The WWE might have a Nia Jax problem.
Last week on Smackdown during a three-way bout that involved Nia, Tiffany Stratton, and Jade Cargill, there was a spot where Nia shoved Cargill into the steps on the outside of the ring. From the footage, both that was broadcasted on television and from the crowd, it looked like Nia propelled Jade with too much force, sending her face first into the edge of the steps. The television broadcast showed a trail of blood on the mats on the floor as Cargill did the next spot of a Samoan drop on the steps before she fired up to pose in front on the camera. Unfortunately, that revealed an absolutely grotesque cut on her eye brow and the camera switched to a wide shot immediately. Jade did a spot in the ring before she was sent to the outside. The confusion caused a botched finish before Tiffany pinned Jax, but given the circumstances, I don’t think a mistimed finish should be a concern.
I was almost hesitant to write this column, as it would seem like an attack on the person behind the persona, but that’s absolutely not the case. By all accounts, the real-life Savelina Fanene is very polite and a very nice lady. Chelsea Greene has come to Fanene’s defense on social media in the midst of the current criticism of her. It’s easy to see why the WWE offered her a contract when she inked a developmental deal in 2014, she’s a pretty lady that was a former model, she had an athletic background from playing sports in college, and it didn’t hurt that she was a part of the Samoan dynasty.
That being said, she signed with the WWE without any prior wrestling experience and the argument could be made that she’s been behind the curve as opposed to ahead of it in terms of her progress as a performer almost her entire career. One of the criticisms that I had of her early tenure is that she was presented as a monster, but didn’t work or sell like a monster so there seemed to be a disconnect with her character in NXT.
Over the course of the next decade, she garnered a reputation as unsafe and someone that injured opponents more than anything else. That’s not to say that anything was done intentionally or with malice, but rather to point out that she was clumsy and uncoordinated with most of her in-ring work.
Infamously, she potatoed Becky Lynch in the face in 2018, breaking her nose during a memorable segment on WWE television. Thankfully, Becky was able to turn a negative into a positive, as the visual of her posing with a bloody face ready to fight in the crowd is what organically propelled her to a level of stardom as “The Man” persona in the women’s division where she is still one of the top stars today. The year before that she awkwardly threw Bayley into the ropes, causing her to spike into the canvas. Bayley suffered a shoulder injury and was taken off of the Summer Slam card a few weeks later. The Jade incident isn’t the first time that Nia has injured someone by throwing them unsafely into the steel steps, as Kairi Sane suffered a similar injury with a nasty cut on her head after a match with Nia in 2020 on Smackdown. In 2021, there was the physical confrontation with Charlotte Flair when the two started throwing legitimate punches at each other because of some type of mishap in the match.
Truth to told, when Jade Cargill started to work an angle with Nia Jaz recently, I just assumed that the matches would be subpar, as Jade still lacks experience and improvement, and Nia isn’t known as the next Lou Thez as far as in-ring ability. I also wasn’t expecting the three-way bout from last week to be anything off the charts because Tiffany is still relatively inexperienced on the main roster, and there wasn’t a ring general to direct the segment.
Despite Nia’s reputation, I was shocked to see the severity of the cut, especially after a very graphic photo was posted online to show how deep and wide the cut was on her eye brow. While I understand that accidents happen in professional wrestling and that it’s a physical form of entertainment, at this point, there are too many injuries or close calls of injuries for anyone to not connect the dots that Nia Jax is not a safe or competent professional wrestler.
Don’t get me wrong, her title win at Wrestlemania 34 was a genuinely nice moment, but what’s the first thing that comes to mind when Nia Jax is mentioned? Her clumsy and uncoordinated approach is noted before even her association with the Samoan family.
Nia Jax proved to be expendable when she was released from the company in late-2021 before she made a cameo at the Royal Rumble in 2023 and eventually made her return toward the end of the year. Ironically, not long after that The Rock was announced as a member TKO board so it pays to be related to the right people in the business. After Nia was back in the fold of the WWE product, and with The Rock taking a bigger role in the company in 2024, she won the Queen of the Ring tournament and eventually won the Women’s championship at Summer Slam last year. Again, it pays to be related to the right people, but then again, nepotism in professional wrestling isn’t anything new, George Gulas and Greg Gagne got a push back in the day, too.
Not surprisingly, with Dwayne Johnson MIA from the WWE product for most of the year, including the underwhelming segment where he sent Travis Scott in his place at Wrestlemania, Nia Jax’s status within the organization has been rather minimal throughout most of 2025. After she lost the Women’s championship when Tiffany cashed in the Money in the Bank contract, she was more or less used to push her during the series of rematches when she did the job in those bouts.
Regardless of the previous track record for injuring opponents, this latest incident that literally split the eyebrow of Jade Cargill seems different. Granted, as long as there are main event family members in the company, her job is safe, but what exactly should the office do with Nia as a performer? Jade Cargill is a project, and some of the same can be said about Tiffany, even though Stratton seems to be further along despite being younger. Cargill appears to have plateaued in some ways, but the point is, with her look, presentation, and level of popularity, the WWE machine can push her to make the most of the skills that she brings to the table. She looks like a super hero, she just isn’t the most polished in-ring performer. At 33, Jade’s prime years should theoretically still be a head of her. The same can be said for the 26-year-old Stratton, she could be a star for the company for the next 15 years.
Why risk any further injury by putting them in the ring with the 41-year-old Nia Jax, who is undoubtedly at the latter stages of her in-ring career? For example, Jade looks like one of the X-Men and could play Storm in any feature film in the future, but she’s going to have a noticeable scar on her eyebrow for the rest of her career because of Nia’s carelessness. At this point, while she will continue to have a job because of her family ties, I sincerely don’t know what the office could do with her next other than potentially keeping her off of television to allow the controversy to fade from the conversation.
I can’t underscore this enough, Savelina Fanene seems like a very nice lady in real-life, but the WWE is about major business and the ability to maximize opportunities. The bottom line is, putting potential future stars in the ring with Nia Jax risks, not showcases their value to the organization.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
