What do professional wrestlers do when the spotlight is too small, even in the WWE?
Ever since the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs event, rumors have been swirling that Nia Jax either walked out on the WWE, was granted a leave of absence, or some hybrid of both. The recent Sports Illustrated story about Jax’s departure made sense at the time but ultimately turned out to be inaccurate. It’s easy to see why this report was accepted when we consider that it occurred in the wake of Neville’s walk out and departure from the company.
According to the story about Jax, she was booked to lose clean to Sasha Banks at TLC but received advice from her infamous cousin (The Rock) to walk away if she was unhappy with the idea. It is now being reported by WON that the initial reports about Jax were incorrect and that she simply “got a few weeks off because she wasn’t figured into a main program” and we should see her back on Raw in the near future. Since Jax appeared on Raw last night, it’s safe to say she wasn’t upset with the company (and may have been nursing a back injury).
In the age of social media, it can be tempting for people who find themselves upset with their employer to grab their mobile device and vent to the faceless masses. They don’t need permission and they often don’t take time to cool down when emotions run high. A few clicks and swipes is all it takes to make their unfiltered feelings immediately known to the world.
For a company that has been around as long as the WWE and contained innumerable colorful characters with strong personalities, these walk-outs come with the territory. Every superstar is fighting for their time in front of the camera and there simply isn’t enough room in the squared circle for all of them. This means invariably, a wrestler will feel slighted or mismanaged and decide to take their talents elsewhere. Thankfully for fans, we are not restricted to watching just one wrestling program and we will be able to follow their talents no matter where that may lead.
While there are plenty of famous superstars like CM Punk, The Rock, Hulk Hogan who walked out on the company when they didn’t agree with the booking, there are numerous contemporary examples as well. Former WWE stars Adam Rose, Cameron, and Cody Rhodes all used social media to let their fans know exactly how they felt about the WWE and it’s part of the reason why they won’t be back any time soon.
Rose had a few experiences with Twitter remorse to go along with his substance abuse violations that ultimately led to his release. Cameron’s firing had more to do with her self-imposed hiatus and demotion to NXT than anything else but it was the social media rants that sealed her fate. Once it was made public, she posted a lengthy blog that started out reasonable but ended in a rambling mess. Cody Rhodes is the most recent example who also criticized the WWE via social media, including Triple H:
"“One of the last discussions we had included him [Triple H] telling me that ‘WWE is a play, and everybody has their role and needs to act it their best’. All I can think of to say to that is, ‘the best actors don’t want the lesser roles’. “"
Many fans agreed with these men and women and supported their departures but I don’t support the “lesser role” mentality. In this instance, I agree with Triple H because professional wrestling does have many stories to tell and requires all manner of actors for it to work. The spotlight can’t shine on any one person all the time and they have to be ok with that. For Nia Jax, her recent social media activity talking about Survivor Series suggested she and WWE have discussed the issue and are ready to move forward together (which they indeed have, if there was an issue to begin with).
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If a wrestler wants to seek employment elsewhere for better opportunities then I’m all for it, but they should be careful before dropping a lit match on the bridge. Superstars who feel they are being relegated to the bottom of the pecking order in the WWE may find comfort in the words of early 20th century Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski who said, “there are no small parts, only small actors.”