As crazy as it may sound, Saraya has only been a member of AEW since September, when the former WWE Superstar made her surprise debut at Night 1 of Grand Slam. Since then, she's helped book a lumberjack match, put over stars like Willow Nightengale, and began a war of words with Britt Baker that eventually turned physical.

Though she initially entered the promotion with an unclear injury status, as she was forced to retire from WWE due to a neck injury that nearly resulted in paralyzation, when Saraya announced on Twitter that she received some pretty encouraging news and wanted to make an announcement to the AEW Galaxy ā€“ and Baker ā€“ first in an interview with Renee Paquette and then in an in-ring segment with Tony Schiavone, fans knew it could only mean one thing: Saraya was ready to rumble.

But how would it go? Would Saraya be able to work a traditional wrestling match, let alone a long, expansive Pay-Per-View match against one of the pillars of AEW, Britt Baker? Would the fans turn on her if things went poorly, or would they accept that five years and one major injury away from the ring takes some time to come back from, and that patience is key to a long and expansive career moving forward for Saraya, who is actually one year younger than Baker?

Fortunately, fans didn't have to find out what would happen if Saraya turned in a bad match, as her bout with Baker at Full Gear was actually quite good, with both women getting in their offense, the good Dr. working over the crowd like a true heel, and the returning ā€œAnti-Divaā€ ultimately securing the win while her brother Zak and a small but dedicated collection of her friends watched on from around the ring. The fans cheered her on, the reception online was largely positive, and after letting the dust settle, Saraya went to the back to discuss what went down and her appreciation for Baker in an interview partially transcribed by Fightful.

Saraya sends positivity to her AEW Full Gear opponent.

After the dust settled from her match against Baker, Saraya was asked how it felt to get back into the ring, and the two-time Divas Champion detailed the harrowing road she took to get back into the wrestling ring.

ā€œI got to go home to the UK recently, we did some training there, training with my family is always a plus, thatā€™s where I started. I got to go to Santino Bros in California,ā€ she revealed. ā€œJungle Boy offered me his ring but I didnā€™t get to go around there. I will go there and ask him to use his ring. I did a lot of training. I didnā€™t try to do 100% bumping around until I knew my neck was okay and then it was an everyday thing. I even had a signing and I had to cancel it because I had to focus on this. I was 100% in on this. It did take a lot and I know I am rusty. Itā€™s been five years and I tried to give 110% and I felt like I did that, I gave as much as I could. Working with Britt, sheā€™s a star, an absolute star. She helped me a lot. Long story short, I worked out a lot, and Iā€™m going to continue to do so.ā€

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Becky Lynch with a text bubble reading ā€œIt was such a classical marketing thingā€ holding the Divas Championship belt with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch Ā·

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

Matty Breisch Ā·

The blacked-out silhouette of Kurt angle with a text bubble reading ā€œThese guys are crazyā€ with Swerve Strickland on the left and ā€œHangmanā€ Adam Page on the right with the AEW Full Gear logo as the background.

Matty Breisch Ā·

ā€œBritt was the first-ever signee here, she has built this division so I totally understand that. I was an outsider coming in, but it was more between me and Britt. It was such a special moment for us two. Iā€™m stepping out of character a little bit here, but I feel with Britt, she really carried me throughout this whole thing. Truly, sheā€™s an absolute pro. I was rusty when I did the promos and stuff like that. I felt we delivered a really good in-ring promo and the next week she did this beautiful babyface promo, ā€˜Oh man, this is going to be tough.ā€™ With me and her, thereā€™s no real heel or face, you just cheer for who you want to cheer for. You either cheer for the homegrown talent or you cheer for the girl who comes back from a career-ending injury.ā€

While some might argue with the last statement Saraya made, as Baker was very clearly working heel in the match, it's clear there was nothing but mutual love between the two performers, even if they tried to fane otherwise. No matter how much she tried to downplay it, Baker clearly loved being Saraya's first match back to professional wrestling, and believe you me, that opinion appears to be reciprocated.