Lina Fanene, formerly known as WWE Superstar Nia Jax, seems more relieved than anything else regarding her release last year.
Jax, along with many other superstars, lost her job on November 4, and budget cuts were cited as the reason for the move. During her time with the company, Jax won the WWE RAW Women’s Championship, and she held the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship twice.
During an appearance on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette to discuss all things WWE. When asked about how she feels now following her release, Jax revealed that she feels good and happy and has started to feel like herself again after getting out of what she described as a “slightly abusive relationship.”
“It’s scary to say it, but I feel really good, like happy,” Nia Jax said. “It’s almost like Stockholm syndrome, right, like I was in this crazy almost like a slightly abusive relationship with a company, but also good. There’s good parts to it, but now it’s done, and I kinda get to be myself again, which I haven’t been in a long time, and so I feel good, but it’s also just this scary part where you’re like okay, so who is Lena now that she’s not Nia Jax?”
When speaking on the last few months of her WWE run, Jax said when the company shifted on the corporate side of things, the backstage atmosphere no longer felt like a family camaraderie. She admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic might have played a part in this change, but she eventually knew she needed to take a break, regardless. During her time away, Jax also made it clear that she didn’t “miss it.”
“We were trying to work through a pandemic; everybody like is scared, nobody seemed happy,” Nia Jax said. “It was just a weird, tense feeling. And we were there at the PC and just like trying to make the best of it. Something in the air 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 have a family-like camaraderie, like all get-together and have a good time, and something shifted.
“That’s when I think a lot of people were just like, 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 like the whole last year, it was just, I felt like I was in a constant, like a dryer, like I was being tumbled in different directions, and I just couldn’t get settled. I remember I walked into Johnny’s office after a crazy couple of weeks in wrestling, and I was like, ‘I need a break. Something’s off; I don’t feel right. I need a break,’ and he gave it to me; he was like, ‘yeah, of course, go ahead and take a break.’ And when I was on a break, I sh*t you not, I did not miss it. ”
In regards to her WWE release, Jax revealed it was her brother being there for her that gave her the sense of calm to get through it.
“I’ll never forget before I got the call. A year before that, I was kinda like gosh, it doesn’t feel the same to me anymore, like I’m not as super excited about it,” Nia Jax said. “I would get butterflies before travel, just like excitement. And then [my brother] was like, ‘maybe it’s time for you to start worrying about yourself, maybe it’s time for you to like think about Lina.’ It was just a weird concept because you’re just a cog in the wheel, and you’re just going, and you’re like no, but you have to be so loyal to this company. And then finally when the call came, which caught me by surprise, he was like this is good, he was my calm.”
When it comes to the call itself, Jax revealed she offered to take a pay cut to remain with the company but was told that the company wanted a different change instead. She noted that John Laurinaitis, WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, initially told her she was being let go due to budget cuts. But when she offered to take a pay cut, he told her that they just wanted a “total different change.” In response, the former RAW Women’s Champion stated that she felt relieved.
“He was like, ‘hey kid, I hate to do this,’ and instantly when he said that, I said, ‘oh, am I getting released?’ And he said, ‘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 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, that’s it. We’re just gonna put you on your 90 days.’ And I hung up the phone, and I was relieved.”
READ MORE: Nia Jax Undecided If She’ll Ever Wrestle Again
What do you make of Nia Jax’s comments? Are you surprised that she offered to take a pay cut to stay with the company? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Oral Sessions with a link back to this article for the transcription.
