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In May 2016, Bevis and fellow professional wrestler José Rodríguez, better known as [[Alberto Del Rio]], went public with their relationship. The two became engaged in October 2016. |
In May 2016, Bevis and fellow professional wrestler José Rodríguez, better known as [[Alberto Del Rio]], went public with their relationship. The two became engaged in October 2016. |
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| + | In March 2017, nude photos and videos that featured Paige in sexual situations were leaked onto the internet after her phone was hacked. Paige confirmed the leak on Twitter saying, "Personal and private photos of mine were stolen and unfortunately they were shared publicly without my consent." |
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==Trivia== |
==Trivia== |
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Revision as of 16:26, 18 March 2017
Saraya-Jade Bevis (17 August 1992) is an English professional wrestler and actress currently signed to WWE under the ring name Paige, performing on the Raw brand. She is a two-time Divas Champion and was the inaugural NXT Women's Champion in WWE's developmental branch, NXT. She is the only person to have held both championships concurrently, and as of September 2016, her 308-day reign as the NXT Women's Champion is the longest in the title's history.
In 2005, at the age of 13, Bevis made her debut in the World Association of Wrestling, a promotion run by her family, under the ring name Britani Knight. She went on to hold several championships on independent circuits within Europe. In 2011, she signed a contract with WWE and started wrestling within its developmental systems, eventually debuting on WWE's main roster in April 2014. In her debut match on the main roster, she won the Divas Championship, becoming the youngest champion in the title's history at the age of 21.
Early life
Bevis is part of a professional wrestling family. Both her mother and father, known as Sweet Saraya and Ricky Knight respectively, are professional wrestlers, as are her older brothers, Roy and Zak. The family run the World Association of Wrestling (WAW) promotion. In July 2012, Channel 4 produced a documentary about the Knights entitled The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family.
Professional wrestling career
World Association of Wrestling (2006–2011)
Singles competition (2006–2011)
Bevis was trained at the WAW Academy by her family, Klondyke Kate and Jason Cross. She made her debut in 2006 for World Association Of Wrestling (WAW) when she teamed up with her mother, Sweet Saraya and lost to Destiny and The Pink Lady, Kharisma and Pixie were also involved. During her time at WAW she would team up with and take on various members of her close family. In December 2007, Knight took part in a tournament where the winner would become the first WAWW British Champion, she made it all the way to the final but was eliminated by Jetta. Knight would also lose a fatal four way match for the championship which included Jetta, Sweet Saraya and her former tag team partner, Melodi. In Augest 2008, Knight lost a three way match to Jetta where the winner would become the number one contender to the RQW Women's Championship. On Augest 31, 2009, Knight defeated her mother, Sweet Saraya, in a best of three match to become the WAWW British Champion. In the rematch the result was the same, two pinfalls for Knight and one for Saraya. In 2010, she took part in one night ladies tournament which she won by defeating Sweet Saraya. Once again, she took on Saraya but this time it was for the HEW Women's Championship and this time Saraya won. On November 11, 2011, Knight won an elimination match to become the first WAWW Hardcore Champion. However, her jubilation was to be short lived as she lost the WAWW British Championship a few days later to Liberty.
The Norfolk Dolls (2006–2008)
Bevis, using the name Britani Knight, would begin to team up with Melodi to form the Norfolk Dolls. In their first match together in June, they lost to Nikki Best and The Pink Lady. The Norfolk Dolls would go on a large winning streak, if you discount handicapped matches, remaining undefeated until the beginning of 2007 in tag team competition. During this time they would compete not only for WAW but also Premier Promotions and others. At World Association Of Women's Wrestling, the female only side project of WAW, the Norfolk Dolls defeated the Legion of Womb to become the first WAWW Tag Team Champions, they held the championship for about a year before vacating it. Their final match together as a tag team took place in French promotion International Catch Wrestling Alliance where they lost to Bulla Punk and Sweet Saraya.
Pro-Wrestling: EVE (2010–2011)
Bevis, using the ring name Britani Knight, made her debut for the European all-female promotion on 8 May 2010, along with her mother Saraya Knight. She did not start well for the promotion; although she appeared in the main event at the first taping, she lost to Greek wrestler Blue Nikita. She also lost to Jetta in what was purportedly her opponent's last tour of wrestling. On 16 October 2010 she had her first win against Shanna. On 8 April 2011 she participated in a two-night tournament to crown the first ever Pro-Wrestling: EVE Champion. In the first night, she won a Last Chance Battle Royal, then defeated Jenny Sjödin in the quarter final match. The next day, she defeated Jetta in the semi-final match, and later in the finals defeated Nikki Storm to win the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship. On 4 June 2011 at the XWA War On The Shore 7 show, she lost the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship to Sjödin.
Shimmer Women Athletes (2011)
Bevis (again billed as Britani Knight) made her United States wrestling debut for the all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes on 26 March 2011, at the tapings of Volume 37, alongside her mother and tag team partner Saraya Knight. She and her mother (billed as the Knight Dynasty) were managed by the returning Rebecca Knox and made an open challenge, which was answered by Nikki Roxx and Ariel. The Knight Dynasty won the match via disqualification after Saraya tried to hit Ariel with brass knuckles and Ariel grabbed them and got caught hitting Saraya with them. Later that same day, at the tapings of Volume 38, the Knight Dynasty unsuccessfully challenged the Seven Star Sisters (Hiroyo Matsumoto and Misaki Ohata) for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship. Prior to reporting to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), Knight took part in her final Shimmer tapings on the 1st and 2 October 2011. After several losses, which included the Knight Dynasty again failing to win the Shimmer Tag Team Championship, Saraya slapped Knight. This resulted in Knight brawling with her mother, before challenging her to a match. On Volume 44, Knight wrestled her final Shimmer match, defeating Saraya in a No Disqualification match.
WWE (2011–present)
Developmental territories and NXT Women's Champion (2012–2014)
Bevis received try-outs with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) tryout, and another in April 2011. In September 2011, it was reported that Bevis had signed a contract with WWE and would report to their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).
Bevis made her debut for FCW at a house show on January 5, 2012, using the ring name Saraya. Bevis' ring name was then changed to Paige as she made her television debut in a backstage appearance on the February 26 episode of FCW TV. From March 2012, Paige formed an alliance with Sofia Cortez, dubbing themselves as the Anti-Diva Army. On the March 19 episode of FCW TV, Paige made her televised in-ring debut in a tag team match alongside Cortez, which the duo lost to Audrey Marie and Kaitlyn. Paige and Cortez then formed a brief association with APOC. On the May 6 episode of FCW TV, Paige pinned Raquel Diaz, the FCW Divas Champion in a non-title triple threat match, which also involved Audrey Marie. This earned Paige a title shot against Diaz on the May 27 episode of FCW TV, where Diaz's chicanery led to Paige being disqualified and Diaz retained her title. Dissention was teased within the Anti-Diva Army as Paige moved on to feud with Audrey Marie; Paige lost to Marie on the June 10 episode of FCW TV after Cortez interfered against her, signalling the end of the alliance. On the July 1 episode of FCW TV, Paige was disqualified during a match with Marie. On the final episode of FCW TV on July 15, Paige and Marie ended their feud with Marie victorious in a no disqualification match.
In July 2012, Bevis, as Paige, debuted on the third episode of the sixth season of WWE NXT taped at Full Sail University, where she lost to Sofia Cortez. From September 2012, Paige would go on a singles winning streak defeating the likes of Audrey Marie, Sasha Banks, Emma, Aksana and notably multiple wins over former WWE Divas Champion Alicia Fox. On the January 30 episode of NXT, Paige was attacked by ring announcer Summer Rae after accidentally bumping her, mainly due to Rae's jealousy of Paige's popularity and success. After being attacked, Paige began feuding with the evil Summer Rae. On the February 13 episode of NXT, Paige was defeated by Summer Rae. Paige suffered an injury and was put out of action for an entire month. Paige returned on the March 13 episode of NXT after a match between Summer and Emma. Paige teamed with Sasha Banks on the April 3 episode of NXT to defeat the team of Summer Rae & Audrey Marie. On the May 1 episode of NXT, Paige defeated Summer Rae. On the June 5 episode of NXT, Paige entered the NXT Women's Championship tournament and defeated Tamina Snuka in the first round. On the July 3rd episode of NXT Paige defeated Alicia Fox in the second round to advance to the finals. On the July 24th episode of NXT, Paige defeated Emma to become the first ever NXT Women's Champion.
Paige made her first successful title defense on the August 14 episode of NXT, defeating Summer Rae. In the following months, Paige teamed up with Emma to feud with Summer Rae and Sasha Banks. On the December 4 episode of NXT, Paige successfully defended her title against Natalya. At NXT Arrival on February 27, Paige defeated Emma via submission to retain the title.
The April 24th episode of NXT began with General Manager, JBL stripping Paige of her Women's Championship, citing it wasn't fair to NXT for one of their champions to be traveling the world also defending a WWE championship. Paige at first refused, but eventually gave in, vacating the title without having been pinned to lose it. Her reign ended at 308 days.
Divas Champion; Heel Turn (2014)
Paige debuted on the main roster on the 7 April 2014 episode of Raw, the night after WrestleMania XXX. She congratulated WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee on her successful title defense at the pay-per-view event. AJ slapped Paige and challenged her to an immediate match with the championship on the line. It resulted with Paige quickly defeating AJ to capture her first Divas Championship and end AJ's 295 day reign. This resulted in Paige becoming the youngest WWE Divas Champion in history at the age of 21. Paige had her first successful title defense on the 28 April episode of Raw in an impromptu match against Brie Bella which went to a no contest due to interference from Kane. In her first successful title defense on pay-per-view, Paige defeated Tamina Snuka on 4 May at Extreme Rules.
She suffered her first main roster defeat on the 19 May episode of Raw to Alicia Fox in a non-title match. Because of the result, she defended and retained her title against Fox at Payback. In June, Paige feuded with Cameron and defeated her in two non-title matches. However, Cameron's tag team partner Naomi went on to beat Paige in a non-title match, leading to Naomi being granted a title match at Money in the Bank, which Paige won. During this time, WWE was criticized for failing to develop Paige's character despite being able to do so for Paige's opponents, and for portraying Paige as a vulnerable champion while she was proving herself in the storyline.
On the post-Money in the Bank episode of Raw, on 30 June, a role reversal occurred when a returning AJ Lee quickly defeated Paige in a title match to regain the Divas Championship, in which Paige was initially reluctant to face AJ but agreed to the match per request of the live audience. Despite the championship loss, Paige acted as if she were best friends with AJ during tag matches in which they teamed together. At Battleground, Paige lost a rematch for the Divas Championship to AJ. On the post-Battleground episode of Raw on 21 July, Paige and AJ won a tag match, but Paige launched a post-match assault on AJ, thus furthering the feud with AJ and turning heel. This eventually set up another title rematch for Paige against AJ at SummerSlam on her twenty-second birthday, which Paige won after she countered AJ's Black Widow with the Ram-Paige, to capture her second Divas Championship. One month later at Night of Champions, Paige lost the title to AJ in a triple threat match also involving Nikki Bella and failed to regain it the following month at Hell in a Cell. Paige later dissolved their alliance by attacking Fox the following night on Raw. At Survivor Series, Paige participated in a 4-on-4 elimination tag team match where she was the last person from her team to be eliminated, courtesy of Naomi.
Team PCB (2015–2016)
On the 5 January 2015 episode of Raw, Paige rescued Natalya from a post-match assault by the Divas Champion Nikki Bella, turning her babyface. This led to a non-title match between Paige and Nikki the following night on Main Event, which Paige won. Following weeks of tormenting by the Bella Twins, Paige unsuccessfully challenged Nikki for the Divas Championship at Fastlane, and in a rematch that took place on the 2 March episode of Raw. Following the latter of the matches, Paige's former rival AJ Lee saved her from an attack from the Bella Twins. Paige and AJ subsequently teamed up to challenge the Bella Twins, defeating them in a tag team match at WrestleMania 31, which was Paige's WrestleMania debut. On the April 13 episode of Raw, Paige won a battle royal to become the #1 Contender to Nikki's Divas Championship, lastly eliminating Naomi. Paige later gave a post-match interview, but was later attacked by Naomi, who turned into a villainess in the process. Paige returned on May 18 and saved Nikki Bella from an attack by Naomi and Tamina, before attacking Nikki herself. She received a Divas Championship opportunity in a triple threat match at the Elimination Chamber event, but she lost when Nikki pinned Naomi.
On the June 1 episode of Raw, Paige received a singles opportunity at the Divas Championship, but she lost after the Bellas utilized Twin Magic, reverting the Bellas to villains once again. After the same outcome at Money In The Bank, as well as Alicia Fox aligning with the Bellas, Stephanie McMahon called for a "Divas Revolution," which led to NXT Divas Charlotte and Becky Lynch aligning with Paige to form the "Submission Sorority," which was later changed to PCB. Team PCB defeated Team BAD (Naomi, Tamina, and Sasha Banks) and Team Bella (Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, and Alicia Fox) in a three team elimination match at SummerSlam when Lynch pinned Brie. On the following night on Raw, PCB participated in a Divas Beat the Clock challenge to determine the #1 Contender for the Divas Championship. Paige competed to a time-limit draw against Sasha Banks, and as a result, Charlotte was named the #1 Contender. Paige began a rivalry with Banks since then, but she was on the losing end on back-to-back singles matches on the September 7 and 14 episodes of Raw.
At Night of Champions, Charlotte captured the Divas Championship, and Paige and Becky were part of the celebration. On the following night's Raw, Paige became a heel during Charlotte's championship celebration, when turned against her PCB partners and berated the Divas Division in a worked shoot promo and claimed that Charlotte only got where she was because of her father. On SmackDown three nights later, Paige justified her actions and claimed that she started the Divas Revolution, and later delivered a slap to Natalya after she confronted her again. Paige received title shots against Charlotte at Survivor Series and TLC, which she both lost.
Hiatus (2016–present)
As part of the 2016 WWE draft which took place on 19 July, Paige was drafted to Raw. On 3 August, her mother revealed on Twitter that she was on a hiatus due to injury. On 17 August, Paige was suspended for 30 days after violating the company’s wellness policy. She later explained that she had not failed a drug test, but that the suspension was due to a procedural issue. In September 2016, Paige revealed that she would be undergoing neck surgery and would not be wrestling for an undisclosed amount of time. On 10 October, Paige was suspended again for her second violation of the wellness policy; this time for 60 days. Bevis subsequently tweeted, "Same shit different day. Kids..Please don't get prescriptions or doctors notes. Not acceptable". Her father released a statement saying she had been prescribed medication for her neck injury. However, WWE issued a statement, saying that she had "tested positive for an illegal substance, not a prescription drug". On 19 October, she underwent successful neck surgery.
Personal life
Bevis is part of a professional wrestling family. Her parents, Julia Hamer-Bevis and Ian Bevis, and her older brothers, Roy Bevis and Zak Frary, are professional wrestlers. The family runs the World Association of Wrestling (WAW) promotion in Norwich. Her mother owns and operates Bellatrix Female Warriors, a women's wrestling promotion also based in Norwich. For a time, WWE Hall of Famer Jake "The Snake" Roberts lived with the family. Bevis cites Bull Nakano, Alundra Blayze, Lita, Rikishi, and Stone Cold Steve Austin as some of her favorite wrestlers.
Bevis suffers from scoliosis. She was unaware that she had the condition until after signing with WWE, when a trainer noticed that her back looked wrong.
On the WWE reality television show Total Divas, Paige acknowledged having previously "been with another woman". Total Divas also featured Paige having a relationship with Emarosa singer Bradley Walden. She dated A Day to Remember guitarist Kevin Skaff from May 2015 until February 2016.
In May 2016, Bevis and fellow professional wrestler José Rodríguez, better known as Alberto Del Rio, went public with their relationship. The two became engaged in October 2016.
In March 2017, nude photos and videos that featured Paige in sexual situations were leaked onto the internet after her phone was hacked. Paige confirmed the leak on Twitter saying, "Personal and private photos of mine were stolen and unfortunately they were shared publicly without my consent."
Trivia
- She is the youngest diva in WWE.
Filmography
Television
| Year | Title | Roles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family | Herself | Documentary |
| 2015–present | Total Divas | Herself | Season 3 |
Film
| Year | Title | Roles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Santa's Little Helper | TBA | Straight-to-DVD |
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- As Paige
- RamPaige (Cradle DDT - WWE or cloverleaf with a knee in the opponent's back - NXT)
- Paige Turner (Swinging leg hook fireman's carry slam)
- PTO - Paige's Tap Out / Scorpion Cross Lock (Inverted sharpshooter with double chickenwing) - adopted from Bull Nakano
- As Britani Knight
- Knight Light (Cradle DDT)
- As Paige
- Signature moves
- As Britani Knight
- Knight Rider (Leg trap sunset flip powerbomb)
- Stan Lane (Side kick)
- Tarantula (Rope hung Boston crab)
- As Paige
- Clothesline
- Superkick
- Multiple Stomps to a seated opponent
- Multiple knee strikes to a rope hung opponent with theatrics
- Surfboard Stretch
- Running Forearm Smash
- Multiple back elbow strikes to a cornered opponent
- Single Leg Dropkick
- Headbutt
- Mounted headbutts with theatrics
- Headscissor Takedown
- Diving Hurricanrana off apron
- Multiple Short-arm Clotheslines
- Schoolgirl into turnbuckle
- Fallaway Slam
- Fisherman Suplex
- Superplex
- Snap Suplex
- Powerbomb
- Modified STF
- Fujiwara Armbar
- As Britani Knight
- Nicknames
- "Norfolk Doll"
- "The Anti-Diva"
- "The Enchanting / Mysterious Raven-Haired Lady"
- "The Diva Of Tomarrow"
- The Submission Sorority (with Charlotte And Becky Lynch)
- Team PCB (With Charlotte And Becky Lynch)
- Entrance themes
- "Faint" by Linkin Park (Shimmer; March 26, 2011 – October 2, 2011)
- "Smashed In The Face" (FCW/NXT; March 19, 2012– February 2014)
- "Stars in The Night" by CFO$ (27 February 2014 – present)
Championships and accomplishments
- Diva-Dirt
- NXT Diva of the Year (2012)
- German Stampede Wrestling
- GSW Ladies Championship (1 time)
- Herts & Essex Wrestling
- HEW Women's Championship (2 times)
- NXT Wrestling
- NXT Women's Championship (1 time)
- NXT Women's Championship Tournament (2013)
- Premier Wrestling Federation
- PWF Ladies Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sweet Saraya
- Pro-Wrestling: EVE
- Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked her #30 in the 2012 PWI Top 50 Females
- PWI ranked her #12 in the 2013 PWI Top 50 Females
- PWI ranked her #1 in the 2014 PWI Top 50 Females
- PWI ranked her #2 in the 2015 PWI Top 50 Females
- PWI ranked her #19 in the 2016 PWI Top 50 Females
- Real Deal Wrestling
- RDW Women's Championship (1 time)
- Swiss Championship Wrestling
- SCW Ladies Championship (1 time)
- World Association of Women's Wrestling
- WAWW British Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Melodi
- WAWW Ladies Hardcore Championship (1 time)
- World Association of Wrestling
- WAW British Ladies Championship (1 time)
See also
- Paige’s event history
