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What's the story?
Nia Jax in the latest episode of podcast Talk is Jericho spoke about her cousin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's role in getting her into pro-wrestling with the WWE. She was part of the crowd at Wrestlemania 28 when the Rock and John Cena were booked for the "Once in a Lifetime" main event.
In the podcast, the 33-year-old spoke about her journey from a wrestling fan to her first steps as a wrestler for WWE. "WrestleMania 28, me and my other cousin Christian. We decided to go out to Miami, Florida to watch The Rock vs John Cena. I've been to shows before, but we were sitting in the front row during the main event and I was just thinking, holy crap, this is insane," she said.
"I had mentioned something to my aunt real quick; I asked her if she thinks that I could do something like this, I'm athletic, why not?".
Nia Jax, who now is an established wrestler in the women's roster had, at that time, already began her first steps to become a professional wrestler, "We were in the process of trying to get me into a wrestling school. Afa, the Wild Samoan, has a school in Orlando, so my aunt was trying to get me to go there, and I was doing the stuff that I needed to do," she said.
In case you didn't know...
Despite being just 33-years-old, Nia has already made a name for herself on the women's roster. S
he has been a breath of fresh air since her debut, physically imposing and strikingly different from the superstars who perform consistently on the women's roster.
The heart of the matter
"Dwayne [Johnson] had heard about the Performance Center, and he said that I should try out to see if maybe that is something that I would want to do; to get in there and see how it is. I had a three-day tryout at the Performance Center," she said.
She stood out due to her athletic background, and although she didn't know for a while if she would be given the option to continue with the WWE, she heard the good news from her cousin.
"After the three days, Canyon Cemen (WWE Senior Director of Talent Development) said that we will get back to you to see if I get signed up or not. I didn't hear anything from anybody, but Hunter had contacted Dwayne and said that we were going to give her a shot in Orlando, so that was when I was signed," she revealed.
Nia Jax's pathway into the WWE Universe highlights the importance of a potential wrestler being able to experience the business first hand. There is a reason why the term 'wrestling families' is so popular around the pro-wrestling business.
What's next?
Nia Jax lost her No. 1 contender's match for the Raw women's title against Sasha Banks this past week on RAW. We aren't really sure what her future holds in the WWE at the moment, but what we're sure about is that she's here to stay.
Author's take
Nia Jax's career in NXT and Raw has been a move away from the stereotypical women wrestling physiques. She could potentially be a revolutionary and help in transforming the image of women's wrestling for the future.
