What Could Have Been For Paige

It was almost a year ago that fans witnessed the devastating announcement that Paige would be retiring from in-ring action due to a serious neck injury. Fast forward nearly twelve months and the former Divas champion has gone on to take on the role of Smackdown LIVE general manager and debut a movie based on her life. Opportunities are forever flying in for Paige and its evident there is still so much waiting for her in the WWE but at only twenty-six years old there’s also no denying that so much could have been and in today’s blog post we are going to be looking at five different booking decisions we could have seen the WWE take Paige in had she not suffered this injury.

Ending Asuka’s Undefeated Streak

Prior to Paige’s retirement announcement, it started to become clear that the WWE was edging towards kick-starting a feud between the former Divas champion and the empress of tomorrow Asuka. Weeks were spent showing Absolution staying away from attacking the newly debuted Asuka and it was made rather clear that Paige had plans to include the former NXT Women’s champion in Absolution. If Paige had not suffered an injury and been forced to retire its likely fans would have seen these two trailblazers come face to face in one heck of a must-see feud that very easily could have spilt over to Wrestlemania season. It’s likely the pair would have been the final two in the women’s Royal Rumble and more depth could have been added to their rivalry. It’s also possible Paige could have in fact ended Asuka’s undefeated streak instead of Charlotte had the booking been right.

Becoming Women’s Champion

There is no single part of me that’s doubts for one second that Paige would have at some point become Women’s champion. With Ronda Rousey’s arrival on RAW taking place in January of twenty eighteen we could have very quickly seen her spotlight taken away from her but with Bliss champion at the time, there would have been space and time to give Paige a solid championship reign. We saw Absolution on their debut night attack the RAW women’s champion which so easily could have soon saw a title bout between the two top stars take place. Paige would have been a great pick to dethrone Bliss as well as a strong title holder heading into Mania season claiming her place right back at the top.

Leading Deville & Rose to Tag Team Gold

Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose have done amazingly well over the last year and half without Paige by their side. They had an excellent showing inside both Elimination Chamber matches they have competed in, made history and well on their way to a strong and exciting push but I strongly believe that push would have come a heck of a lot sooner had Paige not retired. The former NXT Women’s champion had a growing relationship with the two Tough Enough competitors and with their history and a smart angle, there were several booking options awaiting the trio that could have kept them busy for well over a year! Paige leading the two up and comers to becoming WWE Women’s tag team champions feels like something that was simply inevitable and seeing Paige as women’s champion at the same time would have created a whole new set up in the women’s division that could have left a completely different image today than what we actually have.

Facing Ronda Rousey

Heel Paige for me was always the version of her I preferred slightly more. Paige came across like a natural within this role and so when she made her return adopting the position of a roster bad guy once again I was very much excited to see what the future had to offer and in the coming months what we could have in fact seen was the former Anti diva take on the baddest woman on the planet Ronda Rousey. While I’ve never personally liked the idea of Rousey playing the role of a babyface it's an angle that could have worked amazingly well here. Paige is a woman literally born into this industry while Rousey is a woman who popped up into the WWE out of nowhere and given every opportunity thrown at her, setting up a simple yet must-see story and rivalry between two of the hottest talents in the women’s division. This could have very easily been Rousey’s standout rivalry and storyline in the WWE not to mention quite possibly her best match.

Invading the NXT UK Women’s Division

There are so many different angles Paige could have been a part of in the WWE upon her return had the unfortunate happened. From dream rivalries to must-see matches and storyline’s but to conclude today’s blog post I just to touch on something that was a personal dream favourite angle… the invasion of the NXT UK Women’s Division. To this day I do still believe there is a strong role waiting for Paige over in NXT UK and I really do hope the WWE explore sending over to the roster to do some on-screen work there but if she was, in fact, able to still wrestle its clear that invading the women’s division there and making an impact could and should have been an option. Making history and becoming champion there, allowing her to have yet another title reign for another WWE brand and becoming the face of the not only the NXT UK Women’s division but NXT UK as a whole is an exciting and unique position that could have changed things up massively and made for exciting content!

As I have touched on a million times throughout today’s piece, its clear that there really was so much awaiting Paige in the WWE and we barely even scratched the surface of those different matches, storyline’s, and rivalries we could have seen. The end of Paige’s in-ring career is a real devastating and heartbreaking story and a part of me will forever have hope she will one day make a return but for now I would love to know what you guys would have liked to have seen Paige involved in so feel free to leave a comment below or tweet me over at @TezangiVictoria. 

Recent Blog Posts:

WWE FASTLANE 2019: BEST AND WORSE MOMENTS

WHATS NEXT FOR AJ STYLES IN THE WWE?

WHY ROMAN REIGNS SHOULD MOVE TO SMACKDOWN LIVE