legend Paige has recalled the moment Triple H and Vince and Stephanie McMahon all admitted they thought she was ‘going to die’.
The former Divas Champion – who – has been opened about her previous battles with drug and alcohol addiction, and she reflected on the first time she went back to the Performance Center.
She had been away after dealing with personal issues including her devastating sex tape leak, and she was worried about being back at work.
‘I was so embarrassed because of these tapes, and then because I made a fool of myself with the drugs and being on the internet. It was just awful. I just thought everyone was gonna hate me,’ she told Renee Paquette on The Sessions podcast.
‘I walked up to Hunter and he just gave me this huge hug. He said, “I thought you were gonna die.”
‘I walked up to Stephanie and Stephanie gave me a big hug and said, “I thought you were going to die.” Then I get to Vince. He looked at me for a second, and then he’s just like, “Come here”, and he gives me a big hug.
‘He was just like, “I just thought you were gonna die.” They all had the same thing to say. They were just happy that I was alive and they were just like, “This is your home. You grew up here. We want you to stay here.” ‘
Paige – who has also opened up about how much WWE has helped her over the years – reiterated the way they tried to back her during the difficult period.
She added: ‘They really tried. They even brought me out to Connecticut at one point just to be like, “Do you need help?” I was like “No, I’m good. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” ‘
Paige previously penned an emotional letter to the fans and WWE for the , and she took the opportunity to open up on .
She wrote: ‘It was like, almost overnight, so many things changed: Suddenly my neck was f**ked and I couldn’t wrestle. I popped a drug test. My sex tape L***ed. I got depressed. I started drinking. And I became less of an asset to WWE, and more of a liability, for a long time. I’m sure of it.Â
‘But they never lost faith in me — they never once threw me off to the side. They got me the help I needed when I needed help, and they gave me the time and space I needed when I needed time and space.’
