Nia Jax opens up about all things related to WWE in her first interview since leaving the company.
The latest guest on ‘The Sessions’ with Renee Paquette is former Raw and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Nia Jax. Jax was released after being with WWE since 2014.
In a statement issued after her release, Nia touched on her vaccination status and noted that-that was not mentioned to her when she was informed about her release. She told Renee that she stood her ground with opting not to get the vaccine. She talked to Vince McMahon about it and he told her that because of her choice, she would not be able to fulfill all of her contractual obligations.
I stood my ground on certain things that I know that they weren’t happy about. I was choosing not to go and get the vaccine and it was a personal choice and I remember sitting down with Vince [McMahon] because the whole entire two years I was there, I re-tested every day. I never popped positive, I never had COVID the whole time and it was like, ‘Well, okay, you’re not gonna be able to fulfill some of your contractual duties’ and I was like, ‘Well if that’s the case, then that’s the case.’ It’s business, it’s a business and I understand you gotta run your business. But that’s when I was like, ‘You know, I feel really –’ because I made the decision for myself and I stood by my — I stood by how I felt. I always go by my gut feeling. If it doesn’t feel right in my stomach, I just can’t force myself to do something I don’t feel good with. That’s just how I’ve lived my entire life.
In that aforementioned statement, Jax noted that she requested additional time off. She further spoke about that and said he wanted the break to extend to the 2022 Royal Rumble event. She was granted the extended break, but she later received a phone call from John Laurinaitis that turned out to be about her release.
It went by so fast — my break — I was like, ‘Oh sh*t, it’s coming up’ and I’ll never forget, I just hit Johnny [Laurinaitis] up and I was like, ‘Hey, I know that my break’s coming up but I just don’t feel right-right now. Is there any way we can kind of extend it to Rumble?’ And then I was like, ‘I know I’ll be in a better place,’ whatever, whatever and that was like on a Wednesday I hit him up about that and Thursday, he called me and of course I see his name, I’m like, ‘Oh! He’s calling to talk about this. So cool’ and then I pick up the phone and he was just like, ‘Hey kid, I hate to do this’ and instantly when he said that and I said, ‘Oh, am I getting released?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ He was like, ‘I’m so sorry. Due to budget cuts,’ you know, the whole spiel and I was just like, ‘Oh, okay, well I’ll take a pay cut.’ I was like, ‘If that’s what’s needed,’ just because I knew it was a whole script and he was like, ‘Oh, that’s not it’ and I was like, ‘Oh, so you just want like a total different change?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s it. We’re just gonna put you on your 90 days’ and I hung up the phone and I was relieved.
Jax was offered the opportunity to compete in the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble. She felt that it was a slap in the face to release her and then ask her to come back. She told the Talent Relations representative, “F*ck no” when he asked if she was interested.
Oh yeah [I was contacted for the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble], I did. I was in the middle of trying to get my stuff back, right? I had a bunch of crap. You know how it is, you’re just shoving stuff in everybody’s boxes, whatever and so I’m in the middle of getting my stuff together, they sent me a box and like more than half was missing. I’m like, ‘Yeah, what’s going on?’ So, when I got the call, I thought it was about where’s my stuff? So I answered, I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s up? It was my homie in T.R. [Talent Relations]. They were like, ‘Hey, Savelina –’ my official name — ‘We’re just calling to see if you’d be interested in participating in the Royal Rumble?’ And I started hysterically laughing because I thought it was my friend joking with me. I was like, ‘Oh, you’re freaking hilarious, haha’ and then he was like, ‘Actually, no, this is an official call’ and I was like, ‘Oh!’ I was like, ‘F*ck no. I’m not coming back’ and he was like, ‘Oh, well we’d like to offer you this’ and I said — I was like, ‘First of all, I already know, I’m still under my 90-days.’ I was like, ‘You’re still gonna be paying me anyways.’ I was like, ‘So you’re not offering me anything’ and I was like, ‘No, I’m not f*cking coming back.’ I was like, ‘Absolutely f*cking not.’ I was like, ‘Is this all this was?’ And he was like, ‘Yes.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, bye.’
That’s exactly what it was [a slap in the face] and guess what? They were accumulating a list. This is what I was told: They were accumulating a list. They wanted to offer me the opportunity, accumulate a list that they send to Vince [McMahon] then Vince goes to the list and says who he wants and who he doesn’t. So I was like, ‘You’re asking me to be a part of a list to go to the next step?’ I was like, ‘F*ck no. How much more can you sh*t on me man?’ Somebody was just like, ‘We didn’t want her to feel left out. If it got around that she didn’t get asked, we didn’t want her to feel left out.’ I was like, ‘F*ck you. That’s such bullsh*t.’ You needed people and I definitely [denied] that.
Elsewhere during the conversation, Nia touched on the criticism she receives in regards to her being labeled as ‘unsafe’ in the ring.
She said she has hurt Becky Lynch and another talent that she did not mention by name. She spoke about how much those negative comments impacted her and feels that not everything she does is going to be crisp and precise when she’s on the road 300 days out of the year.
It hurts a little bit [negative comments on social media]. You can’t sit here and act like it doesn’t because they say some seriously mean stuff and that’s my work. If anybody who knows me in the locker room, I know I was so much bigger than everybody, I know that I’m a lot stronger and that like, I’ve already acknowledged that. My coach Sara Amato had always said, ‘You always have to be aware because you are so much bigger that you throwing your arm and hitting somebody in the face is not gonna be the same as, you know, somebody smaller than you.’ I was always conscious of that and I always try to take pride — I worked with Lexi [Alexa Bliss] most of my career, right? She’s so tiny and she trusted me and so like, that hurt when people just like, ‘Oh, she injures everybody, she hurts everybody’ and I’m like — and I can tell you this right now, in my career, I know I’ve injured two people. Obviously Becky [Lynch] was one of ‘em and there’s another one that like — you know, I don’t wanna call her out but, I know I did and I profusely apologized and other things. I’m like gosh, they made a whole YouTube about certain things of like — hey, guess what? We get in there 300 days a year and not all of my moves are gonna look super clean and smooth and just come out like cherries but, I’m not injuring people, I’m not purposely going out to hurt people. That’s what hurt me the most because I was like, I consciously make an effort to make sure that I can make everybody look good and keep it safe and make sure we all get out like laughing and having a good time and safe.
When Jax returned to WWE during the pandemic after undergoing double ACL surgery, she felt something was off. She brought up that there was a structural change within the company and it seemed like no one was happy.
I had left and had the surgeries, right? I had my double ACL surgery and then I was sitting at home waiting to like come back but they’re like, ‘Oh, we’re not gonna use you’ but then COVID hit. It just kind of set the tone for the whole year. I was laying in bed and I got a call from T.R. because this is when we were filming at the PC, ‘You’re needed. We’re filming your return in like two hours.’ I was like, ‘Wait what?’ And I’m sitting there like — I was texting Paul Heyman because at the time, he was running stuff. I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ Or whatever, whatever. I came back, the energy was just different. You know, obviously we’re trying to work through a pandemic, everybody is scared, nobody seemed happy. It was just a weird, tense feeling and you know, we were there at the P.C. and just like trying to make the best of it. Something in the air, it just didn’t feel the same and there was a change in the guard in the company on the corporate side and things just started shifting to where it didn’t seem like what it used to be like. We used to kind of have like a family, like camaraderie, you know, like all get together and have a good time and something shifted. That’s when I think a lot of people were starting [to go], ‘What the heck? What’s up?’ And then we had those massive cuts, like cut after cut after cut and they were like, ‘Budget cuts’ and whatnot and nothing was making sense so the whole last year, it felt like I was a dryer, like I was being tumbled in like different directions and I just couldn’t get settled. I remember I walked up into Johnny [Laurinaitis’] office after I — just after a crazy couple weeks like in wrestling and I was like, ‘You know what? I need a break. Something’s off, I don’t feel right. I need a break’ and he, you know, he gave it to me. He was like, ‘Yeah, of course. Go ahead and take the break’ and when I was in the break, I sh*t you not, I did not miss it.
Jax, real name ‘Lina Fanene’ stated that she purchased land and has her own farm and is currently building several different business on that land.
As of this writing, Nia last wrestled on the September 20th episode of Monday Night Raw when she was taken out by her former tag team partner Shayna Baszler.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit ‘The Sessions with Renee Paquette’ with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
