Saraya plans to stay off social media after her return match at Full Gear

Saraya, the AEW wrestler who went by Paige during her trailblazing WWE run, has always had a love/hate relationship with the online wrestling fanbase.

That’s continued since she debuted for Tony Khan. Even after segments she’s been a part of that have been generally praised — like her promo work in the ring with Dr. Britt Baker last Wednesday — Saraya was fact checked on Twitter, and chose to respond.

Which is why it’s good Saraya realizes she doesn’t need everyone’s instant feedback on her first match in almost five years, against Baker on Sat., Nov. 19’s Full Gear PPV.

From her interview this with Chris Van Vliet:

“I know there are going to be a lot of eyes on that match. There’s a lot of pressure to make sure that I put on a good enough match where everyone is like, ‘Welcome back, we like that she’s back.’

“There’s going to be a lot of nervous people watching me too, because I feel that there are a lot of people that aren’t haters that are worried about me. They’re going to be watching. Then you have the haters on top of that, that just want to see me fail or hurt, are going to be watching. Then the people that are happy that I’m back are going to be watching,

“[Taking that first bump will be scary] for everybody. Everybody watching, just everybody in general — it’s gonna be a big deal. I’m going to be under a microscope that day. And everything that I’m going to be doing is going to be scrutinized, it’s just I’m fully expecting it.

“That’s why after the match, I’m not even going to look at social media, I’m not even going to have it on my phone, because I’m already too much in my head to the point where I just want to be good and I have to focus on making sure I keep myself safe. Make sure that Britt is safe, you know, and just the pressure just having a match.

“It’s just, it’s just wild to me. It’s just, it’s a beautiful story, but it makes me nervous.”

Sounds like a good approach to me. We’ll see how Saraya does — both in the ring for the first time since being cleared to wrestle with her surgically repaired neck, and with the whole “ignoring Wrestling Twitter” thing afterwards — this weekend.