You never know when a WWE star might decide to part ways with the company and back in March it was reported that Sareee (formerly known as Sarray in WWE) was moving on to the next stage of her career. Sareee has since returned to Japan and on May 16th she will wrestle her first match since 2022 when she faces off against Chihiro Hashimoto.
Sareee recently spoke to Sportiva about her WWE departure and she confirmed that there was talk of renewing her contract with the company, but ultimately she decided not to stay.
“I didn’t fight on the main roster, but I felt that I had learned enough in WWE. I was able to absorb the spirit of entertainment that I had been missing. There was talk of renewing the contract, but I wanted to do wrestling that I believed in, and at 27 years old, I was at my most physically active, so I thought, I will regret it if I don’t do the wrestling I have wanted to do for a long time now…. I think I have absorbed many things in my own way in WWE, and no matter what anyone says, I have no regrets about going to America.”
Sareee first signed with WWE in 2020, but her debut was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She explained that she faced many difficulties after moving to the United States while crediting Shinsuke Nakamura for being someone who was there for her.
“There were many difficulties (life in the USA). Many wrestlers who went to WWE from Japan came to the U.S. with their spouses or families, but I was alone. I had no idea about everyday shopping or the detailed procedures for renting a house… Naturally, I was surrounded by American wrestlers, and it was not always easy to get the same ideas. For example, Japanese athletes are very attentive to isolated foreign wrestlers, eating together with them, etc., but American athletes are ‘people are people and I am me.’ It is not that they are cold, it is just natural, but it was difficult for me to get used to it.
They (Japanese talent in the U.S.) were very helpful to me. The star athletes that I would have never met or talked to if I had not gone to the U.S. cared about me. In particular, Shinsuke Nakamura and his family, including his wife and children, were very close to me. When I met him for the first time, he said, ‘If you are lonely and alone, come to me anytime. There will be food for you.’ Eventually, I started going out with the children on my days off, even when Nakamura was not around (laughs). There were also Asuka, IYO SKY, (Akira) Tozawa and KUSHIDA. In NXT, which I belonged to, Hideki Suzuki and Ikemen Jiro were with me until about halfway through (the run). At that time, there were quite a few Japanese wrestlers, which was encouraging.”
