



I'm not here to be a cover girl. I'm here to cover girls in the middle of that ring and win.

-- WWE Diva's Champion Paige

After surviving 295 days as Divas Champion - including the Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational at WrestleMania XXX - AJ Lee made the fatal mistake of squaring up to NXT rookie Paige.

From nowhere, the so-called Anti-Diva did what the rest of the locker room couldn't and surprised everyone by taking home the Butterfly Belt.



Ahead of emotional homecoming recordings of Raw and SmackDown in the UK this week, Digital Spy spoke to Paige about the heady days since that night on Raw.

What's it like coming back to the UK as the youngest ever Divas Champion?

"It's incredible. Just being back in the UK in general with the WWE is fantastic, but actually coming back having made history and bringing back the Divas Championship is absolutely mindblowing.

"My dad, my family's going to be there. It's the first time he's going to actually see me [in the WWE] so it's incredible. I'm going to try and hold back the tears today. It's an emotional day for me, so I can't wait."

You've been destroying everyone in the ring since that Raw, apart from AJ who's been absent - how much are you looking forward to her returning and demanding a rematch?

"If she does come, great! I can't wait, because then it gives me more competition and I know she's going to be coming straight after me. She's going to be full of anger and she's going to be better than ever.

"The girls so far have given me a great fight. Alicia Fox on Raw the other day really, really stuck it to me! But I still came out victorious. Tamina's always been very dominating so I've really had a good run so far - so I look forward to AJ one day."

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You worked in FCW and also in NXT - how much has having NXT revolutionised the company from a wrestler's perspective?

"NXT as a whole is fantastic. When I first started we didn't have the TV. We had to try and start again and build our brand and no-one really knew us. We were doing the live events and training every day. When Triple H took it over and made it his baby he really, really jumpstarted it for us. I got a large fanbase just from NXT itself. It's an amazing brand.

"NXT's really, really helping. Everyone really enjoys it. It's a really short show and it's full of wrestling and people love the wrestling side of things too. They get what they want on Raw, they get what they want on NXT. I think it helps having NXT - you get to see the young talent before they come up here - it's great for everyone."

You won the NXT belt by beating Emma - what do you think of her transition to the main roster, and are we getting to see enough of her actually in the ring?

"Emma is incredible, first of all. I really enjoyed every single match I had with her and she deserves everything that she's getting so far. She's really, really working hard - she's definitely a workhorse. She's just really happy. People have seen what she can do but not what she's so freaking fantastic at.

"It's good that people are seeing it bit by bit. If we just saw it all in our face already, people are going to get tired quickly. The way she's growing at the minute, she's doing great. You haven't seen the best of her yet, definitely not."



When are we going to get an all-female WWE pay-per-view main event?

"[Laughs] Whoa, I don't know about that! Hopefully we do that, hopefully one day. It'd be amazing and it'd be a big, big step for us Divas. The fact that the Divas are getting looked at now more seriously - they can all wrestle, they can all kick some butt. They're not just pretty faces anymore. They know what they're doing. It's really good to see.

"Being here at that time when everyone's taken seriously and they're working their butts off and they're really trying to show the world what they can actually do is great. I'm just really happy to be here at that time. We can all help each other and we can really revolutionise the division."

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In an interview with WWE.com you said that the first time you tried out for the company they knocked you back in part because you weren't being yourself - how important is it to get across your own personality in the WWE nowadays?

"It's very, very important because it brings confidence. If you're trying to be something you're not you can see right through it. Like I said in the interview, I tried to be what I thought they wanted - I tried to be tanned, I tried the colour, I tried taking out my piercings. I tried to be a very girly girl, and I wasn't me, and I wasn't confident with it.

"It really helped that I came along and I stuck to my guns and was like, 'No, they're going to see the real me'. I was happier - I looked happier because I was being me. It really shines through. You can tell, you can see it in someone's face - their face lights up when they're being themselves.

"It's very, very important to be yourself, and that's the kind of message that I want to get across in my character as well. On TV, that's the message that I want to get across to fans of all ages really: To get somewhere you just have to be yourself. Don't ever change for anyone."



In the old days you would have probably been billed as 'Paige from London' or somewhere - are you happy with being truthfully billed as 'Paige from Norwich'?

"Oh, 100%. Norwich isn't a big town or city, so getting a little bit of recognition for my little city is fantastic. Again, I'm not pretending to be from somewhere that I'm not. Like the image - I'm not pretending to be someone that I'm not.

"So I'm really, really happy - I don't have to pretend to be different. It's great, I'm just happy that I'm making my little city proud and putting them on the map a bit."

If you could wrestle anyone in history - they don't have to be another wrestler - who would it be and why?

"Non-wrestlers, it'd be [UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion] Ronda Rousey, because she's a badass and she's a big wrestling fan anyway.

"Wrestling-wise I've wrestled a lot of the girls that I've really wanted to, like Natalya and Emma. I'd love to wrestle Lita, and Bull Nakano is one of my big inspirations.

The WWE is currently in the UK May for the 'WrestleMania Revenge' tour, including Raw and SmackDown TV events in London at the O2 Arena tonight (May 19) and tomorrow (May 20).

Raw is sold-out but tickets for SmackDown are available online now or by calling 0844 338 0000

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