Nia Jax says WWE asked her to be in the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble match despite having been released from the company on November 4th. She also commented on what happened before Survivor Series 2018 when she concussed Becky Lynch in a segment on RAW.
WWE was doing the Smackdown vs RAW angle leading up to the Survivor Series 2018 PPV, and Lynch joined several Smackdown Superstars in an invasion segment on RAW. During a melee with the RAW roster, Lynch was concussed by a strike thrown by Nia Jax.
Jax recently appeared on Renee Paquette’s The Sessions podcast and addressed the incident.
“The producer of that match, I won’t name names, basically was like, ‘This needs to look real. Say sorry, later.’ We were all like, okay, cool,” Nia said. “Being the larger person, I feel as though people feel, ‘Oh, we can hit the shit out of her. She’ll be fine’, which is true. Like for the most part, like I get wailed and whatever. I’m okay.”
“I didn’t punch her. But it did connect. I didn’t even realize it was Becky. I honestly thought it was Lana,” Nia continued. “Then I look around and I’m like, Oh my gosh, there’s blood everywhere. Then I look and I’m like, Oh crap, Becky’s down.”
She added that Vince shrugged off the incident when she went to him. He reportedly just said, “Well, it’s not ballet.”
The incident ended up having a big impact on the build-up to WrestleMania 35. At Survivor Series, Lynch had been planned to face Ronda Rousey. With Lynch out, Ronda ended up facing Charlotte Flair on the show. It had at one point been Flair vs Ronda scheduled for the Mania main event. After Lynch returned, the main event of WM35 was changed to a triple threat.
Nia Jax Offered a Spot in the Women’s Royal Rumble
Jax also commented on being offered a spot in the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble match after having been released from the company last year. She detailed what happened when a WWE employee called and asked her about being in the match.
“I was like, ‘Fu*k no, I’m not coming back.’ and he was like, ‘Oh, well, we’d like to offer you this.’ I said, ‘First of all, I already know I’m still under my 90 days. You’re still going to be paying me anyway, so you’re not offering me anything. No, I’m not fu**ing coming back. I was like, absolutely fu**ing not.’ I was like, ‘Is this all this was?’ and he was like, ‘Yes.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, bye.’”
H/T to WrestlingNewsCO for the above transcriptions.
