Paige is forced to undergo the knife yet again for surgery.
The former WWE Divas Champion and SmackDown General Manager has been open as to why she is not medically cleared to return to in-ring action because she has spinal stenosis.
It turns out that Paige will need another neck surgery after a hernia that was expected to heal but didn’t. She revealed the news in a post on her official Twitter account after she missed a meet and greet in Toronto for SummerSlam weekend.
She wrote: “Me and my fave Dr! Dr Juan Uribe. He did an amazing job on my last neck surgery. Also the miracle worker for Nikki Bella and TJ Wilson’s necks! Unfortunately, the match from Uniondale created a new hernia that we thought would heal. It did not. Sooo… One more surgery to go.”
In an Instagram post, she gave more details on her condition. This is where she noted that she has the neck of a 60-year-old.
While the first fusion healed perfectly, she got another hernia in her neck. You can see the full post here:
Paige responded to a fan on social media about why she is not cleared by WWE to wrestle again.
The former WWE Divas Champion and SmackDown General Manager has opened up on the difficulty of returning to in-ring action because she has spinal stenosis. You can see her response here:
Her in-ring career ended when she was in a six-woman tag match back in December 2017 at a live event that needed to be called off after she took a hard kick to the back from Sasha Banks that she wasn’t ready for and it stunned her.
At the time, the belief was it was just a mild stinger, leading to her losing feeling in her extremities.
WWE pulled her from the ring and set up further testing that led to the call being made that she would not be cleared by WWE doctors to wrestle again.
It was a situation described as similar to Edge’s medical disqualification from competing in the ring. Since then, she has made a great transition from being an active wrestler to being an authority figure on weekly WWE television and now a manager.
Paige represents Asuka and Kairi Sane on SmackDown Live.
Former WWE Diva’s Champion Paige recently spoke to Digital Spy about a variety of topics. Paige mainly talked about WWE’s decision to retire the Diva’s Championship and also spoke about managing the team of Asuka and Kairi Sane, together known as Kabuki Warriors.
Before an unfortunate injury ended her in-ring career, Paige had made quite an impact in WWE. She was the youngest Diva’s Champion on the main roster and she had won the title on the night of her debut. However, WWE has since retired the Diva’s title and speaking of it, the former Champion said that it was the end of an era for her:
“It was the end of an era for me. The dream was always to become Divas Champion and now there’s no possible way I could ever become Women’s Champion and that’s the sad part for me, because [I] can’t go into the next era.”
Apart from this, Paige also talked about her new role with Kabuki Warriors and revealed that she had always wanted to work with Asuka. She always felt that Asuka was an amazing talent and that all she needed was help with her mic skills. The Total Divas star thought that speaking for Asuka is certainly something she could do.
Paige recently did an interview with The Sun in the UK to promote the digital release of “Fighting with My Family.”
During the interview, the former WWE Divas Champion spoke about some of her frustration with WWE’s creative process while managing The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane).
“If we don’t get used I get really frustrated because we’re a good tag team and we need to be utilized. Sometimes the writers have so much on their plate with everyone else’s storylines, they put things on the backburner.”
Paige noted that she has to remind the writers that there are the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles and can do something with that. She would bring up how instead of dealing with writers, she’ll go straight to Triple H as well as WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon to address her frustration.
“If you go up to writers it’s like talking to a brick wall sometimes, whereas if you go to Vince and Hunter they’re like, ‘If you have a problem we can change that for you.’
Paige made it known that she doesn’t see herself in a creative role for the company as the writers have to deal with a lot and wouldn’t want to be in their shoes. She added that there’s a lot of pressure in that role because you’ve got to make everyone happy all the time.
The Kabuki Warriors manager, Paige recently talked about how Fighting with My Family helped take a new direction in her life and career.
Speaking to The Sun Sport, Paige revealed that she was going through terrible times when the movie was being made, but she was able to power through.
Paige was hit with two drug test suspensions by WWE, and a rocky relationship with her now-ex Alberto Del Rio. She was also the victim of a sex tape leak.
Paige suffered a neck injury and was out of action for a year. When she returned in 2017, she suffered another injury which forced her to retire from wrestling.
Paige says that even though she was going through a lot, she opened her eyes and got out of the bubble so that the movie could be made.
“The movie was in the process of being made while I was going through those terrible two years. I could have lost it completely but I opened my eyes and got out of that bubble quick enough that the movie was still able to be made. It was a wonderful feeling to finally get to watch it and put what I’d done before completely in the past and bury it and pretty much start over again.”
When the movie came out, Paige received a lot of well wishes by her co-workers. One particular personality that also wished her was Vince McMahon.
“I don’t know what Vince’s reaction to it was. But if you get a big hug from Vince McMahon you’re doing well. I saw him last week and he gave me a big hug and said, ‘I’m very happy for you.’ I don’t know it that’s about the movie or the fact that I’m healthy. I think he probably liked it if he did watch it.”
Additionally, Paige also talked about how helpful Triple H and Vince McMahon can be when it comes to issues with writing, or when they’re not utilised properly.
“It frustrates me but once you actually get to speak with Vince and Hunter about your problems and frustrations, they’re always the first to say, ‘Let’s change this.’
“If you go up to writers it’s like talking to a brick wall sometimes, whereas if you go to Vince and Hunter they’re like, ‘If you have a problem we can change that for you.’”
Natalya recently gave her thoughts on WWE Studios’ Fighting with My Family which is based on Paige’s wrestling family.
Natalya praised how the movie showcased Paige’s relation with her family, and that she was able to relate to it since she also comes from a wrestling family.
Writing for the Calgary Sun, Natalya described her biggest takeaway from the movie. “My biggest takeaway from this movie, which I told Paige after I had watched it, wasn’t just about her family being a wild and lovable group of sports entertainers. What I loved about this movie is that it showcased one of the important lessons in life — to be yourself.”
Natalya writes that Paige and her brother both attended a WWE tryout but only she got selected. She was nearly quit when her brother Zack encouraged her to go with it as for WWE is once in a lifetime opportunity.
Natalya believes that the great thing about Paige is that she’s different and stands out from the rest – and that makes her great. “At times Paige felt she didn’t fit in and wasn’t enough. But she soon realized after nearly walking away from her dreams that she was more than enough and what landed her a dream job with WWE was that she stood out from everyone else. Paige was different and that is what makes her great.”
Fighting with My Family was theatrically released on 14 February, 2019 and received generally favorable reviews. The film depicts the WWE career of professional wrestler Paige, which was portrayed by Florence Pugh. The film also stars Dwayne Johnson who was also a producer for the film.
Paige has recently returned to WWE programming, managing the new tag team of Kairi Sane and Asuka. Before that, she had been missing from SmackDown Live ever since being removed as SmackDown’s General Manager position.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Paige addressed being unceremoniously removed from her General Manager role, and her new manager responsibilities.
“I was sad because I loved that role,” she admitted. “I had such a good time with it, and it pushed my boundaries a little bit because I had multiple promos in a day and I wasn’t used to that. So it really helped me grow creatively and professionally. But I was excited about another role. I was like, ‘Okay, no worries,’ because I knew the WWE would take care of me. They always do.”
“I pitched to manage Ronda Rousey, kind of like the Paul Heyman-Brock Lesnar thing,” she said. “And then also be with Asuka, because Asuka had trouble speaking on the mic sometimes. As much as she’s an amazing athlete, an incredible wrestler, and I was like, ‘I’ll help her, give me the microphone, I’ll talk for her.’ And then Paul Heyman called me one day and said, ‘We have a great role for you. You can be the next me with these two women.’ I was like, ‘Wow, what a crazy tag team, they’re incredible…Absolutely, I’ll take it!’ “
Paige has openly expressed her interest in managing talent in the past, and having Paul Heyman’s support would undoubtedly bolster her spirits in managing talent—even if it isn’t Ronda Rousey in the way she had envisioned.
Paige delivered on the promise she made last week on SmackDown Live this past Tuesday. During the show, she brought in new challengers for the IIconics’ Women’s Tag Team Championships. She would reveal the new team of Asuka and (now former) NXT Superstar, Kairi Sane.
After their first matchup on the blue brand, Kayla Braxton caught up with the three backstage. She asked Paige why she wanted to bring Asuka and Kairi together as a team.
“Uh, they’re both incredible athletes,” Paige said. “I mean, she [Asuka] was a SmackDown Women’s Champion already; Kairi, you were NXT Women’s Champion too, right? And they’re absolutely killing it. I mean, why wouldn’t you put them together? I mean, this is genius, right? Are you guys having a good time already? They won their first match already, hello?”
When asked about their motivations and goals on SmackDown, Paige revealed they were “[…] going to become WWE Women’s tag team champions, that’s all I’m going to say. Right? You’re going to be tag team champs, ladies. 100%, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
The team partnered with other SmackDown newcomers, Ember Moon and Bayley, emerging victorious in an 8-woman tag team match. They defeated the IIconics, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.
Paige was present during this week’s episode of SmackDown Live. She was shown backstage watching the IIconics during their first successful title defense against a team named the Brooklyn Belles. She promised that she would be bringing in a tag team. This suggests she will be segueing into a managerial role—something she has spoken about having ambitions for in the past.
After their victory, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce caught up with Cathy Kelley backstage. Kelley would bring up Paige’s promise, wanting to gauge the IIconics’ thoughts on the matter.
“Next week is the Superstar Shake-Up, so she’s probably bringing back [or] developing some new tag team, I guess, thinking that we will challenge all newcomers, and sure we’ll do that,” Peyton said.
Billie Kay would add that “We are defending champions—can’t tell if you saw it there, but we just won in our first title defense.”
Royce would continue, stating that “[The] Bottom Point is, Paige wants to come out with this hot, hot new tag team…next week, we are ready. We are fighting champions and we are here to make this tag team division absolutely iconic.”
With the Shake-Up taking place on Monday, it’s not out of the question that we could see some new talent be drafted from NXT. Rumor has suggested that Io Shirai and Kairi Sane could be on the cusp of moving to the main roster, but it could always be a brand new team or two women put together via the Shake-Up.
The biopic on former WWE Divas Champion Paige, ‘Fighting With My Family, has done very well in recent weeks. The film takes a look at Paige’s journey through the world of professional wrestling. The young Englishwoman’s upbringing surrounded by wrestling eventually lands her a tryout with WWE.
She must then manage the struggles of being 19 years old, living in a completely different country, and attempting to rise up in the biggest professional wrestling company in the world. The film has done so well, in fact, that it became the U.K.’s number one film. Recently, Paige was interviewed on the Variety Playback podcastto talk about the film’s success.
Paige admitted she didn’t expect it to blow up the way it has:
“I never thought it would blow up the way it has. I like that it opens up doors for other people that aren’t wrestling fans and have no idea who me and my family are, they get to see this young girl and her struggle to get to her dreams.
“I think it resonates with a lot of people. Everyone in their life has felt like an underdog or felt insecure. Some people have come from humble beginnings and have just been chasing this dream.”
What do you think about the success of ‘Fighting With My Family’?
Kurt Angle has had one of the most successful careers in the history of professional wrestling. The Olympic gold medalist is a six-time WWE World Champion and former Intercontinental, United States, Tag Team, and European Champion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall OF Fame in 2017.
Taking to Instagram yesterday (Sun. March 3, 2019) Angle reflected on making his televised WWE debut on an episode of Saturday Night Heat. Angle participated in a segment with Tiger Ali Singh. Singh attempted to pay Angle to blow his nose into the American flag. Instead, Angle blew his nose into Singh’s flag before attacking him.
Here’s what Angle had to say about his debut 20 years ago:
“20 years ago, I made my debut on Saturday night heat. I just started my wrestling training at the time. I never imagined I would be back in WWE 20 years later. Im getting old. Lol.”
Fighting With My Family Becomes U.K.’s Number One Film
It looks like ‘Fighting With My Family‘ is doing very well in Paige’s native United Kingdom. The biopic based on the former Diva’s Champion has become the U.K.’s number one film. Director Stephen Merchant took to Twitter to react to the good news, thanking fans for their support:
Big thanks to everyone who went to see @FightingWMyFam this weekend and made it UK’s No. 1 film. I know there’s a lot of entertainment vying for your eyeballs, so if you chose our film, cheers m’dears, it’s deeply appreciated.
The biopic ‘Fighting With My Family’ based on the life of WWE Superstar Paige has been garnering critical acclaim from audiences and reviewers since the release of the film.
The UK-based Evening Standard newspaper had a review of the motion picture featured on its website. Their review was largely positive and their critic gave the film a 4/5 rating. In an odd comment the reviewer decided to single out the body type of lead star Florence Pugh, saying that she has “chunky thighs.”
Here is the comment in context: “Though Lowden’s performance is gorgeous, Pugh is the film’s main weapon. Hauntingly intense in The Falling and Lady Macbeth, the 23-year-old turns out to be an effortlessly nuanced comedian. With chunky thighs. Her character is based on real-world WWE Champion Paige, whose legs are significantly slimmer. How cool! So many actresses offer an idealised version of real women. Pugh is changing the ideal.”
Pugh saw the review and sent out a tweet commenting on the body shaming comment. She stated that “Singling out my ‘chunky’ thighs doesn’t help normalizing an ‘all shape&size’ Hollywood. In fact that’s part of the problem. I do hope people take more away from the film than the circumference of my hams.”
Oh dear. Singling out my “chunky” thighs doesn’t help normalising an ‘all shape&size’ Hollywood. In fact that’s part of the problem. I do hope people take more away from the film than the circumference of my hams. ?@EveningStandard? https://t.co/XG5pkEL1Iv
World Association of Wrestling (WAW) has announced that WWE Superstar Paige will be appearing at their Fightmare event in June.
WAW is owned by Paige’s family, the Knights. This will be the former Champion’s first official appearance for the company since she joined the WWE a number of years ago.
The Knight family are currently celebrating the release of ‘Fighting With My Family.’ The film is based on Paige’s journey to WWE and her rise to RAW and the Diva’s Championship. The film has garnered critical praise and was produced by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
WAW also announced earlier this year that former Premier League football (soccer) player Grant Holt would be swapping his studded boots for wrestling boots and entering the squared circle for Fightmare in June. Holt made his singles debut against Brad O’Brien on 22nd December.
The 37 year old who previously played for the likes of Aston Villa and Norwich. Holt recently finished his career professionally for National League side Barrow. The former football star will be headlining the huge stadium show for WAW at Norwich City’s Carrow Road on June 2nd.
Holt recently spoke to the BBC regarding the upcoming show. Holt said that “The club have been fantastic and embraced it from the first moment I walked through the door. They’ve bent over backwards to help us. I’m trying to get people who loved wrestling back in the day back involved in it. I’m hoping everyone comes to enjoy the show and comes to see me in action. Back at Carrow Road in a different capacity.”
Wow!
@RealPaigeWWE is coming to Carrow Road for #Fightmare.
She made the huge announcement this morning on @BBCNorfolk.
There have been more than a few dynamite documentaries set in the world of professional wrestling but only a handful of dramatized versions with the bar set awfully low for what would be considered a watchable film.
If “The Wrestler” starring Mickey Rourke is the best of the best and “Ready to Rumble” is the somewhere swimming in the sewer, then you’ll be happy to know that “Fighting with My Family” — the new biopic based on the real life of former WWE superstar Paige — is definitely near the top of the list now.
Based on the documentary “The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family” — a one-hour special that ran in England following the Bevis family, a real life pro wrestling brood — the film version centers mostly around Saraya Jade-Bevis better known by her professional wrestling moniker Paige.
Stephen Merchant — one half of the writing team behind the original British version of ‘The Office’ — handles writing and directing duties on this movie and he offers up a truly inspiring story about an outsider trying to find her way into the wrestling business.
“Fighting with My Family” follows a young Saraya from her earliest days learning hammer locks with her brother Zak in the living room to the days when they were grappling with each other inside the ring while going up against their own mother and father (who were also wrestlers of course).
Ricky the dad is an ex-con (mostly for violence but some robbery) and Saraya the mom is a former homeless cast out who connects with her future husband through a passion for professional wrestling. Together they raise three children who are all drawn to wrestling while they run their own promotion out of Norwich, England.
When WWE comes to the United Kingdom, Saraya and Zak get called into a tryout and both are convinced that their dreams will come true. Sadly when the tryouts are finished, only Saraya gets picked to join the WWE developmental roster while Zak is left behind in England with a new baby on the way and a bit of jealousy that his baby sister is off to America while he’s still stuck at home.
It’s when Saraya transforms into Paige and arrives at WWE does the story really start taking turns as she struggles to adjust to new surroundings where she is constantly seen as the odd woman out while her brother suffers through the same ills at home trying to figure out where he fits in without his own dreams being realized.
Florence Pugh, who portrays Paige, is really the breakout star in this movie and it’s a requirement because she’s forced to do a lot of the heavy lifting for the emotional storytelling throughout the film. Pugh does a remarkable job playing Paige both from her physicality in the ring to the real turmoil she faces when trying to find where the square peg fits into the round hole at WWE.
The rest of the cast fills out nicely, especially with the remainder of Paige’s family. Jack Lowden shines as her brother Zak with Nick Frost and ‘Game of Thrones’ star Lena Headey offering the perfect amount of encouragement and humor as their parents.
Vince Vaughn plays the other lead role as the tough-as-nails yet quietly encouraging WWE trainer, who recruits Paige. Vaughn’s dry sense of humor plays well in this role, although admittedly the cookie cutter part of a drill sergeant with a heart of gold feels like something we’ve seen play out in virtually every sports movie in history.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also pops up as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — a role he was born to play. There are a few cameos from other professional wrestlers but this doesn’t feel like a movie that’s trying to play ‘spot your favorite WWE superstar’.
Instead, “Fighting with My Family” is a warmhearted and genuinely funny family film wrapped up in a wrestling movie.
Hardcore wrestling fans will see some parts of Paige’s life being dramatized and others left out entirely but for a 100-minute, PG-13 film, some stuff is going to get sacrificed to the cutting room floor.
What remains in “Fighting with My Family” is a charming and uplifting comedy-drama that will leave you with a proud smile on your face when the final bell tolls.
Paige recently made some comments about WWE’s treatment of their female divisions which could stir some controversy. While promoting “Fighting With My Family” Paige told a media outlet that when she hit the WWE main roster in 2014, it wasn’t WWE who was holding the women back, it was the fans.
“It was never WWE holding the women back,” Paige told Gulf News. “It was the fans not taking them seriously. They wanted to see more of the male characters many years ago. It was a male-dominated sport.”
Paige won the WWE Divas Championship from AJ Lee on her first night on RAW the night after WrestleMania 30. She continued to say WWE really believed in the women on the main roster at the time, even if there weren’t many of them.
“When I first started, there were only five women there,” Paige continued. “It was a struggle but WWE just believed in us. When I got into the ring, I wanted to prove to the fans that girls were capable of having good matches and sometimes, even better. That was kind of my mission from the get go. Now there’s obviously a revolution.”
As for what the future holds now for Paige, she had the following to say:
“My future target is to obviously keep working in WWE on screen or behind the scenes. In future, I would like to start going into movies, acting, just be the next Dwayne in that aspect.”
WWE star Paige spoke with The New York Post to promote her upcoming film Fighting With My Family. During the conversation, Paige discussed the fallout from her intimate home videos that leaked online in 2017.
“To be publicly humiliated like that was terrible, and I don’t wish that for anyone,” Paige said.
She went into depression and was nearly suicidal. “I didn’t go to work; I didn’t do anything. I felt so rock bottom,” she said.
Paige revealed how one day when she was at a grocery store in Texas she had an encounter with a 7 year-old female fan and how it helped her cope.
“Of course, she didn’t have the internet and thought I was the most beautiful and most successful woman in the world,” Paige said. “It opened my eyes to so many things. I was like, ‘I’m gonna let videos get in the way of things?’ ”
“I thought, what am I doing? I need to be successful for her. My whole journey was supposed to be about inspiring people,” she added.
Paige said that this wholesome encounter was the reason she was able to get out of the downward spiral and work on herself to inspire others.
Paige’s wrestling career unfortunately came to an end when she suffered another neck injury and retired for fear from getting paralyzed.
Former WWE Divas Champion and SmackDown General Manager Paige continues to make the media rounds in order to promote a feature film based on the life of the Knight family including Saraya Knight aka Paige that is titled “Fighting With My Family.” The film is slated to be in theaters around the country on February 22.
While conducting an interview with App.com, Paige spoke about a wide range of topics including the advice that she received from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who produced this film through his Seven Bucks Productions company.
“When it comes to Dwayne, he gave me some really solid advice and that’s to stay humble and hungry, right?” Paige said. “Always be humble if you want people to work with you, but hungry so you always want to set goals and you don’t want to get complacent.”
Although WWE has made some changes to the match in the storyline, the reported plans for the WrestleMania 35 main event on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium will see the first time that female talent headline the show. Ronda Rousey defending the WWE RAW Women’s Champion against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in a Triple Threat Match is expected to main event. When asked about the possibility of women headlining the show, Paige is in awe.
“It blows my mind. I wish I could be part of it, but I’m so happy that I was kind of one of the forerunners for it. It makes me feel really good, because that was my aim for when I came over here: I just wanted to change the perception of how women were looked at in general, and I thought me and couple of others kind of did that.”
As we reported recently Dean Ambrose will be taking on Nia Jax at an upcoming WWE Live event. The ‘feud’ between the two started on a recent episode of WWE RAW, where Ambrose lost to Seth Rollins. After the match, Ambrose began to cut a promo in the ring before being interrupted by Nia Jax and Tamina. The two had a standoff for a brief moment, before Ambrose attempted to leave the ring. However, Jax clocked “The Lunatic Fringe” with a forearm and sent him through the ropes and out of the ring.
The announcement of the intergender match has caused a huge buzz. Before Jax’s involvement in the recent Men’s Royal Rumble there was absolutely no chance of seeing male and female Superstars facing off like this. The only recent exception was seen at last year’s WrestleMania, where Ronda Rousey took on Triple H to a huge response from the crowd, this came during a mixed tag match.
Former Smackdown Live General Manager Paige recently took to Twitter to react to the intergender match being announced. Paige stated “Yessss an actual intergender match!! Couldn’t be happier for my girl @NiaJaxWWE killing it every damn day! You better werkkkk sis!”
It is not confirmed if we will see the match on television or if it is being kept exclusively to this Live event. There have been recent rumors that WWE are potentially considering putting this match on the WrestleMania card.
Since WWE’s ‘new era’ began the company decided to oust the General Managers of both RAW and Smackdown Live. One of these of course was former WWE Superstar Paige. The Norwich born Superstar recently spoke to Sky Sports about her opportunities in WWE beyond her previous position as GM.
When asked what role she like to play right now Paige replied “At this point I don’t know.” Paige did state that she’d “love to be a manager for somebody. I don’t know who, but that’s something I’d love to do, so I’ll put that out there in the universe. I just want to be part of the company.” Paige also stated that she “love[s] this company and I love to talk a lot, so give me a microphone and I’ll give it a good old-fashioned try.”
Paige also commented on her ‘firing’ as General Manager. The former Champion in NXT and WWE seemed to be well suited to the role before creative plans changed. Paige stated to Sky Sports that “I loved being General Manager and it was a surprise to me [to stop that], but WWE evolves all the time and you have to evolve and deal with it.”
Female WWE stars have a long history of getting plastic surgery to enhance their physical appearance. However, one WWE star who has opted not to go that route is Paige. The former Divas Champion was featured in the “10 Year Challenge” on Twitter by a fan. Paige joins current United States Champion Rusev as the latest WWE star to be part of the social media trend.
A fan account shared a photograph of Paige in her teenage years, compared to a recent picture of herself currently at 26-years-old. There’s certainly a big difference in the two photographs, but not a surprising one given it shows Paige’s transition from her teenage years to adulthood:
In response to the photo, a fan accused Paige of undergoing plastic surgery. Paige responded by saying she has never gone under the knife for surgery unless it was to repair an injury:
“False. No plastic surgery. Never been under the knife unless it’s for injuries. Lip fillers absolutely I have. Little lesson for ya. This thing happens when you age where your body matures. Crazy right?”
Making her debut the night after WrestleMania 30 in April of 2014, Paige won the Divas Championship from AJ Lee her first night on the main roster. It was evident that the former NXT Women’s Champion was going to be a big star for the company moving forward. Unfortunately for the two-time Divas Champ, she suffered an injury during a house show in December of 2017.
The injury forced her to retire from in-ring competition in WWE. At just 26-years-old, it looks like her days of competing inside the ring for WWE are over. Paige was briefly the General Manager of SmackDown Live. However, she was removed from the position after The McMahons decided to take back control of both RAW and SmackDown.
A new trailer for the film, “Fighting with My Family,” has been released. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions has produced a feature film based on the life of the Knight family including Saraya Knight aka Paige. You can see the trailer here:
The film was produced in conjunction with WWE Studios and Film 4, and the title is “Fighting with My Family.” Paige will not be playing herself but rather will be portrayed by actress Florence Pugh. Lena Headey and Nick Frost will play Paige’s parents in the film. Vince Vaughn as Jake Roberts and Zelina Vega as AJ Lee. The Rock will also make a cameo.
The film is slated to be released on Thursday, February 21st. Here is the synopsis:
Based on a true story, FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY follows reformed gangster Ricky, wife Julia, daughter Paige and son Zak as they make a living wrestling together in tiny venues. When Paige and Zak get the opportunity to try out for WWE, the family grabs a once-in-a-lifetime chance to turn their wildest dreams into a dazzling future. However, brother and sister quickly discover that to become superstars, both their talent and their relationship will be put to the test.
This past Monday saw an announcement made by Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, and Triple H where they assumed control going forward as a four-person collective, declaring an end to General Managers and Commissioners.
One person who tweeted out after this was SmackDown General Manager, Paige. Her reaction was short and direct:
Last night during SmackDown Live, Paige was officially relieved of her duties as General Manager by Shane McMahon.
Her removal from SmackDown management opened the show as Shane McMahon addressed the SmackDown roster and confirmed that Paige would no longer be GM going forward.
Shane had high praise for Paige and her work for the blue brand since first being hired for the role. He thanked her on behalf of all those assembled, including the WWE Universe.
It was then announced that although her duties as GM have ended, Paige wasn’t going anywhere and would still be a part of the company.
There has been no further word as of yet as to WWE’s future plans for Paige, though she has shared thoughts on managing talent.
WWE’s official Twitter account did send out a message, simply stating “#ThankYouPaige @RealPaigeWWE @ShaneMcMahon #SDLive”
The McMahon Family opened up last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. WWE advertised Vince McMahon’s return to RAW to shake things up on Monday nights. He was joined by Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and Shane McMahon. They announced that they’d all be taking control of RAW and SmackDown Live.
All four admitted that they have not been doing their job at giving fans the best entertainment possible. In turn, there will be new things coming to WWE, which include new Superstars (NXT call-ups). The news certainly came as a surprise to Paige, who is currently the General Manager of SmackDown Live. She took to Twitter to react to the news shortly after the announcement:
Paige is currently medically barred from competing as an in-ring talent for WWE due to injury. She has been working as the General Manager of Tuesday nights to maintain a regular role on WWE TV. It’s unclear what impact the new direction WWE will be taking has on Paige’s role. As it stands, Monday Night RAW does not have a General Manager, as the McMahons are in control for the time being.
What do you think this all means for Paige’s role as SmackDown Live GM going forward?
It appears the theatrical release for the Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s new movie, ‘Fighting With My Family’ has been delayed. It is now reported to be releasing on Thursday, February 21st as opposed to the original date of Friday, February 8th.
The movie will be premiering in both New York and Los Angeles on Thursday, February 14th.
Focusing on the real-life story of current WWE SmackDown General Manager, Paige and her family of pro wrestlers, it documents her journey from wrestling for British independents to trying out for, and eventually signing to, WWE.
Paige is played by Florence Pugh, with Tessa Blanchard acting as her in-ring stunt double. Zelina Vega also appears in the movie as ex-WWE Divas Champion, AJ Lee. Nick Frost and Lena Headey also star, cast as Paige’s parents.
Although produced by The Rock, his role in the actual movie is limited to cameo status.
Fighting With My Family
The Rock recently released a new poster for the movie which features Paige, her family, and himself outside a house. The Rock, in particular, looks a little out of place in the poster when contrasted with the family.
He accompanied it with some kind words, promoting the movie:
“New poster for our lil’ crazy comedy based on the true story of @WWE’s @RealPaigeWWE & her wrestling family. Honor for me to play a small part in Paige’s career defining moment, as well as bringing her family’s story to the big screen. #FightingWithMyFamily @SevenBucksProd”
New poster for our lil’ crazy comedy based on the true story of @WWE’s @RealPaigeWWE & her wrestling family. Honor for me to play a small part in Paige’s career defining moment, as well as bringing her family’s story to the big screen. #FightingWithMyFamily@SevenBucksProdpic.twitter.com/CHsA6MwM1U
Despite having suffered a tragic, career-ending injury, Paige has managed to segue herself into a new position within the WWE as SmackDown Live’s General Manager. This has allowed her an opportunity to stay within an industry she loves and maintain an on-screen character to portray. If Paige has her way, however, General Manager may not be her final role.
Speaking with Planeta Wrestling, Paige revealed that she is open to exploring different creative directions and opportunities within the WWE.
During the interview, she expressed specific interest in managing other talents, highlighting the relationship between Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar as one she would like to potentially emulate.
“Right now, I’m really happy being SmackDown General Manager,” Paige admitted. “It’s opened so many different doors and I get to do so many different characters just being Smackdown General Manager — I get to be a good guy, bad guy, I get to do whatever I want,” she said.
“I would love to be a manager — kinda like Paul Heyman, one day,” she confessed. “I would love to do anything like that. I wanted to manage Ronda at one point, but she doesn’t need me!”
Who could you see Paige managing if she were to do so? Would she have made a good manager for Ronda Rousey?
