A lot has happened since the last time Saraya wrested a professional wrestling match; America has a new president, England has a new Monarch, and cryptocurrency went from a one-liner in the movie Dope, to something worthy of Super Bowls ads, to, well, sort of useless once more. The last time Saraya wrestled, she was known as Paige, and the company she works for now, AEW, didn't even exist.

And yet, just because the world is a different place than it was when Saraya last wrestled doesn't mean the performer who stepped foot at Full Gear would be the same one who last wrestled as a member of the RAW roster back in WWE. Would Saraya still be able to go five years removed from a potentially career-ending neck injury? Or would the rust be evident long after the initial bell sounded?

Well, fans who spent their Saturday night watching AEW Full Gear, be that in The Rock in New Jersey or on their Pay-Per-View service of choice, got an opportunity to find out, as Baker and Saraya worked a surprisingly long match in her return to the ring.

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Becky Lynch with a text bubble reading “It was such a classical marketing thing” holding the Divas Championship belt with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ¡

QT Marshall with the WWE logo on his left and the AEW logo on his right.

Matty Breisch ¡

The blacked-out silhouette of Kurt angle with a text bubble reading “These guys are crazy” with Swerve Strickland on the left and “Hangman” Adam Page on the right with the AEW Full Gear logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ¡

Things began slowly enough, with the two women feeling each other out before Saraya fakes a neck injury that maybe was in poor taste but was interesting nonetheless. The match picked up, with Baker working over her opponent's neck whenever she could, but in the end, it didn't particularly matter what the good Dr. threw Saraya's way, as she had a counter for it. She persisted through the struggles, took the knocks, and ultimately left the Prudential Center a winner, even if the real win was simply persisting through her initial injury diagnosis and coming back to the sport she loves.