Former WWE Star Reveals Scrapped Romance Angle With Saraya FKA Paige: 'They Were All Set To Do That'

The former WWE star Shelton Benjamin recently revealed that during Saraya FKA Paige's run as the SmackDown General Manager, he pitched the idea of becoming her romantic partner.

By Avik Das

Published on Jul 10, 2024 | 11:29 AM IST | 119.6K

Saraya (PC: Instagram)

The former WWE Superstar Shelton Benjamin recently sat down for an interview with Metro, discussing different aspects of his WWE career. He made an interesting revelation regarding Saraya, formerly known as WWE's Paige, who was then the SmackDown General manager.

“The idea was I will start off as kind of her bodyguard, but I think it was going to turn romantic, and that was all. They were all set to do that, and then it just didn’t happen," said the three-time Intercontinental Champion during the interview.

Benjamin's romance with Saraya would have been a great idea

Following her main roster debut, Paige quickly became one of the major stars of the women's division, winning the Divas Championship on her debut and securing her name as the youngest Divas Champion of all time.

The British Superstar showed promise afterward, leading the women's revolution of WWE alongside the four horsewomen of WWE. Her young wrestling career, however, unexpectedly halted following a career-threatening neck injury in 2016, coercing her to officially retire in 2017.

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In a non-wrestling role like General Manager of SmackDown, Paige was highly efficient. Appointing Shelton Benjamin as her bodyguard would have been a great move, helping the careers of both Superstars.

In her short WWE career, Paige never had a notable romantic encounter. Thus, the idea of a bodyguard evolving into the romantic partner of a general manager would have been something new for her.

Saraya's AEW career after WWE

The neck injury left Saraya's wrestling future in serious doubt. Nevertheless, once she departed WWE in June 2022, she decided to sign for the rival promotion, AEW, announcing she was cleared to wrestle as an in-ring performer.

Years after retiring from in-ring action, Saraya resumed her career in All Elite Wrestling. Besides leading the group The Outcasts, the English star won the AEW Women's Championship once. She ranks among the top stars of Tony Khan's promotion.

Shelton Benjamin's second WWE run was lackluster

Coming from OVW's golden generation in 2002, WWE had high expectations from Shelton Benjamin after his debut. In amateur wrestling, Shelton was a close friend of Brock Lesnar at the University of Minnesota, and there was no dearth of talent in him.

His maiden WWE tenure was decent. Benjamin's most recent WWE run was from 2017 to 2023. He was used as a lower mid-card guy to elevate other talents. The 49-year-old's only significant run from this tenure was joining The Hurt Business.

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