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Saraya Bevis is a British professional wrestler, entrepreneur, and actress who has competed in many wrestling promotions worldwide. She is one of the most popular WWE wrestlers of all time.
Wiki/Biography
Saraya Jade Bevis (also known as Paige, Britani Knight, and Saraya) was born on Monday, 17 August 1992 (age 31 years; as of 2023) in Norwich, Norfolk County, United Kingdom. Her zodiac sign is Leo.
She did her schooling at The Hewett School in Norwich. She wanted to become a zoologist during her childhood and did not want to wrestle as she was fearful of injuries her family received during their wrestling matches. When she was ten, she started wrestling in the ring with her brother, under the guidance of her father.
She worked as a bouncer and bartender at her parent’s pub when she was 15 years old. In her early 20s, she moved from England to California to compete in American wrestling promotions.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 8″
Weight (approx.): 55 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Figure Measurements (approx.): 34-28-36
Family
She belongs to a family of wrestlers.
Parents & Siblings
Her father, Patrick Bevis aka ‘Rowdy’ Ricky Knight, and her mother, Julia Hamer-Bevis aka Sweet Saraya aka Saraya Knight, are professional wrestlers.
She has two elder brothers named Roy Bevis aka Roy Knight and Zak Bevis aka Zak Knight aka Zak Zodiac, who are also professional wrestlers. She also had a younger brother who died when she was thirteen.
Husband & Children
She is unmarried and has no children.
Relationships/Affairs
In early 2016, she dated Kevin Skaff, the guitarist of the American band A Day to Remember.
From 2016 to 2017, she dated WWE wrestler Alberto Del Rio. They even got engaged but later broke up.
She started dating Ronnie Radke, the lead singer of the band Falling in Reverse, in 2018.
Religion
She follows Christianity.
Nationality
She is a British citizen.
Autograph
Career
Wrestler
European Wrestling
World Association of Women’s Wrestling (WAWW)
Bevis began her wrestling career in 2005 when she was 13 years old. Her father, who was organizing a wrestling event, asked her to step in for a missing wrestler. Her first recorded match was in April 2006, teaming up with her mother under the ring name Britani Knight. Later on, she formed a tag team named the Norfolk Dolls with Melodi, and they wrestled in various English promotions. In June 2007, they defeated the Legion of Womb and won the World Association of Women’s Wrestling (WAWW) Tag Team Championship.
In December 2007, she competed in the first WAWW British Champion decider fight; however, lost to Jetta. In August 2009, she won the WAWW British Championship by defeating Sweet Saraya. In 2011, she won the WAWW Hardcore Championship through an elimination match. On 19 November 2011, she lost the WAWW British Championship to Liberty.
World Wide Wrestling League (W3L)
In September 2007, she fought against Sara in Scotland’s World Wide Wrestling League (W3L) Women’s Title fight which she lost.
Herts and Essex Wrestling (HEW)
In August 2009, she won the vacant Herts and Essex (HEW) Women’s Championship by defeating her mother, Sweet Saraya, in a two-out-of-three falls match. On 17 July 2010, she lost the HEW Women’s Championship to her mother. On 11 March 2011, she regained the HEW Women’s Championship by defeating her mother. On 12 November 2011, she vacated the HEW Women’s Championship.
Real Deal Wrestling (RDW)
In November 2009, she won Real Deal Wrestling (RDW) Women’s Championship by winning an elimination match against her mother (Sweet Saraya), Chelsey Love, and Stacey Baybie.
Real Quality Wrestling (RQW)
In December 2009, she became the Real Quality Wrestling (RQW) Women’s Champion by defeating Jetta in a champion vs. champion match, putting her HEW Women’s Championship on the line. On 19 November 2011, she vacated the RQW Women’s Championship.
Premier Wrestling Federation (PWF)
In May 2010, she and her mother won the PWF Ladies Tag Team Championship by defeating the team of Amazon and Ananya. On 2 August 2011, she and her mother lost their PWF Ladies Tag Team Championship after losing to Amazon and Destiny in a two-out-of-three falls match.
German Stampede Wrestling (GSW)
On 22 January 2011, she defeated Blue Nikita and won the German Stampede Wrestling Ladies’ Championship.
Turkish Power Wrestling (TPW)
In January 2011, she fought against Shanna for the first TPW Ladies Crown title at the debut show of Turkish Power Wrestling in Ankara, which she lost.
Pro-Wrestling: EVE
In April 2011, she became the first Pro Wrestling: EVE Champion by defeating Nikki Storm aka Nikki Cross. On 4 June 2011, her reign as Pro-Wrestling: EVE Champion came to an end when she lost the championship to Jenny Sjödin.
Swiss Championship Wrestling (SCW)
On 30 April 2011, she defeated Amy Cooper to win the Swiss Championship Wrestling (SCW) Ladies Championship. On 26 June 2011, her mother defeated her, Amy Cooper, and Laura Wellings in a four-way match to win the SCW Ladies Championship.
American Wrestling
Shimmer Women Athletes
On 26 March 2011, she debuted in the Shimmer Women Athletes (under the ring name Britani Knight) during the Volume 37 tapings held in Berwyn, Illinois. She formed a tag team called the Knight Dynasty with her mother, Saraya Knight, and was accompanied by Rebecca Knox aka Becky Lynch. They won their debut match against Nikki Roxx and Ariel via disqualification when their opponents used the Dynasty’s brass knuckles.
This set the stage for a Shimmer Tag Team Championship match against the Seven Star Sisters (Hiroyo Matsumoto and Misaki Ohata) at Volume 38, where the Knight Dynasty suffered defeat. In October 2011, at Volume 42, during the match against the reigning Shimmer Tag Team Champions Ayako Hamada and Ayumi Kurihara, Saraya refused to assist Britani, resulting in their loss. At Volume 43, Britani experienced her third consecutive loss when she was defeated by Jessie McKay.
This string of losses led to a storyline confrontation between Saraya and Britani, during which Saraya disowned Britani and slapped her following which Britani challenged Saraya to a no-disqualification match in Volume 44. She defeated her mother during the match, her last in Shimmer Women Athletes.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW)
Her first attempt in November 2010 in WWE tryouts was unsuccessful, but she succeeded in April 2011. In September 2011, she signed a contract with WWE and was sent to fight in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). She made her FCW debut on 5 January 2012 in a house show using the name Saraya. Later, her ring name was altered to Paige as a tribute to the character Paige Matthews from the TV show Charmed, who also had a distinctive chin like hers.
She made her televised debut on the 26 February 2012 episode of FCW TV. In March 2012, Paige formed a partnership with Sofia Cortez which was called the ‘Anti-Diva Army,’ and their first televised in-ring appearance was on 19 March 2012. Her last FCW match was on 15 July 2012 against Audrey Marie which she lost.
NXT
Paige made her NXT television debut on 4 July 2012 against Sofia Cortez, which she lost. From September 2012 onwards, Paige gained considerable crowd support by winning matches against Audrey Marie, Sasha Banks, Emma, Aksana, and Alicia Fox. On 24 July 2013, she became the first NXT Women’s Champion by defeating Emma.
In the later months, she formed a partnership with Emma, and they engaged in a feud against Summer Rae and Sasha Banks. On 24 April 2014, Paige was compelled to vacate her NXT Women’s Championship, ending her reign of 301 days after she won the WWE Divas Championship.
Raw & Smackdown
Paige made her WWE main roster debut on 7 April 2014 against AJ Lee which she won and made many records with her win. On 19 May 2014, Paige suffered her first WWE defeat against Alicia Fox in a non-title match. On 30 June 2014, AJ Lee defeated Paige to regain the Divas Championship.
Despite the championship loss, Paige acted as though she and Lee were best friends during tag team matches where they teamed up together; however, their friendship didn’t last long as Paige turned heel by attacking Lee after a tag match on 21 July 2014. On 17 August 2014, during a SummerSlam match, Paige won her second Divas Championship by defeating AJ Lee. At WrestleMania 31, Paige and AJ Lee defeated The Bella Twins in a tag team match.
On 13 July 2015, Stephanie McMahon called for a revolution in the Diva’s Division and introduced Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks as Paige’s allies. The trio of Paige, Charlotte, and Becky was initially named the Submission Sorority, but they were later called Team PCB after the initials of each wrestler. On 21 September 2015, Paige turned on her partners and gave a scripted promo where she criticized Charlotte’s success being attributed to her father and criticized other members of the Divas division.
First Retirement
On 20 November 2017, Paige made her return to Raw after her first neck injury. She formed a group called Absolution with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, and they attacked Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, and Alexa Bliss.
On 27 December 2017, during a house show, she suffered another neck injury after taking a kick from Sasha Banks during a six-woman tag team match; the injury led the referee to stop the match and prevented her from competing at the Royal Rumble event. On 9 April 2018, Paige officially announced her retirement from in-ring competition.
Non-Wrestling Roles
On 10 April 2018, during the episode of SmackDown Live, Shane McMahon named her as the General Manager of SmackDown. She remained in this position throughout the year, until the McMahon family took control of the show and quietly removed the General Manager position from the storyline on 17 December 2018.
Paige returned to WWE on 10 April 2019 and began managing the newly formed team of Asuka and Kairi Sane, known as the Kabuki Warriors which won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship title at Hell in a Cell match on 6 October 2019. On 28 October 2019, Asuka and Kairi Sane turned on Paige which ended their alliance following which she became a contributor on WWE’s studio show WWE Backstage which premiered on 5 November 2019 on FS1.
On 20 March 2020, she confronted Bayley and Sasha Banks in a virtual Skype appearance and announced that Bayley would defend her title in a six-way elimination match at WrestleMania 36. On 10 June 2022, Paige took to Twitter to announce that she would leave WWE on 7 July 2022.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW)
On 21 September 2022, she made her AEW debut (under the ring name Saraya) at the Grand Slam in Queens, New York. On 5 October 2022, she had a physical confrontation with Britt Baker which was her first physical fight since her neck injury in December 2017. On 9 November 2022, during an episode of Dynamite, Saraya announced that she was fully cleared to return to the ring. On 20 November 2022, she fought her first AEW match against Britt Baker at Full Gear, which she won. In March 2023, she formed a group called The Outcasts with Tony Storm and Ruby Soho aka Ruby Riott.
On 27 August 2023, at All In, Saraya defeated Hikaru Shida, Britt Baker, and Toni Storm in a Four-Way Match and won her first World title in nearly 9 years.
Signature Moves
Her signature moves include the Paige Turner and the Scorpion Cross-Lock.
Entrepreneur
In September 2015, Bevis co-founded a coffee company named The Dark Gypsy with Bobby Schubenski and Jim Somers, the owners of the Blackcraft Cult clothing company; however, she ended her association in October 2016. In December 2017, she launched an online clothing store using her real name, Saraya, at TheSarayaStore.com. On 26 February 2018, The Saraya Store had its grand opening in Anaheim, California.
On 16 November 2018, she launched a makeup line named Saraya Jade Cosmetics. In 2019, she teamed up with Hot Topic Inc. to create an exclusive makeup collection.
Actress
Film
In 2015, she appeared as Eleanor in the USA TV film Santa’s Little Helper. She also lent her voice to the animated film Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon in 2016. In 2017, she voiced a character named Paige in the film Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania.
Television
She has appeared in many WWE TV shows including as a judge on the sixth season of WWE Tough Enough in 2015, as a main cast member from seasons 3 to 6 and as a guest in the reality show Total Divas, as a guest in Total Bellas and Miz & Mrs. from 2018 to 2019, and as a guest in WWE Backstage from 2019 to 2020.
In 2023, she appeared as a main member of AEW All Access. She has also appeared in various talk shows including Conan in 2015 and Ridiculousness in 2016. She appeared in the Parody TV show What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage in 2019.
In Popular Media
In 2012, The New York Times reporter Max Fisher made a documentary on Saraya and her family, which was titled The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family. In 2019, British actor-director, Stephen Merchant, made a film titled Fighting with My Family which was based on the 2012 documentary. She was portrayed by British actress Florence Pugh.
Controversies
Violating WWE Wellness Policy
During her break from WWE due to a neck injury, she failed to report for a drug test in time following which she was suspended for 30 days on 18 August 2016. On 10 October 2016, she was suspended for 60 days after she tested positive for a banned substance. When her father said that she had provided a prescription for the substance, WWE replied by saying that they were providing world-class healthcare assistance to her. She returned to WWE in September 2017.
Leaked Private Video
In March 2017, Saraya Bevis’s nude pictures and a sex tape leaked online following which she suffered from anorexia due to the stress and also contemplated suicide. She said in an interview that she thought that her family would disown her or her husband would leave her. She said that she was betrayed by a person who was close to her.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- Ranked No. 1 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2014 and No. 2 in 2015 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Diva of the Year in 2014 by Rolling Stone
- Youngest WWE Divas Champion (at the age of 21), the first Diva to win the title in her debut match, and the only woman to hold both Divas and NXT Women’s Championships at the same time in 2014
- Worst Feud of the Year (Team PCB vs. Team B.A.D. vs. Team Bella) in 2015 by Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- WWE Year-End Award – General Manager of the Year in 2018 by WWE
- Ranked No. 17 on WWE’s list of The 50 Greatest Women Superstars of all time in 2021
Car Collection
She owns a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, BMW i8, and Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Tattoos
Saraya Bevis has many tattoos on her body including an anchor on her left ring finger, a cross on her right ring finger, NFB on the side of the middle finger of her left hand, Papi on the side of the middle finger of her right hand, flower on her stomach, Gal In The Mirror of right forearm, Talk Shit on the side of left palm, Get Bit on the side of right palm, mandala design on both of her thumbs, If you could read my mind, love on right side of abdomen, and a few words on right collarbone.
Favourites
- Wrestlers(s): Bull Nakano, Alundra Blayze, Edge, Lita, Rikishi, Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bray Wyatt
- Film(s): Rocky series, Labyrinth (1986), Pretty Women (1990), The Warriors (1979)
- Music Genre(s): Rock, Metal
- American City: California
Facts/Trivia
- Her mother, Sweet Saraya, wrestled in professional wrestling matches when she was seven months pregnant with Paige as she was unaware that she was pregnant.
- Paige was a tomboy since her teenage years and had an emo look while in high school.
- Bevis has been featured in six WWE video games. Her first appearance in a video game was as a downloadable character in WWE 2K15. She continued to be a playable character in subsequent releases, including WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19, and WWE 2K20.
- In 2015, she disclosed during an episode of Total Divas that she dated many girls during her teenage years.
- In 2017, she underwent Lip Filler Surgery to enhance her beauty.
- She is an animal lover and owns many dogs and a parrot named Paulie. She likes to do horseriding during her free time.
Paulie enjoying the Cali heavy rain 🦜 🌧️ pic.twitter.com/wfb0ijDnk3
— SARAYA (@Saraya) August 21, 2023