Nia Jax On Who Names Talent In WWE, Her Original Ring Name, Being The Andre The Giant Of Females
Nia Jax recently spoke to Chris Jericho on an episode of Talk Is Jericho where she discussed going from a fan to a WWE superstar. In the interview, she provided some interesting insight into the naming of her character.
"My first name during my first match was 'Lena.' I was still Lena then, just because we hadn't gotten a name yet," Jax told Chris Jericho. "Then I was 'Zeda' for half a second; I picked it and thought it was such a cool name, and it got approved, but once I kind of put it out on Social Media, someone from the higher ups and was, 'Who the F*** is Zeda?' They said that they were changing that name, and to go back to Lena for the time being."
Jax revealed it's Triple H who has the final say on character names and he didn't like the name Zeda.
"I submitted a bunch of names. Nia is like a Samoan girl name that a lot of women have. Jax is from Sons of Anarchy, I was super into Jax, so I threw the name Jax in there and it came about that way. I believe Hunter gets the final say on the character names. He was actually the one who didn't like the name Zeda, so he has the final say."
Nia Jax, who will possibly challenge Alexa Bliss for the WWE RAW Women's Championship at SummerSlam, talked about Vince McMahon calling her the "Andre the Giant" of the females and how she needed to be perceived as dominant.
"Obviously Vince is the 'Big Dog.' One time I walked up into his office and had some balls to do so, but I walked in and I thanked him for the opportunity he gave me so far," Jax told Jericho. "I asked him what he wanted from me in this Women's division, and he just said that I am the Andre the Giant of the females and that it is going to be difficult for these females to get you down. You're a killer, you're strong, and your size is obviously bigger than them. They need to work to get you down and you need to protect yourself in that way. That was the immediate direction of my character when I got here, but you know, the producers know the directions so they help me out."
Jax also revealed that she goes to Vince McMahon after every match for advice.
"Every time after the match I thank [Vince McMahon], and he gives me some of his critiques, he's always telling me what to work on, and to be explosive here, and to sell a little bit here."
Nia Jax's complete interview on Talk Is Jericho is available by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.