a couple years, I’ll talk like, you know, it starts getting better, but I’m like, I’m not gonna rush it because Edge was out for like nine years. Stone Cold had that match with Kevin Owens, but he didn’t bump very much, you know, like, it was like, very limited, but they still had like an amazing match. That was inspiring to me. I was like, man, like, I probably could pull off doing a Stone Cold match and that was just like in my head because the match. You wouldn’t think that there were a crazy amount of bumps because the story that they told was so fantastic.”
“So I remember throwing the idea at Tony, and then he was just like, ‘You know, like, when Sting came in, we did tag matches.’ So he was like, ‘Well, maybe we can do some tag matches’ I was like, if I was to come back, I would want it to be a singles match.’ So I remember talking to the doctors, and they were like ‘Okay, you can do this, but we’re not going to clear you to take a bump.’ That’s the whole misconception with how the internet works is, ‘Oh, she talked to like 25 doctors and AEW doctor, Dr. Samson cleared it.’ He didn’t clear me for anything. First of all, I went out there with Britt and we did our own thing. Like, I didn’t ask clearance from the doctor there. I’m going to be honest. He was cool with it. He was like, ‘Just please don’t take a bump.’ He was like, if you want to actually have matches, like we have to get you completely cleared. That means MRI, CT scans, everything.’ I was like, ‘Okay, well, I don’t want to go to a doctor which is associated with wrestling because I feel like there’s a little bit of bias there. I’m just like, I don’t want to make the same mistake where I came back and then I was like, wrestling every single day and just like doing all these crazy things. I’m like, no, I really want to be aware and careful of my neck this time around. Like, I really want to get to like the nitty gritty of what my neck looks like and how much I can do and if I’m even gonna be paralyzed, because that was the biggest scare is that if I did wrestle, I could potentially get paralyzed.”
“So Halloween, the perfect day, right? I went to the doctor here in California, one of the best doctors around. He did a bunch of NFL, NBA, all these huge action stars, like celebrities, like actors and actresses and all that kind of fun stuff. I was like, well, if anyone’s gonna tell me no, like, this guy is going to tell me no, right, because he’s fantastic and you know, his job is on the line if he just lets someone go back to work. So yeah, I got the X-rays done and he was just like, ‘These are great, but we still have to triple check the CT scans, MRI, and he managed to squeeze them in the same day. So I went downstairs for the MRI. I went across the street for the CT scan. I brought them back all in the same hour or so. It was very quick. Then he sat there and went through them all and he was just like, ‘You’re cleared’, and I just burst into tears. I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ I started asking questions like, what about the fluid or my neck? I remember seeing my last MRI with the fluid. I’m not saying I’m a fu**ing doctor or anything, but like, I’ve seen a few MRIs and I’m like, I still see fluid around my area so that’s why I asked. I was like, ‘What’s the deal there?’ He was just like, ‘The fusions look perfect.’ He was like, ‘There’s no fractures above and below. There’s no issues.’ I was like,’ Okay, let’s talk about paralysis’, and he was like, ‘It’s rare. If you get kicked there, you have some cushion now. If you ever feel like you’re not feeling too well, take some time off. You know, your body. I will clear you to get back in the ring again.’ I was just like, ‘All right, well, how many matches can I have?’ He was like, ‘Let’s take it easy. You know, we’ll do like one match a month here and there, you know, and then gradually start building up.’ But yeah, so long story short Halloween is when I got the full clearance.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Sessions with Renée Paquette with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
