Nia Jax challenges Alexa Bliss for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 34 in a match based on the break-up of their friendship. The Samoan powerhouse and the pint-sized Goddess will clash after it emerged Bliss had been using Jax and secretly mocking her weight. Standing 6ft tall and weighing 272lb, Nia has been subjected to cruel taunts from Alexa – insults which she has also battled away from the ring. The number one contender, real name Savelina Fanene, from Sydney, Australia, has previously revealed her experiences of body shaming. And while the storyline is controversial, it gives the real life best friends the chance to address an issue affecting many people around the world. Jax, 33, spoke to Mirror Sport about the plot, her title opportunity and what happens if you mess with a member of the Anoaʻi family tree.
You have the rare opportunity of a singles match at WrestleMania and not just any singles match, but a singles match for the Raw Women’s Championship. How do you feel about this?
I’m over the moon. I mean, I can’t even think of the last time women have had a singles match for the title on the WrestleMania card. [WWE Women’s Champion Melina defeated Ashley at WrestleMania 23 in 2007.] Obviously you think back to Trish and Mickie [Mickie James defeated Trish Stratus to capture the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 22 in 2006]. But I’m just sitting here thinking ‘this is crazy, we have two women’s matches for the title on the WrestleMania card’. I’m just blown away. Plus we have a mixed match on the card as well, so it’s pretty amazing.
This is the first WrestleMania with multiple singles women’s matches since WrestleMania 22.
There you go, you knew it!
And one of those was a Playboy Pillow Fight!
A Playboy Pillow Fight, ha ha.
It shows the company’s shift in thinking, thanks to the ‘Women’s Evolution’.
Yeah, it’s amazing. I’m honoured and beyond blessed to be a part of it.
The storyline for this match with Alexa Bliss has been framed around her insulting and bodyshaming you. How do you feel about being involved in this kind of plot and do you think it’s important WWE tackle real life issues like this?
I think it’s amazing. I think it’s something that people know but they don’t want to talk about it, they always want to keep it hidden. I feel like we’re tackling it head-on and it should be [tackled]. Young women and young girls, and boys, should actually be hearing this and seeing the conflict that we go through and seeing somebody stand up for themselves and not have to allow somebody to bully them, because of the way they look, what their shape is, or the colour of their skin is. You should always stand up for yourself. So I think it’s amazing. I’m very honoured to be a part of it.
Have you ever encountered bullying of this nature before?
Oh yeah. You know, growing up… it’s crazy how real this storyline is to my real life. And especially with Alexa being such a close, best friend of mine for so long, she has seen it. She [her character] has hurt me [my character], because I’ve confided in a lot of these stories that have happened to me. It surprises me that it has become such a big storyline in WWE, because it relates to me completely.
Growing up I was made fun of for always being bigger. I specifically remember, at one of my junior high basketball games, a man, a grown man was making fun of me and my size, as I was playing basketball. They didn’t realise that my Samoan father [Joseph Fanene, first cousin to Peter Maivia, grandfather of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson of the Anoaʻi family] was in the audience. And he, he err… beat the crap out of them, but that’s a whole ‘nother story! But yeah, that’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life, people making fun of me and my size. Everything from having a huge forehead, to the size of my feet, and not being able to wear the same size shoes as my friends, definitely.
Obviously that has become one of your greatest strengths – there is nobody quite with your physical attributes in WWE’s women’s division. I wish you all the best of luck at WrestleMania.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
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