Nia Jax says that negative comments by fans sent her “into a sad place.”
Jax appeared on After the Bell with Corey Graves this week and spoke about receiving criticism online and how it impacted her when she was released from WWE in 2021.
“I, obviously, can’t deny that I get a lot of hatred online,” Jax said. “In the beginning, I was like, ‘Oh, this will be good, this will be good for the character’ but at the end of the day when you’re by yourself and you’re on your phone and you’re looking at the constant hate, hate, hate, then you’re just second-guessing yourself.”
“It really messed me up,” she continued. “It got me into such a sad place that when I got released, I’m like, ‘Yeah, of course, why not? I suck, everybody hates me.’ Like there’s no need for me to be here anymore.”
“I don’t think anybody who is a happy person goes online and s**ts on other people. I had to put it in perspective like, ‘Okay, this is a character.’ And in WWE, Nia Jax is blended with Lina because it’s not like they run credits like Nia Jax: Lina Fanene.”
“Okay, somebody must be going through something to actually sit there online, pick somebody apart for no reason. It’s just like a bully in school. They are unhappy, that’s why they’re picking on you.”
Jax also addressed her surprise appearance in the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble match. She said that she really wanted to take part in the match as it likely was her cousin Tamina’s last Rumble.
“My cousin Tamina, she was just like, ‘I don’t know sis, this might be my last Rumble.’ I’m like, ‘Oh no, it’s your last Rumble? I would love to be part of it.’ Cause they had asked me the previous year, just newly released they asked me to return for the Rumble and I said, with a very explicitive no. So, this year I was like, ‘Oh, if they ask me and it’s going to be Tamina’s last Rumble then, I really want to be a part of it.'”
Jax also addressed her return to WWE last month. She says Sara Amato told her to text Paul Levesque and he offered up a quick reply.
“I was talking to Sara Amato because she was my coach back at NXT and she was like, ‘You look great, you look incredible. Man, I really think you’re made for wrestling, I feel like you should try it again.’ I’m like really? I would love to but I’m not sure, and she’s like, ‘Just text Hunter, just text him.'”
“I texted Hunter and I was just like, ‘Hey, I was wondering if possibly you had a spot for me to come back.’ And then I want to say like two minutes later he was like, ‘Yeah, let’s get on the phone and chat soon.'”
A match for the WWE Women’s Championship is set for next week.
IYO SKY will defend the title against Charlotte Flair following events that went down on Friday’s show. After defeating Zelina Vega, Bayley and the rest of Damage CTRL continued to target Vega until Flair made the save.
Later, Flair was seen in new SmackDown General Manager Aldis’ office. Also in the office was Jade Cargill, and the two exchanged words with one another.
Flair last competed for the title at WWE Fastlane, where she lost to SKY in a three-way match thanks to interference from Bayley.
Also set for next week is a match between Montez Ford and the LWO’s Santos Escobar. Carlito was being interviewed after making his return at Fastlane last Saturday when he was attacked by Lashley and the Street Profits. The LWO attempted to make the save, but Carlito had already been laid out.
Here is what is currently set for next week’s SmackDown:
WWE Women’s Championship: IYO SKY defends against Charlotte Flair
Though Dominik Mysterio was banned from ringside, that didn’t stop there from being interference in the main event of last night’s Raw.
Nia Jax made her surprise return to WWE by getting involved in Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s World Championship. Rodriguez gave Ripley a Tejana Bomb on the apron and then rolled Ripley back into the ring. As the referee was checking on Ripley, Jax ambushed Rodriguez and laid her out with a Samoan Drop on the floor.
Ripley then hit Riptide on Rodriguez in the ring to retain the Women’s World Championship.
But Jax wasn’t there to help Ripley. She headbutted Ripley after the match, hit a leg drop, and then crashed onto Ripley with a Banzai Drop.
Jax was released by WWE in November 2021. This January, she returned as an entrant in the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble match. WWE Shop released a new T-shirt for Jax following that appearance, but she wasn’t on WWE television again until last night.
Ripley hit Riptide on Jax prior to Jax’s elimination in the women’s Royal Rumble. Jax now looks to have her sights set on taking the Women’s World Championship from Ripley.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including more on Brett Sawyer and young guys getting over in wrestling, Santana and Ortiz, AEW and NXT previews, Matt Riddle, ratings, homophobic slurs at UFC this weekend, your RAW report, the return of Nia Jax and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: More on Brett Sawyer
4:24: NXT and AEW Dynamite lineups
13:20: Santana and Ortiz want to go solo, Jim Duggan update, Matt Riddle airport situation
17:20: Ratings
20:34: Homophobic slurs at UFC 293 and Dana White’s reaction
25:36: Tuesday is the start of TKO, Vince McMahon is back, TV negotiation updates
Jax appeared at the end of Monday’s Raw, jumping Raquel Rodriguez during the main event between Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship. Ripley used the opportunity to pin Rodriguez. After the match, Jax attacked Ripley as well, ending the show by giving Ripley the banzai drop in the corner.
Since being released from WWE in 2021, Jax has largely stayed away from pro wrestling. She made an appearance earlier this year in the Women’s Royal Rumble match, where she entered at number 30 and was eliminated by a group of women.
Jax first signed with the company in 2014 and made it to the main roster by 2016. During her first run in the WWE, Jax held the Raw Women’s Championship once and the Women’s Tag Team titles twice with Shayna Baszler. Her last appearance prior to being released in November 2021 was the Baszler/Jax team splitting up, with Baszler stomping on Jax’s arm while it was wedged in the steel steps.
Nia Jax is staying ready for a potential return to WWE.
The former Raw Women’s Champion told Bill Apter recently that she is not sure when she could end up back in the company but has kept up her in-ring training.
“I am training. I’ll train over at D-Von Dudley’s ring,” Jax said. “He’s great and then I go over to Nattie and TJ’s [Natalya & TJ Wilson], so they run me through some drills and stuff like that and I have matches.”
According to a report from PWInsider earlier this week, there have been “rumblings” in WWE recently about Jax potentially returning to the company.
“I’ll get in the ring every now and then with some of my friends like Charlotte [Flair] and her husband, Manny [Andrade],” she continued.
Jax hasn’t wrestled since she was the 30th entrant in the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble match. She was released from WWE on November 4, 2021, after having been with the company since 2014.
When asked about a possible return to WWE, Jax responded, “I don’t have the answer.”
“Right now, I’m enjoying being at home with my family. I have a new nephew and I’ve kind of started being obsessed with Pilates,” she continued.
Earlier in the discussion, Jax also revealed she recently purchased a farm in Florida.
“I bought a farm. It’s in Florida, it’s about 40 acres. Right now, we’re just kind of clearing it and sectioning it off for animals. We have hemp, we grow hemp on there, we have chickens, we have ducks.”
“I like open land, I like being out away from everything. I love it and eventually I want to rescue a bunch of dogs.”
WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley will defend her title against Natalya as Raw emanates from Baltimore, Maryland’s CFG Bank Arena tonight.
This will be a rematch from May’s Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia when Ripley defended the then-SmackDown Women’s title against Natalya in just 70 seconds. The two have been working against each other on house shows since then.
Natalya’s last appearance on Raw came on June 5 as she lost a Money in the Bank qualifying match to Zoey Stark. Ripley, meanwhile, accompanied Dominik Mysterio to the ring at Saturday’s pay-per-view in London but wasn’t in action. Her last Raw match was a quick victory over Dana Brooke in early May.
Tonight’s Raw is expected to feature more fallout from Saturday’s Money in the Bank after Damian Priest and IYO SKY won the men’s and women’s briefcases in London, respectively.
Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– An “In memory of” graphic aired for Droz to begin the show.
– A video package recapping Money In The Bank aired.
The Seth “Freakin” Rollins segment
Seth welcomed everyone into “Monday Night Rollins.” The crowd continued to sing his theme sound consistently throughout the first few minutes. Rollins brought up Jey Uso pinning Roman Reigns and the crowd cheered. Rollins reminded everyone that he also beat Finn Balor at MITB. Rollins said SummerSlam is five weeks away and he was interrupted by Cody Rhodes’s music. Cody made his entrance in his wrestling gear. The two stood in the ring as the crowd chanted. Cody started to say, “So …” but Brock Lesnar’s music hit and Cody ran up the ramp to brawl with Lesnar. The two brawled into the ring and Cody landed a Cody Cutter on Lesnar. Lesnar retreated to end the segment.
A fun way to start Raw. The callback to Seth and Cody was especially intriguing considering how Cody ostensibly said in the post MITB press conference that he could give a hoot about Seth’s title and the only way he’ll finish his story is if he gets Roman’s Universal title(s). We all suspected Brock and Cody would kick off their march to SummerSlam tonight and it was an interesting choice for WWE to get that out of the way first because there was little else actually announced for this show prior to the start of it.
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– Back from commercial break, Seth Rollins was back in the ring with a microphone in hand. The crowd was again singing his theme song. As Rollins was talking, he was interrupted by Judgement Day’s theme music. Rhea Ripley told Seth that everyone was there to see the Judgement Day take over. Ripley was joined by Damien Priest and Dom Mysterio. Seth asked where Finn Balor was and Ripley said Finn was fine and where he was, was none of Seth’s concern. Priest chimed in and said Seth needs to concern himself with Priest’s MITB briefcase.
Priest teased cashing in at SummerSlam, Survivor Series, the Royal Rumble or tonight. Seth said for Priest to cash in, the champ needs to be down and out and as it turned out, Seth didn’t have a match on the card, so Seth said he was ready to go party in Baltimore. Ripley said she’s already defending her title tonight, so she suggested Seth defend his title against Dom, who again got wild heat from the live crowd. The crowd chanted “You suck!” at Dom. Ripley made the challenge to Seth on behalf of Dom. Seth said this seemed like a trap, but he wanted nothing more than to “slap the mustache off” Dom’s face. Ultimately, after the crowd cheered him on, Seth accepted Dom’s challenge for the night’s main event.
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Damien Priest defeated Shinsuke Nakamura [11:00]
The only thing this match suffered from was the predictable outcome. Priest wasn’t going to win the MITB briefcase only to lose to Nakamura two days later (by the way, WWE sent out an email a few minutes before Raw went live saying that Priest was going to face Ricochet, but …?). If you can get past that, the match itself was pretty good. Nakamura showed good fire and continues to work hard despite never really coming up on the winning side of things in WWE. Priest looks good as the MITB holder, all LA Knight disappointments be damned. It’ll be interesting to see how long he holds onto it before WWE pulls the trigger on what’s next. It kind of feels like he’s either going to try to cash in soon, or we could be in for an awfully long story as Priest’s run as MITB briefcase holder plays out.
Priest had control early and worked Nakamura’s arm. Nakamura fired up and blasted Priest with some shots to his midsection. Nakamura choked Priest with his boot until Priest cut him off with a leaping elbow for a one-count. Priest kept control with a series of stomps. Priest jumped at Nakamura, but Nakamura caught him and landed a knee to Priest’s midsection. The action spilled outside, where Nakamura was dropped on his back across the top of the guardrail. The show went to a picture-in-picture.
Back from break, Nakamura landed a series of strikes on Priest. Nakamura slammed Priest and rolled to the outside, where he blew a kiss at Ripley. Back inside the ring, Nakamura took Priest down for a two-count. Nakamura came off the second rope and ran into an uppercut from Priest. Nakamura rolled Priest up out of nowhere for a two-count and then went for an arm-bar, but Priest blocked it. Priest hit a spinning front kick for a two-count. Priest lifted Nakamura, but Nakamura wiggled out of it and rolled Priest up for a two-count. Nakamura kicked Priest and got a two-count out of it. Nakamura landed a knee from the second rope and fired up, but Priest caught Nakamura with a short-arm clothesline. Priest then hit South of Heaven for the win.
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– The commentary team spoke over highlights of Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler breaking up at MITB. Rousey’s music hit in the arena and Rousey walked to the ring with purpose. The crowd didn’t react particularly enticed. Before Rousey could speak, Baszler’s music hit and Baszler said everyone’s tired of hearing Rousey try to talk on a microphone. Rousey asked for an explanation. Baszler said she doesn’t owe Rousey anything – and if anything, she owes fans for bringing Rousey into the wrestling business.
Baszler talked about how Rousey didn’t help Baszler try out or build rings. Baszler said she paid her dues and Rousey didn’t. Baszler said Rousey waltzed her way into WrestleMania. Baszler said Rousey ruined pro wrestling for her. Baszler said she’s going to finally shut Rousey up. Rousey kicked Baszler and clotheslined Baszler on the outside. Rousey looked to choke Baszler out, but Baszler countered and worked an ankle lock. Rousey got to the ropes and worked her way out of it, only to be the recipient of a running knee.
I liked this. Who knows what crowd noise is real on WWE broadcasts, but on TV, the crowd here seemed excited that Baszler essentially said all the things the Internet Wrestling Community has been saying about Rousey for a little while now. Baszler is a lot better than what WWE has been giving her and it looks like she might have found a way into the upper end of the card if she can keep the fire up.
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Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green won a tag team turmoil match to become No. 1 contenders for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship [11:54]
I can’t say I’m a fan of tag team turmoil matches that have absolutely no build and features wrestlers some fans might not even realize had already been called to the main roster, but I digress. Chance and Carter have some fairly visually appealing offense, but when you’re given two minutes out of a 12-minute, five-team match, that visually appealing offense will forever appear marginalized. Deville and Green running the gamut makes sense if you’re trying to heat up a program on short notice, but here’s hoping they don’t just feed Deville and Green as the Challengers Du Jour for the next couple weeks before Morgan and Rodriguez move onto another set of challengers that will feel meaningless to no fault of whomever they turn out to be. The booking is the booking.
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez sat at ringside throughout the match. Indi Hartwell started the match and took out Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green. Candice LeRae tagged in and kept control in her team’s favor until she went for a moonsault, but Green moved. It wasn’t long before Deville knee’d LeRae to get the cover on LeRae and eliminate LeRae and Hartwell.
Nikki Cross and Emma were the next team in the match, but Cross was too infatuated with LeRae and Emma was on her own for a little bit. And by “a little bit,” I mean, “Cross left Emma to fend for herself as Cross appeared to cry because LeRae shunned her.” As such, Deville covered Emma to eliminate that team.
Next in the match was Dana Brooke and Tegan Nox. Green tried to take a timeout on the outside, but Brooke and Nox hit a slide to take Deville and Green out. The show went to a picture-in-picture from there. By the time the show returned, Nox and Brooke were eliminated. From there, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance was the final team to enter the match. Green and Deville double-suplexed Chance for a two-count. Green toyed with Chance until Carter got a blind tag and took control. Chance tagged in and landed a Frankensteiner from the top rope on Green, who sold the hell out of it. Chance and Carter went for the After Party, but Deville broke it up. Green landed the Un-Pretty-Her for the win.
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– A Bronson Reed vignette aired. Reed talked about fear and respect. Reed said he’s inescapable.
The Becky Lynch/Trish Stratus segment
Lynch said The Man has come around to Baltimore and the crowd seemed happy about that. Lynch brought up Trish Stratus. Lynch said she wanted to end the feud “right here and right now,” and called Stratus out. Stratus’s music hit and Stratus made her way to the ring with both Zoey Stark and a face/nose guard. Stratus said Lynch broke her face. Stratus said she’s still prettier than everyone in the building. Stratus said she isn’t medically cleared because Lynch broke her face. Lynch countered by saying she’d be happy to fight Stark. Stratus said nobody is better than Stratus because Stratus is the greatest of all time.
Lynch responded by saying Stratus couldn’t beat her on her own. Lynch referenced Stark interfering in their match before. Lynch said everyone knows Stratus won’t be sticking around and Stratus was only there to promote her “crappy talent show.” Lynch wondered aloud what will happen with Stark when Stratus leaves. Stratus said she’s there because she’s the face of the women’s division. Stratus said she built the women’s division. Stratus said Lynch hated when people would come up to Stratus backstage and thank Stratus. Stark walked to the ring after Stratus said Stark will break Lynch’s face. Stratus stopped Stark and called Baltimore “Balti-less,” before saying next week, Stark will battle Lynch.
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– Jackie Redmond welcomed Cody Rhodes in for an interview near the ramp to the ring in front of the crowd. Cody made his second entrance of the night, this time with a suit on and can you believe it – the crowd did the “Whoa!” again. Cody noted how it was Jackie’s first night on Raw. Cody said he’s not done with Brock yet. Cody said Brock broke Cody’s arm and there’s no way the two can continue to coexist on Raw. Cody said he’d fight Brock any night and every night. Cody’s music hit and that was the end of the segment.
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Alpha Academy (Maxxine Dupri, Chade Gable & Otis) defeated The Viking Raiders (Ivar & Erik & Valhalla) [7:57]
Gable looked great here. Especially for what could be argued as a throwaway TV match in the second hour of a Monday Night Raw, Gable might have even looked better than great. The story, though, was Dupri wrestling her first match and ultimately getting the win. Alpha Academy is a lot of fun. There’s no doubt about that. It’s just getting increasingly hard to invest in the idea that they should be a comedy act. Chad Gable is a hell of a wrestler and Otis has proven himself inside the squared circle, too. The Viking Raiders, for that matter, continue to spin their wheels, too. Both factions need a freshening up sooner than later. Until then, some variation of this match will presumably continue to show up on television.
Gable and Erik began the match and had control with a series of forearms. Otis tagged in and cleaned house by slamming Ivar and splashing into Erik. Otis did the worm and hit an elbow drop. Alpha Academy posed as the show went to picture-in-picture.
Out of the break, the Raiders had control and we were working over Otis until Otis landed a double clothesline and got the hot tag to Gable. Gable worked over Ivar, complete with a Blockbuster. Gable hit Erik with an Exploder. Ivar cut Gable off and the two fought on the second rope, where Gable hit a bulldog on Ivar. Gable took Erik to the outside and then landed a diving headbutt on Ivar from the top rope. Ivar came back quickly with a roundhouse kick to slow Gable down. From there, Dupri got the super hot tag and Dupri landed a series of arm-drags on Valhalla. Dupri did the worm and was cut off by Valhalla, but Gable hit a pretty moonsault onto all the men on the outside. Inside the ring, Dupri rolled up Valhalla for the win.
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– A video of the Ricochet/Logan Paul spot from MITB aired. After the match, it turns out, the two brawled backstage as well. Redmond welcomed Ricochet into the interview area. Ricochet said Paul can hang and Ricochet respects that. Ricochet challenged Paul to come face to face with him next week on Raw.
Rhea Ripley defeated Natalya to retain the WWE Women’s Championship [13:08]
This was the match of the night to this point. Nobody bought into Natalya winning, but damn it if they didn’t try to change that perception. It’s been a while since Natalya had this much time and showed this much passion in a match. Ripley, for her part, did the job quite well, selling for Natalya and doing all she could to create at least some false hope for those watching. Good stuff from both women. I wonder if this means Raquel or Liv will be next up for Ripley as she continues to find opponents.
Natalya attacked Ripley as Ripley made her entrance. After the bell rang, Natalya went for the Sharpshooter and Ripley rolled to the outside. Natalya followed Ripley and ran into a punch. Ripley repeatedly slammed Natalya’s head onto the commentary table and rolled Natalya back into the ring. Natalya hit a German Suplex and got control back until Ripley landed a strike to the back of Natalya. Natalya tried to fire up but Ripley cut her off with a headbutt.
Ripley slapped Natalya and drove Natalya into the mat repeatedly. Ripley kicked Natalya in the midsection and then to the chest. Natalya tried to fire up again, but Ripley quickly put an end to that. The two battled on the top rope until Natalya landed a headbutt of her own. Natalya followed up with a cross-body block from the top and the two stayed down to regroup. Ripley quickly gained control and dropkicked Natalya’s face before the show cut to another picture-in-picture.
When the show returned, Natalya had control and went for a Sharpshooter, but Ripley countered with a kick to reset things again. Natalya hit a Discus Lariat for a two-count. Ripley kicked Natalya and went to the top to hit a missile dropkick for a two-count. Ripley landed a kick to the head and worked the Prison Lock until Natalya rolled through to get out of it.
Natalya went for a Sharpshooter, but Ripley ran Natalya into the turnbuckle. Ripley went to the top and did the Eddie Guerrero pose before jumping off and Natalya catching her for a counter. Natalya hit a running power-slam and finally sunk in a Sharpshooter. Ripley made it to the ropes for a break. With Ripley on the outside, Natalya went for something, but Ripley countered it with a kick and a headbutt. Ripley then hit the Riptide for the win.
After the match, Ripley attacked Natalya, but Liv and Raquel ran in for the save.
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Ciampa cut a promo backstage saying he finally saw a look in the Miz’s eye that he liked last week. Ciampa said the Miz got his ruthless aggression back. Ciampa said the next time he sees the Miz, he wants the Miz to bring the same type of energy. The Mix then spoke from backstage, too. Miz said he doesn’t care what cards Ciampa has. Miz said the last person who called him a coward is gone (Hi, Bryan Danielson!). Miz said next week, he’ll have a no DQ match with Ciampa. Miz closed by saying he’s the Miz, and of course, he’s awesome.
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– Rhea Ripley was shown walking backstage and IYO SKY showed up. Ripley told SKY to try her because it’d be the biggest mistake of her life. The rest of Judgement Day showed up and Ripley complained about Raquel and Liv. Ripley said Liv and Raquel will regret getting involved.
Matt Riddle defeated Giovanni Vinci [1:37]
This was more an angle than a match. My guess is we get Riddle/McIntyre vs. Vinci/Kaiser before anything else. But there’s plenty of time until we hit SummerSlam, so let the predictions run wild (brother). Vinci looked inspired, so good for him. Riddle, meanwhile, got a cheap win, and man, doesn’t it feel like it was at least 45 years ago when he was as hot as he was when he was with Randy Orton? The guy might be in no-man’s land at this point.
Vinci jumpstarted the match and slammed Riddle. Vinci landed a cross-body and worked on the ankle that Gunther softened up at MITB. Vinci landed a rolling senton into a moonsault off the second rope for a two-count. Vinci went for an ankle lock, but Riddle rolled through and pinned Vinci.
Imperium attacked Riddle after the match until Drew McIntyre’s music hit and Drew made the save by taking out Kaiser and Vinci. McIntyre stared down Gunther and invited Gunther into the ring before landed a Claymore on Vinci. McIntyre went back to engage in a stare down with Gunther.
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– McIntyre was interviewed backstage and McIntyre said he’s back. Wouldn’t you know it – Riddle said the two should pair up to face Imperium next week, so someone here had that. Also next week, Ciampa vs. The Miz in a no DQ match and Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark. Ricochet and Logan Paul will also come face to face. The show will be in Buffalo, N.Y.
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Seth Rollins defeated Dominik Mysterio via DQ [9:46]
I was all for Priest cashing in. That would have been a fun wrinkle. But apparently, we’re going to get weeks (if not months) of Finn Balor and Damien Priest bitching at each other about who should be champion, when they should have won the championship and why they are unhappy that they are currently not the champion. The match was OK for what we got. Dominik really has grown as a wrestler and that goes unnoticed because of both the star power of Ripley and the pest-heel-ness of Dom. But really. Take a look at that guy two years ago and look at him now. Two different people. The confidence is through the roof. Seth, meanwhile, continues to excel at this weird, off-beat character who loves to listen to people sing his theme music. There were good moments here, but nothing particularly memorable.
The two locked up to begin the match with Seth getting the best of it, working a head-lock. Dominik countered to work a head-lock of his own. Rollins worked out of it and took Dom down with a shoulder-block. Dom was thrown outside and Rollins went to run the ropes, but Ripley got in the way. Rollins kept the upper-hand, though, as he back-dropped Dominik over the top and followed it up with a running knee. The crowd, at this point, was still chanting Rollins’s theme song. The show went to the final picture-in-picture break.
When the show returned, Rollins was in the middle of Three Amigos on Dom. Rollins went to the top and while Ripley distracted, Priest pushed Rollins off the rope. Dom stomped Rollins multiple times and went to the top to hit a frog-splash. Dom went back up for another frog-splash, but Rollins got the knees up to counter. The crowd was still chanting Rollins’ theme and Rollins clotheslined Dom over the top, eventually hitting a tope suicida onto Dom on the outside.
Back inside the ring, Seth set up a stomp, but Priest came into the ring to chokeslam Rollins for the DQ. After the bell rang, Priest beat the hell out of Rollins on the outside of the ring, including a face-first slam onto the commentary desk. The commentary team teased Priest cashing in. Priest set Rollins up for a Razor’s Edge, but Rollins worked out of it. Dom then hit Rollins int he back with the MITB briefcase. Dom tried to convince Priest to cash in. When it looked like Priest was going to cash in, Finn Balor ran down and attacked Rollins, which stopped Priest. Balor and Priest jawed at each other while Dom tried to make peace. Meanwhile, Rollins left ringside and pedigree’d Dom on his way out. Balor and Priest yelled at each other to close the show.
Nia Jax says she would love to come back and contribute to the WWE women’s division.
The former Raw Women’s Champion was a guest on Busted Open Radio on Wednesday. She was asked by Tommy Dreamer if her appearance in the 2023 Royal Rumble was a one-off and what her thoughts are on a potential in-ring return.
Nia said:
I had just agreed to do the Rumble and just the ‘unsureity’ of myself right now, I wasn’t in the best shape and I wasn’t expecting to come back full-time because it takes a lot to come back full-time.
I wasn’t expecting to come back full-time at the Rumble. I did catch the bug again when I got in the ring, I was like, ‘Oh this feeling, this adrenaline that comes through.’ I was breathing super hard before I went out.
I did catch the bug after being in the Rumble where I was like, ‘Oh, maybe coming back would be a cool thing if the people do remember me.’ The only thing I’d want to do is come back and help anybody out I could. I’d love to add to the division. It would be something that I’d love to do.
Nia was released from WWE in November 2021. She had been with the company since 2014 and on the main roster since 2016. During her time with WWE, Nia was a one-time Raw Women’s Champion and twice held the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships along with Shayna Baszler. She also appeared as a cast member in the seventh season of Total Divas.
Nia was advertised for a show with the Wrestling Entertainment Series in the summer of 2022. However, she would later accuse the promotion of falsely advertising her for the show.
It’s a special post-Royal Rumble edition of We’re Live, Pal! as Andrew Zarian and I recapped the entire show.
We went over the following:
The tremendous continuation of the Bloodline storyline after the main event
Who WWE should go with at WrestleMania between Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn
Cody Rhodes’ Royal Rumble victory which was very straightforward
Rhea Ripley’s impressive Royal Rumble win
The horrendous Pitch Black match that was all about partnerships
Bianca Belair being taken a step down by being involved in hocus pocus
You can watch the show above, or you can listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts in addition to the link below.
Nia Jax and Chelsea Green returned to WWE at Saturday’s Royal Rumble event.
Jax and Green were both surprise entrants in the women’s Royal Rumble match at the show. Jax was released by WWE in October 2021, while Green was released from the company in April 2021.
WWE has not officially announced that either has signed, but the company has produced new merchandise for Jax, and Green has been expected to be WWE-bound for some time, with reports first surfacing in October that she was expected to return to the company.
The Irresistible Force is back! Check out this NEW Nia Jax T-Shirt at #WWEShop today! #WWE
Jax entered the women’s Rumble as the 30th entrant, while Green entered 20th. Green was eliminated from the contest by eventual winner Rhea Ripley, while a group of competitors teamed up to eliminate Jax.
Other surprise entrants in the women’s Rumble included Natalya and Asuka returning from hiatus. Asuka last wrestled on the December 12, 2022 Raw, while Natalya had been out of action after undergoing nasal surgery in November 2022.
Piper Niven also returned to action in the women’s Rumble, dropping the “Doudrop” gimmick and returning to her NXT ring name. She had been out of the ring since September following a health scare. Niven entered 18th, and was eliminated 25th by Raquel Rodriguez.
Beth Phoenix made an appearance on the show in an angle during the men’s Rumble match, attacking Ripley with a spear after The Judgment Day conspired to eliminate the returning Edge from the contest. Edge returned to the ring in the men’s Rumble, his first bout since dropping an I Quit match to Finn Balor at Extreme Rules in October 2022.
Logan Paul also returned to the company in the men’s Rumble, his first match since Crown Jewel in November 2022. Paul entered the Rumble at number 29, and was the next-to-last elimination, thrown out by eventual winner Cody Rhodes.
Booker T was the only unexpected entrant in the men’s Rumble match, appearing in his first WWE bout in more than a decade. Booker was the 14th entrant in the men’s Rumble, and was eliminated by Gunther.
Lina Fanene (the former Nia Jax) has called out Wrestling Entertainment Series for continuing to advertise her for their debut show.
Fanene announced on June 23 that she would no longer be appearing at WES’ debut event, but she has continued to be featured on advertising material for the show. Fanene reiterated on Sunday that she won’t be part of the event.
“I do not know why I am still on this poster, but I will REPEAT myself again…I will NOT be at the show,” Fanene wrote. “Please do not buy a ticket thinking you will see me perform or get a chance to meet me. I hate that this misleads people!”
WES’ first show is scheduled to take place at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England this Saturday (July 9). It was originally set for June 4 before being postponed.
Fanene hasn’t wrestled since being released by WWE in November 2021. She was initially supposed to face CJ Perry (formerly known as Lana) for the WES Women’s World Championship at WES’ debut show. That was changed due to Fanene vs. an opponent to be determined after Lana pulled off the event.
Commentator Matthew Rehwoldt tweeted over the weekend that he’s been “completely ghosted” by WES.
WES is being launched by Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa, who were formerly known as The Authors of Pain in WWE. The promotion’s debut is scheduled to air live on Fite TV this Saturday.
Wrestling Entertainment Series has announced the lineup for its debut event.
The show was originally scheduled for June 4 but was later rescheduled to Saturday, July 9.
Several wrestlers advertised for the original date do not appear on the lineup for the rescheduled show. Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) was once scheduled to face Alistair Overeem but has now been replaced by Moose. Westin Blake & Steve Maclin are no longer advertised for the tag team title match against the Legion of Pain. Killer Kross, Deonna Purrazzo, Chelsea Green, Madison Rayne, Tenille Dashwood, Mike Bennett, Biff Busick (Oney Lorcan), and Dirty Dango (Fandango) are no longer scheduled to perform as well.
Damo (Killian Dain), Steph de Lander (Persia Pirotta), and Eric Young have been added to the show.
The debut event for WES will take place on July 9 from the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. It will air live on FITE TV. The full lineup for the show is as follows:
Alistair Overeem vs. Moose for the World Championship
Lina Fanene (Nia Jax) vs. CJ Perry (Lana) for the Women’s World Championship
The Legion of Pain (AOP) vs. BT Gunn & Kez Evans for the World Tag Team Championships
Steph de Lander (Persia Pirotta) & Anastasia vs. She Wolves for the Women’s Tag Team Championships
Samuray del Sol (Kalisto) vs. Lince Dorado
Dean Muhtadi (Mojo Rawley) vs. Damo Mackle (Killian Dain)
Pre-Show: Eric Young vs. Zac Zodiac
Pre-Show: Levis Valenzuela Jr. (No Way Jose) vs. Jody Fliesh
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including fallout from the Royal Rumble and RAW, plans that changed, WrestleMania ideas, Shane McMahon, Nia Jax telling WWE to ram it up their HOLE, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
During an interview on The Sessions with Renee Paquette, Lina Fanene (formerly known as Nia Jax in WWE) revealed that she turned down an offer to appear in this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match.
Fanene was released by WWE during a round of roster cuts last November. On The Sessions, Fanene said she received a call from someone in talent relations when WWE was putting together a list of possible women’s Royal Rumble participants. Fanene thought the call was a joke at first. When she was told that it was serious, Fanene’s response was that she would absolutely not be in the Rumble.
Oh, yeah, I did [receive a call to be in the Royal Rumble]. I was in the middle of trying to get my stuff back. I had a bunch of crap. You know how it is, like you’re just shoving stuff in everybody’s boxes, whatever. So, I’m in the middle of getting my stuff back. They sent me a box and, like, more than half was missing. I’m like, ‘Yo, what’s going on?’
When I got the call, I thought it was about like, ‘Where’s my stuff?’ So I answered, I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ My homie in TR [talent relations], they were like, ‘Hey… 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.’
Then he was like, ‘Actually, no, this is an official call.’ And I was like, ‘Oh… f*ck no, I’m not coming back.’ And he was like, ‘Oh, 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.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m not f*cking coming back, absolutely f*cking not.’ I was like, ‘Is this all this was?’ And he was like, ‘Yes.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, bye.’
Paquette asked Fanene if it felt like a slap in the face to be released and then get a call when WWE needs bodies for the Royal Rumble.
That’s exactly what it was. 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, then Vince goes through the list and says who he wants and who he doesn’t. I was like, ‘So, you’re asking me to be 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, dude?’ 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 [nixed] that.
Fanene said that, in the year before she was released, there was a change in the guard on the corporate side of WWE and things didn’t feel how they used to feel. Fanene said she felt like she was in a dryer being tumbled in different directions and couldn’t get settled.
It was reported that not being vaccinated for COVID-19 was one of the reasons for Fanene’s release. Fanene confirmed on The Sessions that she decided not to get the vaccine. Fanene said she sat down with Vince McMahon at one point and was told that not getting the vaccine meant that she couldn’t fulfill some of her contractual duties.
Fanene said in November that it’s highly unlikely that she’ll ever return to the ring. When asked about her future on The Sessions, Fanene didn’t completely rule out wrestling again.
I never want to say never, because I do love the feeling I get in the ring. I do enjoy — like, I loved wrestling. I didn’t like the sh*t, the politics, all the other BS. But also like, you know, I’m not getting any younger. And I already talked to you about it, like, I’m trying to find my man so I can start popping out babies.
Less than a month after she was released by WWE, Nia Jax said on Twitter Monday that it’s “highly unlikely” she will ever wrestle again.
In a tweet following questions about changing her Twitter handle to her real name, Jax made the remark along with a joke about a new nickname she might take on if she ever does decide to step through the ropes again.
Lol! Newflash..Lina is my real name. It’s not another “ring” name. It’s just MY NAME, the name given to me at birth. Calm TF down trolls. In all fairness, “Opponent Crippler” would be a SOLID front runner if I ever decide to wrestle again. but it’s highly unlikely
The “Opponent Crippler” joke is a reference to her reputation as being rough in the ring and injuring opponents.
The 37-year-old was part of a large round of cuts that saw 18 wrestlers released on the same day WWE released their quarterly financial report. Rumors surfaced afterward that several releases were due to those wrestlers being unvaccinated, but in a statement, she said that never came up with her.
She said she had asked for a “short leave of absence” for a mental health break and when she was due to return on November 15th, she asked for an extension. She never got a response with her next communication with the company being her release.
A relative of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as her father was a first cousin of Johnson’s grandfather Peter Maivia, Jax (Savelina Fanene) had been in the WWE system since 2014, starting in NXT. She was called up to the main roster for Raw in 2016 as part of that year’s draft.
In her WWE run, she held the Raw Women’s title once for a short run in 2018 and the Tag Team titles twice with Shayna Baszler.
