Paige Reveals WrestleMania 42 Return Almost Didn’t Happen

Paige returning at WrestleMania 42 wasn’t just a surprise for fans — it almost didn’t happen at all until a last-minute chain of events changed everything.

After previously revealing she believed WWE would never clear her to wrestle again, Paige has now broken down exactly how her return came together — and it started in a place no one saw coming.

Speaking on What’s Your Story? With Steph McMahon on April 23, 2026, Paige explained that the process began during a casual appearance connected to her close friend Bunnie XO — which unexpectedly turned into a major opportunity.

“Let me tell you the story of how it came to be, because it involves Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO. One of my best friends is Bunnie—I love that woman so much, we are very, very close. She was doing her book tour, she was doing her live podcast, she was in LA, so she texted me and was like, ‘Can you come on?’ I was like, ‘Absolutely.’”

From there, things escalated quickly. Paige revealed that she ran into Brad Slater — a longtime contact — and the conversation immediately turned toward a WWE return.

“And I go down there and it’s Brad Slater, so that’s Dwayne’s agent… Jelly was like, ‘What the f***—when are you gonna bring it back? Give a call to your guy.’ And Brad was like, ‘Do you want to come back?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I would love to come back.’ And then he was like, ‘Alright, let me make a call.’ So he calls Nick Khan, and within 30 minutes Nick had said, ‘Sure, let’s get a meeting with her.’”

That call set everything in motion. Paige then detailed how quickly WWE moved once interest was established, including a face-to-face meeting with Nick Khan and the conditions she needed to meet before getting cleared.

“He goes, ‘Two things: your neck needs to be okay, and we have to do a drug test.’ I was like, ‘Fair enough—hey, I can control the drug test, I’m clean as a whistle. I don’t know how my neck’s been—it’s been a few years since I got it checked.’”

That led to an intense round of medical testing — and a moment where Paige thought everything might fall apart, as her return almost didn’t happen.

“The next week I fly to Birmingham—Nikki was there getting her ankle done at the same time. That’s super weird—I was like, ‘What the heck.’ It was perfect timing. So I was at the doctor there from like 5:45 a.m. till 3 or 4 in the afternoon doing all these tests, because you guys need to be thorough, make sure my neck is perfect. And at one point I thought something was wrong because all the doctors were around the screen, calling other doctors. I was like, ‘Something’s happening—they’re not gonna let me go back.’ And I’m exhausted sitting there, and he comes in and he’s like, ‘You ready to go home, kid?’ I bawled my eyes out. I cried my eyes out.”

Paige didn’t hold back describing what that moment meant, especially after her previous forced retirement due to neck issues. She also revealed how seriously she took every part of the clearance process, even worrying about minor details that could jeopardize her return

“It was a couple things—the fact that my neck was good. The last time I was in WWE, my neck wasn’t, and I had to retire… And it’s just the fact that I’m gonna be okay—I was like, ‘Wow, my neck is good. I’m happy, I’m healthy, everything’s going right.’ And then for some reason I had it in my head like, ‘What if I ate something—like a poppy seed or something?’ I hadn’t even taken ibuprofen—I was so worried about any kind of medicinal stuff… Anyway, I was fine. They were like, ‘You’re good, calm down.’”

She also revealed how seriously she took every part of the clearance process, even worrying about minor details that could jeopardize her return. From there, everything moved fast — negotiations began almost immediately, leading directly into WrestleMania weekend.

“So yeah, I was completely cleared, and then it kinda went into negotiations… and then this weekend was obviously Mania, so it was a quick turnaround.”

That behind-the-scenes story completely reframes her WrestleMania 42 return. What looked like a planned comeback was actually a rapid sequence of events — sparked by a chance meeting, a phone call, and a tight timeline that came together just in time.

Paige went from believing she’d never wrestle in WWE again to stepping into one of WWE’s biggest events in a matter of weeks — and now the full story shows just how close it came to never happening.

Do you think Paige’s return should lead to a full-time WWE run, or should she keep it limited after everything she went through? Let us know your thoughts.

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