Paige defends Sasha Banks over criticism regarding injury that led to her retirement

Paige

GiveMeSport.com is featuring a lengthy interview with Smackdown Live GM Paige where she talks about WWE star Sasha Banks being criticized online after Paige suffered a career-ending injury at a WWE live event in last December.

The injury took place when Paige had her back turned to Banks and Banks connected with a dropkick that landed. Paige struggled to get to her feet and reportedly lost feeling in one of her arms moments after the dropkick landed (video below).

https://youtu.be/3yc6wZqE5yo

Paige talked about how she was stubborn thinking her repaired neck could be involved in spots like, noting that she called the move in the ring.

“The thing is with me, right, that move where she kicks me in the back, I had taken that so many times previously that I was so stubborn and I thought ‘I can still do these kind of things’ and I thought my neck was just as strong as it was before, but, unfortunately, it’s not. So I called this move and I told her to do it and so she did it, and unfortunately, my neck wasn’t strong enough and it snapped all the way back and it was essentially the same as having a really bad car crash – the whiplash was.”

“My arms start losing the feeling and then I’m like ‘oh my gosh, I can’t feel my arms!’ and I’m trying to grab her [Sasha’s] legs and she’s like ‘you need to stop’ and I’m like ‘no, no, no. Wait, I can stand up, let me do this’ and so I stand up, but then I fall straight back down and I’m like ‘oh my gosh, I can’t feel my body right now, this is crazy’ and I was so petrified I was like ‘I think I’m paralyzed’.”

Paige said she knew right away her in-ring career could be over when it happened.

“The girls at the side of the ring were crying, Bayley was really upset and Sasha is sitting in the corner just devastated and I couldn’t cry at first; I wasn’t in any pain I was just in so much shock and I’m just looking at these girls like ‘oh my gosh’. And I knew it, I felt it – my career was done. I remember them bringing out the stretcher and stuff like that and I was like ‘please don’t make me go out on a stretcher, that’s all I’m asking. I don’t wanna go out on a stretcher’. I wanted to walk out gracefully and I just knew I was going to get told I wasn’t going to be able to do this anymore.”

Paige also talked about being told by Dr. Maroon that surgery was an option again, but that she would be risking paralysis if she ever wrestled again and needed to retire.

The Smackdown GM was quick to defend Banks regarding the whole situation.

“I remember just telling Sasha ‘I can’t wrestle anymore’ and she was devastated, she started crying, crying her eyes out. I was like ‘I’m so sorry’, I think it’s just a British thing to apologize! But I was like ‘I’m sorry, it’s not your fault’ and she’s just been so, so supportive. She always texts me like ‘hey, how are you doing, how things going?’ you know, and she’s just always been really great. Sasha was there the whole entire time. She did not want to leave my side – like literally did not want to leave my side – and she was crying her eyes out. She said ‘I’m so sorry’ and I’m like ‘It’s not your fault, none of this is your fault’.”

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