During a recent interview with TV Insider, Saraya commented on her sex tape being released, her AEW release happening at the same time as her memoir and podcast, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On her AEW release happening at the same time as her memoir and podcast: “It kind of fell into the lap at the very same time. I also have a podcast that started. All of this stuff getting announced at the same time is a lot for people to soak in. It was definitely a lot. It was overwhelming for me as well because people were texting me about it all. The exit from AEW was mutual. I want to put that out there. Tony [Khan] was great, but there really wasn’t anything left for me to do. There was Mercedes [Mone], but she already had her schtick happening. There are these storylines all planned out that I’m aware of. She has her thing. Maybe one day we’ll get in the ring together, but for now, there was no room for me there. I wanted to focus on things outside of wrestling and not take anyone’s spot or be in the way. Hopefully, down the line something comes up, and I would love to partake in it. For now, I really just want to get my feet wet outside of the wrestling business a little bit.”
On reliving the bad memories of her sex tape getting leaked: “That is crazy, and the fact people still talk about it blows my mind. At the same time, it doesn’t hurt my feelings anymore. Whatever, I was a kid. If you get off on that kind of sh*t where you’re trying to ridicule the woman, fine, whatever. You as a person have to work on yourself at that point. At the time, I was extremely freakin’ depressed. Reliving it honestly, is therapeutic to get it out again. I don’t think it’s ever going to go away. I don’t think people will ever forget about the tape. It was such a big deal, especially at a time where we weren’t getting leaked as much as they are now. It happened, and there is nothing I can do about it. I have this motto I live by when it comes to these kinds of situations where if I can’t change it, why am I stressing? I don’t care. If that’s what you want to know me as, that’s perfectly fine. I just have to work within myself to accept that. I did [face the brunt of it]. I don’t know if it was because I’m a woman. I definitely got a lot of crap for it, and still do to this day. I made a decision when I was 19 years old. It was a silly decision, but do I regret it? No. I don’t regret anything in my life, even the awful things because it has molded me to be who I am today. I’m grateful something like that happened to me because I was tough enough to get through it, but I know the pain of it. If someone were to go through that, they might not be around to see the other side of it. I kind of want to take this book, and with multiple parts of my life including this one, to show there is another side. It is something you can get over. You can come out of the other side and be happy. There is another side. That’s all I care about.”
On the state of women’s wrestling today: “Honestly, I’m proud of the women today. They get to do matches I wasn’t able to do in my time. This revolution started around my time. Now they get to do these stipulation matches the guys get to do. It’s bittersweet for me because I think about how I wish I could be more involved in that, but at the same time, I’m proud of them all. They grabbed the brass ring and ran with it. They are doing amazing things. The women in all companies are absolutely killing it. I’m talking about WWE, AEW, Impact, New Japan, across the board. I’m so proud of them. It’s just going to get bigger. The Evolution pay-per-view, I don’t know why we haven’t done another one sooner. I feel like the first one was a success and people loved it and came and watched it. It was all special. I guess it makes it more special to have it spaced out. At the same time, I feel like the girls could have their version of WrestleMania if they wanted to. The girls are so powerful these days. They could do whatever they set their minds to.”
On Gail Kim’s TNA release: “What? That blows my mind. Anybody smart will scoop her up to do what she was doing at Impact. She is amazing. She knows what she is doing. She is a great energy to have around. She is a good person. I don’t understand the logic. It’s not my business. I just know we need more women like her backstage and doing these things. She needs to be scooped up by somebody.”
On her future plans: “I would like to get back in the ring this year and really train and find myself again. I feel like I didn’t do that the past couple of years. I want to do the training side of things. I want to go to Nattie’s training. School and get in the ring with her. That’s my focus this year. I didn’t get to do a Royal Rumble or an Elimination Chamber or anything I didn’t get to do. Maybe down the line I will get to do them, who knows?”
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