On April 9, 2019, WWE superstar Paige was forced to retire at the age of 25.
Paige had been battling a neck injury that had kept her out of the ring for over a year following surgery. She returned to action in November 2017, but her return was short-lived. In December, she took a kick to the spine at a live event, causing an injury and forcing the match to be stopped. Despite still appearing on television in a non-wrestling role, Paige was not cleared for competition.
Speaking to The Mirror, Paige discussed how Edge, who also had to retire early due to neck issues, helped her through her retirement speech.
The person who helped me with that too was [retired former WWE Champion] Edge, because he was like 'I promise you...' he told me the day I was about to retire, he pulled me to one side because he had sort of the same thing - spinal stenosis - he told me 'I promise you after you make this retirement speech you will have so much weight off your shoulders and you will feel so much better,'" said Paige. "And I did, it did make me feel better. But he was like 'you'll also constantly be reminded of it and you will be upset, but you will be in a better place once you say goodbye'. And he was right. I do feel in a good place, but sometimes it can get me down, you know?"
The night after her retirement, Paige was named as the new General Manager of SmackDown Live. She recently called her time as SmackDown GM "a beautiful beginning."
