Nia Jax (@LinaFanene) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in London, England to discuss her WWE return and why it has been much more successful this time around, punching Becky Lynch and the backlash that followed, responding to online critics, taking an RKO from Randy Orton in the Royal Rumble, yelling “My Hole” during a match on Raw, taking a stinkface from Rhea Ripley at a WWE live event, crushing Lyra Valkyria, getting hit by a drunk driver before her wrestling career started, being cousins with The Rock and more!

Chelsea Green said you were a locker room leader, nothing but love for you!

“I love that. That’s awesome. She’s great. I honestly feel the same about her. But it is funny, since I come back, I have kind of taken on the role of a little bit of the locker room leader. I’ve been here longer than most of the girls in the locker room, I’m older, and I’ve seen it all, so I feel as though you kind of have to have a little bit of a tradition in the locker room, and I think it kind of gets lost in this new age. Some of the new people, they didn’t come up when I came up. My coach was Bill DeMott when I got hired for the WWE, and he was very old school, very traditional in the ways, you know, shake hands, introduce yourself to everybody. You guys set up the ring, you break down the ring, you watch every match. We never had the opportunity to not go to a show, even if we weren’t working. I had to learn how to ring announce, how to time keep. I had to learn everything from the ground up, and it’s different now in NXT. So it’s not really their fault. They just don’t know better. So I feel like, since I do know better, it’s my job to help.”

Do you look at your career in 2 parts of when you got released and when you came back?

“Yeah. I mean, it’s hard not to.”

It could have picked up where it left off. But I don’t feel like it did

“No, because I had that break. I feel like I changed in a better way. I got better and I elevated my game a little bit more. Not that I didn’t think I had the opportunity in my first part, but I think because it was a different schedule, and I wasn’t really locked in as I could have been when I had the break, and I was able to see what I could improve on. I was able to change it coming back.”

It feels like maybe it’s a different style and a different approach compared to your first run. How do you contrast the two?

“I feel as though before, I was taught a certain way, ‘You’re a certain size. You can’t do these things. Stay away from this. Don’t let them do this to you.’ So I was kind of like pigeon-holed into a little bit of a [situation where] I was afraid to get out of it, because the person telling me is somebody who runs the show, you work for an audience of one. So this time around, Hunter was more like, ‘Be you. You show them what you can do, because I know what you’re capable of.’ So I feel like the difference is just me kind of like being myself a little bit more. I’m more adding who I am into my character, instead of I gotta stay here and make sure that somebody’s happy.”

I don’t think that people appreciate how athletic you are.

“It was something where it was like, Oh no, you shouldn’t do that. Somebody said you shouldn’t [do that]. [Because of] Your size, stay in this kind of in this lane, because this person does this, and this person does that, and you are special here. So I’d always get sh*t on like, ‘Oh, you’re boring.’ I’m like, actually, no, I can do things, just you stay in the lane that you’re told to stay in. Now, I mean, I’ve played sports my entire life. I’ve never not played sports. I played basketball, soccer, baseball, anything I could. I’m a pickleball player now.”

How often do you play pickleball? 

“Well, since we’ve been on the road, not as often. But when I was off, when I was trying to lose weight, I got bored with certain cardio and I would just play pickleball all day with my church group. We’d go at like 7 am to noon and it was so much fun.” 

You look amazing:

“Thank you. It’s funny because right now, I just told one of the girls, and they were like, No way, because they hadn’t seen me at my biggest. My fitness journey started three years ago. At this point, I’ve lost 100 pounds since I started. Not a lot of people saw me when I was that big, because I wasn’t really working here, and I tried to stay off the internet. But yeah, this is actually the weight I started in NXT at when I got hired. So it’s kind of like people haven’t seen that because I never really had the opportunity to lock it in, and I’ve been locked in. My nephew was like, ‘I’m 100 pounds.’ I’m like, ‘I know, I just lost you!’”

You’re the only female WWE wrestler I know where they announced your weight. What was the idea behind that?

“I know everybody went nuts and they’re like, ‘How dare you announce your weight?’ I was like, whatever. So I think the idea was just to be like, I know she’s big, but this is how big she is. I’ve always been a heavier girl. If I showed you a picture of me at my thinnest, you wouldn’t even believe I was like 225 pounds at my thinnest. So when I was that way, I was heavier than Roman. I was heavier than all The Shield guys. So I think the thought was it’s impressive that you’re this weight and move the way you do. I think they announced me at 270 and that’s a lot of weight. To be able to move and do what I’ve done at 270 is difficult. So I think it wasn’t like, oh, let’s embarrass her and shame her. It was more of like, no, we’re trying to show you that’s impressive. Yokozuna, he was a big man, but that guy moved. If you go back and watch his stuff, he can move, and Vince was like, that’s the impressive part about it. I think that’s where the idea came from.”

When did they stop announcing your weight?

“I couldn’t even remember because it wasn’t something [bad], I didn’t have an issue with it. It wasn’t like, I’m so upset. I was like, yeah. They asked me before.”

How did you find out that you were going to be in the Men’s Royal Rumble?

“So we had rehearsals that day, the Women’s Rumble, because it was me, Becky and Charlotte at the end of that one. So the doors were opening, and we were in Arizona, I believe. I was walking back, and Johnny Ace was like, ‘Hey kid, you got to rehearse more.’ I said, ‘Oh, what are we doing?’ He was like, ‘You’re in the Men’s Rumble.’ I said, ‘What?! Doors are open Johnny. When am I going to rehearse?’ [He said] ‘Oh, we’re just gonna rehearse this part with Truth, and then you go do the Women’s Rumble, and then we’ll talk about the guys after.’ I thought he was kidding. But then when we rehearsed it with Truth, me beating up Truth and everything, entering at number 30, I was like, this is happening. So then I had to focus on the Women’s Rumble, because I had stuff to do with Lana in that match, and then Becky and Charlotte, and then run back. I had to go into a room with a bunch of the guys, and they’re going over stuff, and they’re like, ‘Hey guys, Nia’s in the Rumble. So run through with what you’re gonna do with her.’ I was like, I don’t get to go into a ring?”

Did you know who you had spots with? 

“Yeah, it was Andrade. It was Ali, Randy, Rey and Dolph. So they were in at the time, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, now you’re gonna come in, you’re gonna drop Truth, and then when you slide in, you’re gonna start cleaning house and then you’re going to eliminate Ali, and then there’s going to be a spot with Andrade and Dolph and Rey, and then you’re RKO’d.’ And I was like, ‘I’m going to get what?’ They’re like, yeah, you’re going to take an RKO. Before that, it was like, ‘Yeah, you’re going to go to tackle Randy, and then this happens.’ I was like, Okay. So I was just sitting there going but what if I f*ck up the RKO? That’s one of the most iconic moves in WWE history. Everybody already hated me. So then I look at Randy, and Randy’s super cool. But you know, Randy has a reputation of being like, you know. I was like, Oh, f*ck. I’m like, Randy. He’s like, Yeah? I’m like, ‘I’m nervous. I don’t want to fuck up your RKO.’ And he was like, ‘Don’t worry about it kid. Just when you turn left, I’ll take you. You just turn to the left, and the rest I’ll handle.’ I was like, okay. So out of that whole match, that was the most nervous. I was like, f*ck. I just can’t f*ck up the RKO. We get into it. I beat up Truth, poor Truth, and beat the sh*t out of Truth. Go in there and run the spots. Go to tackle Randy. He takes a bump for me, and I was like, f*ck, did I just hit him too hard? In my mind, I’m thinking sh*t, did I just hit Randy too hard? Meanwhile, I hear Kim cussing me out. She’s yelling at me. I’m like, oh sh*t. And then whatever we run through, do the RKO, I take the 619, the RKO. I’m like, Holy sh*t, this is not happening. Then they dump me, then they drop kick me off the apron. When you’re in the moment, you don’t realize that. When I was done, I was like, that was a massive moment for me that those guys didn’t have to. They could have said no, that they just did for me.”

Did you feel like this might lead to more intergender stuff?

“So at the time, we did have something. I think I went to a storyline with Dean Ambrose right after, where I hit him, or I bumped him the ground or whatever. I think there was supposed to be something that went to into a storyline there, but it just kind of fell off. There was a promotion that we were promoted to have a match at a live event. I think in that state, it couldn’t be inter gender matches. So then they had to scrap it. Then after that, I think they just kind of let that story fade away.”

When you got released from WWE in 2021 you didn’t work anywhere else. You have never worked a match outside of a WWE ring. When you got released, was there the thought of, I’m gonna do the Indies or I’m gonna go elsewhere?

“Not really. I didn’t think that I wanted to wrestle anywhere else, but I did know that I wanted to still wrestle. I didn’t even know if I was gonna come back to the WWE honestly, it was just kind of, like I said, it was my whole life at the time. So when I was released, it was kind of a shock. Or it was like, What is my life? It’s kind of like I had to reset. I’m like, What is my life right now? Because my whole life has been WWE and I really didn’t think about an after, which, you know, a lot of wrestlers get caught up in that. Because it happens to be like that. When we’re on the road five days a week, you don’t really think about the after. So I didn’t think about wrestling anywhere else. I, you know, everybody kept saying, try here and go there.”

Do you think about how much longer you want to wrestle?

“No, because as many times as I’m like, Well, maybe after this, or I’ve won this title and I’ve done this, I’m like, Oh, I can still do this. Then I see all this new talent, I’m like, Hey, I would love to work with this new talent and do stuff with them and help them out. So I haven’t really said, Oh, this is when I’m going to be done. I hope it just happens naturally, where it’s like, Okay, I think, I think it’s my time, where I’ve kind of given enough back to the business that’s given a lot to me. So we’ll see.”

I had Rhea on the show, and we were talking about the stink face, and she said it was all your idea. So how did this idea come about?

“Well, I mean, it was my idea to stink face. It wasn’t my idea for her to get them freaking cheeks out. So obviously, that’s what I do. I do the stink face, and as a heel, I like to rub it in, literally. I just thought we were on the live event. I thought one night, let’s change this up. Why not? Because it was a cool Triple Threat moment, me her and Shayna, and I was like, ‘Why don’t you give me a stink face?’ She’s like, really? She was like, ‘You mean like Rikishi style?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, do the full Rikishi. Get it, get it!’ And then we did it. And obviously, like, the crowd went nuts, and then it was a viral moment, and yeah, and then we had a good time. We actually switched it a couple nights because everybody was expecting it and I was trying to be a dick about it. Then I did it to Shayna, where Shayna was like, ‘Let me have it.’ She closed her eyes, and then I freaking took out Rhea, and then she didn’t realize it was me. It was funny. It was a good time.”

You’re no stranger to viral moments, so when you said, ‘My hole…’

“So it was a table match with Lana. And I don’t know if you remember, but during that time, I kept putting her through the table, nine times. I put her through the table nine times. Then we thought we’re gonna have her redemption moment at Survivor Series, but it didn’t happen. So then we ended up having this table match, and when we were rehearsing it, it was suggested that I do a leg drop on the apron. I was like, Oh my gosh, that will bust my tailbone. Then I was like, ‘What about my hole?’ Just as a joke. I remember saying it to Hunter and being like, you know, my hole, before the show, and he was like, ‘Yeah, that’d be funny.’ Because it was COVID, there was nobody in the audience, so you could clearly hear everything people were saying in there. And me, personally, it was like, I’m gonna say it just to pop everybody in the back, Vince and all them, as a joke, and Hunter, because he knew. We were joking about it before. So yeah, I did it, and it was like, ‘My hole!’ Then I literally was just like, This is gonna be hilarious for us, right? And then it was trending everywhere. By the time I got to the back, I was like, What the f? I thought I was in trouble. I was like, ‘I’m like, sorry.’ And they’re like, oh my gosh, this is great. They actually had a shirt made. There was gonna be ‘My hole’ shirt. The first time I ever got real merch. I don’t know what happened, literally, it was about to be printed out and sold, because it was trending for a few days.” 

Could you imagine if that shirt got released?

“It would have been a big, big deal. It would have been a huge hole.” 

When you did this bullying storyline with Alexa Bliss, it was so perfectly done, because how else are we gonna get you over as a babyface

“I mean, it’s something; everybody’s been bullied or hurt at one point in their life, and there’s something you can pull from, I feel like, in those moments. Lexi, I just remember her being like, ‘I don’t really want to say this. This is really mean. I don’t really want to do this.’ She had a hard time because she’s a great human being. I was like, ‘Dude, we got to sell this story. We want this. We want to pitch this like this is supposed to be a major storyline.’ We want this. So, yeah, I have been bullied, my biggest bullies in my life are my brothers. So I really have thick skin, nobody can really hurt my feelings. But there have been times where it’s like, yeah, I’ve been made fun of for the way I look and how big I am and whatnot. So it wasn’t that hard to pull from, but I’m really proud of that storyline, because we both gave it our all, and she’s such a great little actress.”

Did you know you were going to be able to cry on camera?

“No, I didn’t. So we had an acting coach, and it was something to where it was like, in NXT they wanted us to have some acting experience before we get out to the main roster. Now, it’s different. I think people on their own go and have acting coaches for their promos and stuff. But he just said, Hey, like, if you’re an emotional thing, like, try to pull from something that really hurts in your life. So I have something in my head that will literally make me cry on cue. So I used it.”

How do you handle it when the criticism is maybe not just at the Nia Jax character, maybe they’re taking personal shots at you?

“I don’t know these people, they don’t know me. They think they know me. And you know what good I’m glad. I’m glad they can somewhat relate to a Nia Jax character and take a shot at me. I find that to be something like unfortunate for them if they have any kind of anger in their heart to come to attack people. So it never really bothers me. It’s usually like a personal problem for them.”

The moment with Becky Lynch, when she became The Man. Did you realize in that moment how big this affected both of your careers?

“No. I do realize in the moment when I hit her, I felt on my knuckle a little [contact], and I was like, f*ck. Because when it happened, this will be funny. Go back to the beginning, where we came in and they were like, ‘Hey, we got to sell this match, go in there, give it your all. Say sorry later.’ A producer said that to us. I was like, All right, we’re in there. And naturally, I feel like I’m an easy target because I’m the biggest girl. So I kept getting punched, hit from all angles, and I’m like, mother trucker. I’m in the corner with Naomi, and we’re fighting, and somebody comes and just clinks me in the back of my head, and I just turn around. I’m like, ‘Get the f off me.’ Didn’t realize it was Becky. I thought it was Lana. I turned and connected, and I felt it, and I was just like, oh sh*t! I didn’t realize how bad it was until I looked down and I just saw her bleeding all over the mat. Then she rolled out, and Dana was looking at her, taking care of her. Then we get done, and we go to the back, and I’m sitting there going, like, Oh my gosh, I’m in so much trouble. This is it. I think they’re done with me. I was getting my papers. Then Becky was in the trainer’s room, and I couldn’t go in there, they were checking her out, and I was just trying to make sure she was okay. Then I had to go talk to Vince and the producers, and they were all quiet, but talking to each other and not saying anything to me. Then in gorilla they had it on the screen, he was talking to Kevin, ‘Let me see the footage.’ They were replaying it from every angle. And I was like, oh, man, it was a tough time. Then Vince was like,’It’s not ballet, sh*t’s gonna happen.’ I was like, okay, because I’ve been cussed out by Vince before for other things, so I thought oh for sure I’m gonna get cussed out for this. He was like, ‘It’s not ballet. Sh*t happens, is she okay?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ He said ‘Go check on her.’ He’s like, go check on her. Then from there, it just exploded all over the internet. Then I think when I tweeted out, it was a joke, and I asked Becky about it if I could, it was like I had a cut on my hand from the punch. And it was from the movie The Campaign, ‘Is anybody asking me how my fist is doing?’ I thought it was funny just like every heel is justified. But it was definitely that people were way too sensitive to it. That’s when I went nuclear heat. I’ll never forget the next week was Survivor Series, and I wasn’t supposed to win that match, whatever it was supposed to be. I think it was Sasha was supposed to win that match. I was still trending about the punch, and everybody was telling Vince the internet is still going nuts about Nia punching Becky in the face. Then right before the doors open, he was like, ‘Finish change, Nia over.’ He said, ‘Yeah, when you go out there, you show your fist and you smile.’ I was like, All right.”

Was it a similar moment when you threw Jade into the steps? 

“That was weird, because I know I’m strong. But yeah, I didn’t realize that even happened. I didn’t realize she hit her head that hard on the steps. So when I saw it, because I didn’t actually get to see the full extent of it until later, I was very shocked that she split open that badly. But it was definitely different. It was a different moment, for sure. But yeah, that was pretty scary.”

You had this moment with Lyra, and you crushed her!

“Well, she’s a tough cookie. I’ll tell you that Lyra is a tough cookie. But, yeah, that was something that somebody had pitched for the match, let’s try this, something different. We rehearsed it, but we didn’t go full in rehearsal, right? I’m like, ‘Hey, this is a one-time shot, you don’t want to keep taking this if you don’t have to.’ So then we did it in the match, and I just remember landing, all 270 pounds of me were into Lyra’s rib cage. So she took it like a champ. I give her all the credit, because she’s tough.” 

On the infamous Charlotte Flair match:

“My match with Charlotte, where we kind of got into a little tiff, a little back and forth there. It was a miscommunication. I will say I’m going to call it a miscommunication. Things got heated, like legit got heated in that match. I did warn her a few times to stop, to chill out, and she didn’t, so then I two-pieced her. We came back and we were calm and we were level-headed, we all kind of were just like, ‘All right, got kind of out of hand.’ But sometimes it happens. But yeah, it just got a little out of hand. It got hot and we just started swinging.”

Are you guys good now?

“Oh, yeah. We’re good. But it was definitely, everybody was like, ‘What just happened?’ Even the crowd, because when it happened in the moment, I couldn’t hear anything because I was angry. I was legit pissed. So I didn’t hear anything. But then when I felt the dead silence of the crowd, I think the crowd was kind of like, ‘Is this really happening?’ I could hear Corey Graves. Commentary is the only thing I could hear because that crowd was dead silent, because I think they were kind of in shock, like, ‘What just happened?’ So, yeah, it was definitely a moment. So that was a match where I’m like oh. But then we were able to redeem ourselves after that.”

Your career almost ended before it started, because you were involved in this incredibly scary car accident. 2014, hit by a drunk driver. Yeah. What do you remember from that?

“So that night, we went to my uncle Afa’s wrestling school. He had an end of the year party and award ceremony. I went with my auntie, because she always goes and enjoys it, because wrestling is her passion. She loves wrestling. I remember asking to go to that off of live events from Coach Bill DeMott, and after the ceremony, we were all going to a restaurant to have dinner, and we were just driving, and it wasn’t really that late at night. It was kind of like evening time, and we were pulling up to a stoplight, and literally, it just felt like an explosion happened. We weren’t expecting anything. It just felt like a bomb went off. I just remember at the moment, like my ears were ringing. I couldn’t breathe, and I just kept trying to say something to my aunt, but I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know at the time, I guess my collarbone just snapped in half, and it was like cutting in, but I couldn’t breathe or say anything, and I’m looking at her, and she was pinned behind the wheel. But yeah, it was a crazy moment. We didn’t realize at the time that a cop was chasing a drunk driver. They pulled her over, I think, and then she took off, and then she just, without the brakes, had no brakes, she just hit us full speed, dead on. Thankfully, the car protected us. I feel like the airbags came out and all that stuff. Then I got out of the car and the ambulance came, it was real quick. The cops were there already, because the cop was, you know, chasing the drunk driver. And so the ambulance came quick, soon after, they had to get the jaws of life to get my aunt out.”

What is Nia Jax grateful for?

“My relationship with God, my family, and my outside WWE family.”

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