Paige on turning lows into highs.
From August 2016 to September 2017, Paige went through some of the toughest times in her career. A publicly toxic relationship with Alberto Del Rio, a leaked sex tape, and a failed drug test were just some of the things Paige had to endure during that time period. But thanks to a lot of support and self-reflection, Paige came out on the other end stronger.
"Obviously, it's very hard to stay positive when you have something that's so publicly humiliating to yourself and then still to this day, this was over two years ago now. I did suffer a lot. I did," Paige admitted to Fox News. "Just emotionally because at the time I was having my neck surgery too, and I had stress-induced anorexia. I lost all my hair. I had some really horrible thoughts. I had to go to therapy. It took me a while to get over because obviously, no woman wants to go through that.
"But at the same time, I was like, 'OK I can't change this.' Same with me not being able to wrestle. I can't change this. There's nothing I can do about it. So why am I still dwelling on it? It happened. People have seen it. Like I can use this to help others now, you know? And it really does because I don't look at it as a mistake. Everyone's done that kind of stuff and it happened a long time ago when I was young and dumb and stuff happens and then you know, unfortunately it was released but I'm just like, 'Hey, it is what it is. I can't change it.'"
Paige wrapped up by saying, "And so now I'm going with the Bella Twins and we went to a woman's hostel place, with kids and stuff, like I get to go talk to kids about it, I'm just like, 'Hey, like never do something when it comes to your phones.' Because like this is a different world nowadays. Like things come out and things happen so I was like, 'You have to think twice before you make the same kind of mistake as I did.' So now I get to use it and utilize it on a different platform and help others with it. So I'm like it's a horrible thing that happened, but now it's a tool to help the next generation of people you know?"
Paige suffered another neck injury in December 2017 and officially announced her retirement in April 2018. She remained on-screen as the SmackDown General Manager and now the manager for The Kabuki Warriors duo of Kairi Sane & Asuka.
