Nia Jax Comments On Her Relationship With Vince McMahon
The allegations and investigations surrounding Vince McMahon seem to get worse by the week, with reportedly more to come, but that hasn't stopped his former employees from stepping up to defend him. Last week saw Charles Wright (the former Godfather) call McMahon "a great guy" while former WWE announcer Jim Ross said he "feels bad" for McMahon. Now you can add Lina Fanene, formerly known as Nia Jax, to the list of people with good things to say about the ex-CEO.
"I call myself a Vince Girl," Fanene said to Kim Orton and Giovanna Angle on a recent episode of "The Wives of Wrestling." "Whatever match he wants to put me in, whatever opponent, whatever kind of weird gimmick he wants me to do. I'm just like, 'Yeah, whatever you want.' It's my job, you know?"
According to Fanene, one of the most rewarding moments of her WWE tenure was when she entered the men's Royal Rumble match in 2019. Fanene became the first woman to compete in both the women's and men's Royal Rumble match in one night, and she was portrayed as unstoppable until she took several finishers from the likes of Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio. The opportunity was initially pitched by John Laurinaitis, but McMahon gave the idea his stamp of approval, and Fanene says she has McMahon to thank for putting her in the position to shine.
"I've always had a good relationship with Vince," she said. "We chatted, we laughed, we joked, and so I even went up to him and said, 'I'm very grateful you thought of me for this,' and he was like, 'Of course! Of course! I wanted to see you get your ass kicked.' You know, jokingly ... It's a huge opportunity, because if you don't get put in that position, then you're easily forgettable. You can go up and be on the main roster, have a couple matches here and there, but if you don't get put into some seriously cool storylines or matches, you kind of get forgotten. It was a super cool moment and I was super honored."
Earlier this year, Fanene confirmed that she was invited to participate in the women's Rumble match for 2022, but turned it down. Fanene was released from WWE on November 4, 2021.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wives Of Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.