Saraya spills the beans on why feud with Mercedes Mone never happened in AEW

Saraya has officially departed AEW. The British star's contract with the company has expired, and she's choosing to walk away to pursue other ventures. Many fans were expecting The Anti-Diva to eventually tangle with Mercedes Mone, and she's now revealed why that didn't happen.

The recently departed star has plenty of history with Mercedes Mone (fka Sasha Banks). The 32-year-old's original retirement was due to an injury she suffered in a match against The CEO in WWE in December 2017. It seemed a no-brainer for the two to face off once again in All Elite Wrestling, but it wasn't in the cards.

Saraya opened up about her departure today on Busted Open Radio. She noted that she had come to Tony Khan's company to help the younger stars grow, and while she would have liked to revisit her rivalry with the current TBS Champion, Mone had plenty of other things going on, and they just couldn't make it work out:

"When I came into AEW, the thing I wanted to do was to help build stuff. I didn't want to be the top dog or the face; that's not what I wanted. I wanted to put girls over if that helped them in any way. That's all I wanted to do. I feel like I was coming to the end with that, and there was really not much left that I could do. I don't think there was a place for me anymore in there. There was probably one more thing with Mercedes that I could have done, and she was completely up for it, but she already has these storylines. My contract was coming to an end, and I wasn't going to re-sign after September. I was not going to do it. I wanted to take a step outside of wrestling for a little bit. I wanted to get my feet wet outside of wrestling for a little bit." [H/T: Fightful]

Check out her comments in the podcast below:

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Saraya says her split with AEW is mutual, praises Tony Khan

A few former AEW stars have left the company under less than ideal circumstances, and some have expressed their frustration with the promotion's president, Tony Khan. However, Saraya only had nice things to say about the All Elite Chief.

In the same interview on Busted Open Radio, she said that Tony Khan was amazing and that he remains supportive of her decision.

"Tony was so amazing with it. It was mutual. You know, he was really great. He was, like, so supportive of it. He's been so supportive since, you know, I asked for time off in November. You know, I've been gone for a minute. And I was just like, 'Well, there's there's really no place for me anymore.' So, yeah, we came came to that decision and I'm happy about it. And he wished me luck and everything and the door is always open," she said.

With the door still open, Saraya could return to All Elite Wrestling someday. But for now, it seems she's focused on ventures outside the wrestling ring, like her new memoir.