WWE 2K20 - Mandy Rose vs. Nia Jax - FULL MATCH - Royal Girl Fights 💖
Savelina Fanene is an Australian-born American professional wrestler and model signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Nia Jax. Jax has won the Raw Women's Championship once and the Women's Tag Team Championship a record-tying two times with Shayna Baszler.
Early life
Savelina Fanene was born in on May 29, 1984 in Sydney, Australia, and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Fanene is of Samoan and German ancestry. She is a relative of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson; her father, Joseph Fanene, was a first cousin of Peter Maivia, Johnson's grandfather. She has also lived in San Diego, California and attended Carlsbad High School. She attended Palomar College in San Marcos, California, where she played college basketball. Fanene would go on to graduate from Cal State San Marcos in 2005 with a marketing degree. Prior to professional wrestling, Fanene was a plus-size model.
WWE
NXT (2014–2016)
She was signed by WWE in early 2014 and was assigned to their developmental territory NXT, based at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. She made her in-ring debut on May 7, 2015 at an NXT house show under the ring name Zada, where she and Devin Taylor were defeated by Bayley and Carmella in a tag team match. In August, her ring name was changed to Nia Jax.
After a series of introductory vignettes throughout September, Jax made her debut on October 14 episode of NXT, defeating Evie in a singles match. Following her debut, she was shown slowly turning villainous while going on a winning streak, defeating various enhancement talents and NXT Diva Carmella. In November, Jax formed an alliance with Eva Marie and started her first feud with Bayley over the NXT Women's Championship, cementing Jax's heel persona. Jax earned a title match on December 16 at NXT TakeOver: London, but she was unsuccessful in winning the title.
On the January 27, 2016 episode of NXT, Jax returned to the ring after a month of inactivity due to a storyline injury with a win over Liv Morgan. On the February 10 episode of NXT, Jax assisted Marie in an attack on Bayley and Carmella after their championship match until Asuka made the save, which led to a tag team match on the February 24 episode of NXT, where Jax and Marie scored the victory. On the May 25 episode of NXT, Jax won a triple threat match over Alexa Bliss and Carmella to become the number one contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship. On June 8, Jax lost her title match at NXT TakeOver: The End. On July 20 episode of NXT, Jax was defeated by Bayley. On December 28 episode of NXT, Jax lost to Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship in her last match in NXT.
Professional wrestling style, persona, and reception
Jax is nicknamed "The Irresistible Force". She employs a Samoan drop as a finisher, named the Annihilator.
Jax has received attention and criticism for reports of her being an "unsafe worker". In November 2018, Jax accidentally punched Becky Lynch's face during an episode of Raw, causing Lynch to suffer a broken nose, a lacerated face, and a concussion. During a match between Jax and Kairi Sane in May 2020, Sane suffered a head cut after Jax threw her onto the ringside steel steps. Wrestling promoter and manager Jim Cornette attributed incidents involving Jax to her size and suggested that she "can hurt people whether she knows it or not", while fellow professional wrestler Deonna Purrazzo stated that she had "never walked away hurt" following wrestling Jax.
Other media
Jax appears in four WWE video games, making her in-game debut in WWE 2K17 as a DLC playable character and appearing as a playable character in WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19, and WWE 2K20. In August 2017, rapper Magneto Dayo released a song dedicated to her, titled "Nia Jax". Jax joined the cast of the reality television series Total Divas beginning in its seventh season.
Personal life
On August 2, 2014, Fanene and her aunt, Ata Maivia-Johnson (mother of Dwayne Johnson), were hospitalized after being hit head-on by a drunk driver in Clermont, Florida; the driver was subsequently charged with driving under the influence.
Championships and accomplishments
Rookie of the Year (2016)
Ranked No. 8 of the top 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 100 in 2018
Sports Illustrated
Ranked No. 12 in the top 30 female wrestlers in 2018
Rolling Stone
Most Overdue Yet-to-Be Title Holder of the Year (2017)
WWE
WWE Raw Women's Championship (1 time)
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Shayna Baszler
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