Massive AEW decision on Saraya came at the very last minute from Tony Khan; she broke down in tears

AEW and Saraya shocked the wrestling world in September 2022 after the former Paige of WWE debuted with the company. She defeated Britt Baker two months later in her first match since suffering what was believed to be a career-ending neck injury in 2017. The UK star is now opening up on how Tony Khan informed her of one major decision.

The Anti-Diva returned home to England for the 2023 All In pay-per-view at Wembley Stadium in London. She was walked to the ring by her loved ones, the legendary Knight Family of the UK wrestling scene. The nine-minute Fatal 4-Way at All In saw Saraya capture the AEW Women's World Championship by defeating Britt Baker, Toni Storm, and then-champion Hikaru Shida.

Saraya recently appeared on the Broad Ideas podcast and revealed that sometimes officials don't tell the wrestlers who will win until the last minute, and that was the case at All In. The 19-year veteran recalled how Khan informed her of the finish the day before the show.

"We were there for a couple of days, we were planning it and we didn’t know what the finish was, right? So we were just like, ‘Okay, if it’s you, this is gonna be the finish. If it’s you… for you, you...’ and then Tony comes in last-minute because Tony also owns Fulham Football Club and the Jaguars, NFL team. So he was at a Fulham game and flew in, you know, at last-second as we’re about to leave because the show was the next day, and he was like, ‘Oh, you’re going over, you’re gonna win,’ and I cried," Saraya said.

Saraya said she never thought she would be trusted to be the face of a company again because of her previous retirement, neck injury, and being told she'd never wrestle again.

"I just cried my eyes out and I was like, ‘You don’t realize what you’re doing for me right now. I never thought I would be in this position. It doesn’t matter if I’m getting a championship or not. I just never thought I would do this ever again," Saraya said. [H/T to POST Wrestling]

Saraya's first and only AEW championship reign ended after just 44 days. She was defeated by Shida on October 10, 2023, during the Title Tuesday Dynamite. The loss was a shock to many fans and wrestlers.

Saraya's AEW schedule has been reduced

Saraya wrestled her first match since 2017 on November 19, 2022, defeating Britt Baker at AEW Full Gear. She then worked 15 matches in 2023, and six of those were singles bouts.

The Norfolk Doll's reduced schedule in 2024 has been a hot topic of discussion on social media. She was on the losing team in the eight-woman tag team match on the Homecoming Dynamite in January, then suffered a tag team Rampage loss in February. Saraya did not wrestle again until another tag team loss on Dynamite in late May.

The June 5 Dynamite saw the 31-year-old defeat Mariah May, but three weeks later, she was on the losing end of a trios match. Saraya was defeated by May on the Forbidden Door pre-show just four days later.

Saraya has not wrestled since Forbidden Door. It remains to be seen if she will be booked to perform in front of her home crowd at AEW All In next month.