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When you win the WWE Divas Championship on your first night on Raw, it's clear you are going to be a special talent.

Hailing from Norwich and the famous Knight family, Paige - real name Saraya Jade-Bevis – began wrestling at the age of 13.

Following in the footsteps of her mother and father Saraya and Ricky Knight, she competed across the globe before signing with WWE in 2011.

As the first performer to hold both the NXT Women's Championship and WWE Divas Championship, she will forever have a place in grappling history.

And as the 'Anti-Diva' claiming all the credit for the 'Divas Revolution', she has become arguably the most talked about female star in the company.

Ahead of Raw and SmackDown at the Manchester Arena, the 23-year-old talks about changing people's perception of the Divas division, her scathing 'Paige Bomb' attack and online spat with WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze.

Are you enjoying being back home in England on WWE's live tour of the UK and Ireland?

I'm really enjoying it, I love coming back over here of course - this is my country! Some of my nieces and nephews I haven't seen for over a year, so getting to see them again is incredible.

It's been an exciting time for WWE's Divas roster, with the 'Divas Revolution' and an influx of new talent from the developmental division NXT. What does it mean to you that the Divas are now getting more television time and more matches on Raw, Smackdown and at pay-per-view?

We absolutely love it because it all came after the whole #GiveDivasAChance thing trended, that's really where it started. It was incredible because we don't tend to think fans like us that much! [Laughs] But for them to really back us, that trended like three days straight, and for them to sign a petition for WWE to give us more time, that was the main thing. You know we have an amazing bunch of girls, full of talent and all hard working, but we need the opportunities because we're really here to prove we can do stuff as good as the guys, or even better.

It must be so satisfying to see the Divas division finally getting more attention and recognition.

Yeah exactly and Vince [McMahon] is backing the whole thing, all of this is his doing, he really loves the Divas right now, which is awesome. I'm so happy that we have him and we're really under his wing right now, he's really pushing it. And we're taking up most of the shows!

Do you think fans are starting to see the Divas and their matches in a different light?

Yeah I definitely think so. The fact that we get to have more time and we get to tell a story so the fans can really get invested in our matches again is incredible.

That's the difference - when you see two people compete in a match that has been thrown together, you can't invest as much emotion and interest. When there is a feud that has been built up beforehand, then it's more likely to capture your imagination.

Exactly and you can't do that in a one-minute match, you need to have time to really tell a story.

How far do you think you can take it? Do you think you could find yourselves main eventing a pay-per-view eventually, or even WrestleMania, as suggested by Triple H?

That's definitely a goal, you know, it's a big dream doing it at WrestleMania, but hopefully I really think we could do a pay-per-view one day or even an all-female pay-per-view. We have enough Divas and down in NXT now, we could really do that, even on the WWE Network. I definitely think we could main event one day, so hopefully, fingers crossed.

(Image: © WWE)

You've had a very eventful year, even before the advent of the Divas Revolution. What was it like making your WrestleMania debut alongside your longtime rival AJ Lee and defeating the Bellas at WrestleMania 31 ?

Oh that was so surreal, because I grew up watching WWE and WrestleManias and attending the year before was absolutely mind-blowing, just thinking 'imagine this time next year, I could possibly be on this show'. And I was. For it to be a tag match rather than a Divas battle royal, or something like that, is an honour in itself. So I loved it, I had such a great time. I was with the Bellas and AJ so I was in good company. It was incredible. I had my mum [British wrestling veteran Saraya Knight] in the front row, she was crying her eyes out and I was trying not to break character because I was like 'oh my God, I love this!'

I remember she was booked to appear at a PCW event in Preston that weekend, and they announced she was flying to WrestleMania instead - I think the fans understood!

[Laughs] Yeah, I stole her away. Sorry Preston City!

Teaming up with your long-time rival AJ Lee was an interesting dynamic too, especially with that being the end of her time at least for now in WWE. She played a big part in your early career.

She really did, behind the scenes and in the ring, so you know, she was my first match I ever had on the main roster and she helped me create history [Paige won the WWE Divas Championship from Lee on her first night on Raw] and she was always so great about it. She helped behind the scenes with promos, we travelled together and she was one of my closest friends I had. I looked up to her and she was a big part of my career.

You have previously said that she helped you develop your catchphrase, 'this is my house'. How did that come about?

Well when I debuted I came down to the ring and she slapped me in the face and said 'no this is my house' right? So I end up beating her and becoming Divas champion and she went away for a couple of months to take a break and when she comes back, she comes and tries to get her title back and I slap her in the face and I'm like 'no, this is my house' and just took it from her and ran with it. And she was okay with it.

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It has since become a signature part of your entrance.

Yeah I have to scream it all the time. I probably regret it because I have to say it in promos all the time! It's not good screaming it if you've got a sore throat.

When you returned to the UK earlier this year, the fans gave you an incredible reception on Raw. What is it like walking out into that kind of atmosphere?

It's insane because doing the independents before I came to WWE, I worked in front of five people sometimes maybe, we had to cancel a show because no-one turned up. Doing it in front of 15,000 people, or 80,000 people at WrestleMania, is so surreal. It blows my mind every day. And I'm so happy here because even if I'm heel or face the fans are so incredibly loyal to me, so they will just cheer anyway. You know what us Brits are like.

You starred in a Channel 4 documentary about your journey to WWE, called The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family, in 2012. You have come such a long way in a comparatively short space of time.

Yeah, I've been over in WWE at least for four years now but it has gone so quickly. I did developmental for two and a half years and I've been up on the main roster for a year and a half. They have given me so much opportunity and have been so great to me, so quickly too, and in saying that they trust me with so much.

We're currently watching a major feud develop between you and your former PCB team members, Charlotte and Becky Lynch. What has it been like working with them?

It's cool because I've known Becky since I was about 13, she was on the independent circuit too and stayed with my family a lot back in the day. That was crazy because we went from being on the indies together to being on the grandest stage of them all together. And then you've got Charlotte, who started in developmental six months after I did, so we've really been through it together, which is really nice. We grew up in the WWE together. We are a family, we're literally like sisters, so it feels great to be working with them.

(Image: © WWE)

You have betrayed them twice in quick succession, splitting up the PCB faction.

I mean they should have known, I've done it to every single friend I've had in the WWE. I'm not very good friends. I'm not going to lie!

Your 'Pipe Bomb' or 'Paige Bomb' promo, when you turned on Charlotte after she captured the WWE Divas Championship, was a highlight of the September 21 edition of Raw. How did you feel laying into your fellow Divas on the mic?

Oh it felt great. I feel much better being in a heel role. I'm not very good at coming out smiling and acting like a good girl. It's harder to get fans to like you when you're trying to be nice. A lot of fans these days, they like bad-ass heels and they like people who can wrestle and have the attitude, and if they can deliver on the microphone. So it's much easier to get people to love you or hate you being a heel, than it is being a babyface.

You didn't pull any punches [referring to the 'real reason' the Bellas are on top and Charlotte only being champion thanks to her father Ric Flair]. Were you worried that you might go too far?

No, I held back, I thought 'I need to keep some material for next time I drop a Paige Bomb!' Then the week after I think Charlotte and Becky were on Miz TV and the Bellas came out and I dropped like a Paige Bomb line at the Bellas and all hell broke loose, so I save them up. I don't want to give them all away straight away.

Having watched you on Total Divas, fans can see how a throwaway comment or something one of you takes exception to can lead to all sorts of trouble. What you said certainly made everyone's ears perk up!

Yeah people were like 'what she is saying is true', 'she may be being mean or malicious about it but wait, that's kind of true'. I'm just saying what people are thinking.

(Image: © WWE)

That's often when promos are at their best and have the desired effect - when there is a dose of reality thrown in to the mix, turned up and exaggerated.

Oh absolutely, and I'm very outspoken as it is, that's why it's like 'don't give me a microphone!'

WWE have always given you a lot of time on the microphone but now you are getting even more opportunities to build your character.

I love being on the microphone and that just makes you better as well, because after you haven't been on the microphone for a little bit, you get extremely rusty and it gets very hard. They are giving me more time, literally every week they are giving me a promo, and I'm doing it live, which is tough, but I love doing them because it just makes me better.

You learned from the best in NXT under the late, great Dusty Rhodes, whose passing this summer was a very sad time for you I imagine - as it was for everyone who loves the business.

Oh Dusty, yeah he was my American dad. He taught me a lot. It's hard to talk about him because I get really upset. He was amazing, an amazing human being, he had a thing for the misfits, the broken toys. If you were already perfect he wanted to work with you but he was more interested in projects and people who didn't look like they stood a chance. Then he could fix them up, shine them up and send them on their way. He really invested in the talent.

You had an interesting exchange with WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze on social media recently. [Blayze derided the Divas Revolution and Paige, seemingly in character, then challenged Paige to a match for the old WWE Women's Championship, with Paige responding that Blayze was welcome to get in the ring.] Would you be open to the idea of a match between the two of you?

Oh absolutely, I mean it's not something that's going to happen, but hopefully someday it could, and if it did, I would definitely do it. If she wants a match I will 100% give her a match. I don't know if she can still go though! She's probably not been in the ring for about 15 or 20 years... but if she wants to go, let's go. She's definitely someone, Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano were like my heroes, but I don't know about that now.

Is there anybody else you would like to lock horns with if you had the chance, either from NXT or a past Diva?

Past Divas it would be Bull Nakano and Lita, maybe Molly Holly too. People from NXT, I love Bayley so I would like to work her, Nia Jax, Carmella... I wish Emma could come back again so we could go at it, Emma and I were on the first ever NXT pay-per-view together, so we really started the whole Divas Revolution down in NXT. Hopefully we get to lock horns again one day.

What are your goals for the remainder of 2015?

Well I need to become Divas Champion again! It's coming up at Survivor Series, me and Charlotte will go at it, so hopefully I walk away a three times Divas Champion.

Tickets for WWE SmackDown featuring The Undertaker and WWE's remaining UK dates are still available at bookingsdirect.com , theticketfactory.com , ticketmaster.co.uk or by calling the ticket hotline at 0844 338 0000.

Tickets for WWE Raw in Manchester on Monday, November 9 are sold out.