Paige was announced as the brand new SmackDown Live GM on the latest episode of SmackDown Live. The news was a surprise to everybody backstage. On Monday night when she did her retirement speech Paige was under the impression that she was finished with WWE. 

She likely would have made appearances at independent shows and conventions because she has name value but WWE had a better offer for her instead. It turns out that the decision to give her the General Manager role was not made until late Monday night or early Tuesday. She was not told anything until Tuesday before she was readying to fly back home from New Orleans. 

The general feeling is that Paige is well-liked backstage, and they wished to find something for her to do within the company.  When she returned to action late last year, people that know her felt that it was better for her to be on the road with her wrestling friends because she would stay out of trouble. Putting her on Smackdown is a nice gesture and it shows how much she means to the company and management.

Paige is also a part of the upcoming Total Divas, so it would make sense to keep her. E! Network filmed content during WrestleMania weekend.