Since WWE WrestleMania 35, Nia Jax has been recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL in both knees. Her road to recovery is estimated at nine months from WrestleMania 35. This sets an expected return by the 2020 Royal Rumble.
Nia Jax found success in different roles in WWE. She’s played a believable bully as an antagonist and also found success as a fan favorite who was bullied by Alexa Bliss. This led to her crowning moment at WrestleMania 34, where she won the RAW Women’s Championship from Bliss.
She has proven herself as a credible character on television in both NXT and on the main roster. Whether or not she returns as a fan favorite or an antagonist remains to be seen. However she returns, it will lead to some great intrigue.
Here are three different opponents for Jax to face upon her return to WWE.
Alexa Bliss
These two wrestlers bring out the best in each other. There is a role for Jax when she returns as an antagonist who believes that Bliss turned her back on an injured Jax. Jax could try and bring Bliss back to the old days when they ran roughshod over WWE. Bliss would like to look forward with her partnership with Nikki Cross.
It is a believable storyline that fans can relate to, an old friend coming back into your life and wants to go back to how things were. Jax can become incensed with Bliss’ lack of appreciation for what Jax did for her. This would be an excellent opportunity for WWE to have Jax be an effective villain who runs through talent. Outside of Sasha Banks, WWE is severely lacking credible women antagonists. This is a role that Jax to slide nicely into. A feud with Bliss that fans can easily digest.
This feud should end at WrestleMania 36 with Bliss defeating Nia Jax. The theme should be Bliss overcoming a bully that she could not previously defeat at WrestleMania. Both wrestlers should come out this feud stronger, with Jax gaining steam as a bully, and Bliss being the never say die fan favorite.
Carmella
Total Divas has been an incredible vehicle for WWE. It has added depth to certain characters that fans may not have previously seen on WWE programming. Thee tension between Carmella and Nia Jax has been one of the central themes on Total Divas. The two appear to not like each other. Jax has been shown to be aggressive in her dislike for Carmella. This could just see creative ending for reality television to build a storyline. This would be a truly revolutionary concept.
WWE tends to take these storylines from Total Divas and weave them into a WWE storyline. It is a perfect mixture that will pull viewers from Total Diva to WWE and vice versa.
As an entertainer, Carmella has shown herself to be an asset to WWE. Fans haven’t seen her in a reality based storyline yet. A feud with Jax can slowly develop through Total Divas and come to fruition on WWE programming. The feud should begin when Jax returns around the time of the Royal Rumble. Have Nia Jax come into the Royal Rumble and dominate competition by setting a record for eliminations. With Jax being alone in the ring, Carmella can be introduced and have Jax thrilled to feast on “weaker competition”. As the Rumble goes on, have Carmella catch Jax from behind with the impossible elimination. With Jax eliminated from the Rumble by Carmella, it adds dimensions to their feud.
Becky Lynch
Do we remember how “The Man” gimmick started? It was the image of Becky Lynch posing at the top of the ramp with blood on her face. That blood came from a Nia Jax elbow to the face.
This feud puts Jax in a sink or swim position the second she returns to WWE programming.
Verbally, Lynch can hold her own with anyone on the WWE roster. Jax has not shown the ability to go back and forth with someone verbally; Lynch would be the litmus test to determine where Jax is promo wise.
Jax could return on RAW and destroy local competitors, to the point where they have to be stretched out of the ring. WWE builds on the theme that Jax is unsafe and dangerous in the ring. The feud can begin when Lynch comes out determined to stand up to Jax on behalf of the rest of women’s wrestling.
Jax can promote herself as someone who hurt Becky once, and would love the opportunity to hurt Lynch again. In order for this feud to reach its potential Jax has to be portrayed as a remorseless monster similar to when Vader debuted for WWE. Lynch has shown her ability to get the most out of her opponents.
A feud with Jax will add more to the fan favorite Lynch character who stands up for what is wrong in women’s wrestling. It will also cement Jax as a major player in the women’s division.