"I'm so sorry" - Details on Vince McMahon accepting former WWE Superstar's apology before changing their match finish
Nia Jax recently recalled how she apologized to Vince McMahon after injuring Becky Lynch during SmackDown’s invasion of RAW in 2018.
Lynch was originally supposed to face Ronda Rousey at the pay-per-view before Jax broke her nose and gave her a concussion. The former WWE Superstar received a lot of backlash on social media after the incident, earning her the nickname The Facebreaker.
Speaking on Renee Paquette’s The Sessions podcast, Jax said she had heartfelt conversations with McMahon and Lynch after the show:
“I go to Vince and I was like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ He’s like laughing, ‘Well, it’s not ballet.’ So then I walk away and I was leaving alone, then I’m texting Becky, making sure she’s okay, just bugging the s*** out of her. Of course, Becky’s like, ‘Oh, I’m fine, you know.’”
ICYMI. #SurvivorSeries
@RondaRousey @BeckyLynchWWE @NiaJaxWWE https://t.co/W2CsYEUwhi
Jax was unsure whether WWE wanted her to move on from the incident or if she should use it as part of her own storyline. A member of the company’s social media team then advised her to “run with it” due to the amount of hate she received on Twitter.
Vince McMahon booked Nia Jax as the sole survivor at Survivor Series
#IrresistibleForce. #Facebreaker. #SoleSurvivor.
@NiaJaxWWE #SurvivorSeries https://t.co/GFZYmDgA7j
Team RAW (Bayley, Mickie James, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, and Tamina) defeated Team SmackDown (Asuka, Carmella, Mandy Rose, Naomi, and Sonya Deville) at Survivor Series 2018. Jax emerged as the sole survivor after she pinned Asuka at the end of an 18-minute match.
Vince McMahon did not originally plan to book Jax as the overall winner on Team RAW. However, according to the former RAW Women’s Champion, he decided to change the finish following her incident with Becky Lynch:
“He was like, ‘Actually, we’re gonna have Nia go over,’ because he wanted the heat. When my music hit, the crowd was booing the s*** out of me. It was insane. Vince was like, ‘All those babyfaces should be thanking you. You’ve got a true legitimate heel here. You go out there and you point at that fist and you smile.’”
Jax received her release from WWE on November 4, 2021. She recently rejected an offer to return as a possible entrant in the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble match.
Please credit The Sessions and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.