Nia Jax's inexperience showed in high-profile WWE match, veteran says
WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax is in an ongoing program on SmackDown with Naomi. The two women squared off for the title recently, in a match that saw Jax retain the belt. At Survivor Series last Saturday, they again battled inside the WarGames structure.
The Women's WarGames match was well-received, barring a few sloppy moments. The bout opened the show and went on for 38 minutes and 15 seconds. Wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell discussed the Anoa'i family's women struggling to work in the ring during the bout, which also featured many spots with weapons. In one such moment, The Irresistible Force hit The Glow with a chair shot to the head. But the execution left a lot to be desired.
On Story Time with Dutch Mantell, Mantell pointed to Nia Jax's inexperience in long matches, as she is used to quicker ones. He also understood why Naomi put her arms up to protect her head. The veteran reminded that WWE does not get everything right every time, although the WarGames Match did expose The Irresistible Force to a certain extent in a high-profile bout.
"That's very very long for somebody like Nia Jax. She's never had a 30-minute match in her life. Even though the last six or seven minutes, she was not involved [in the match]. But still that's 30 minutes. It's a long time for Nia Jax, and she's never done that before. And that was a bad place to showcase it, on a PLE and it backfired on them," Dutch Mantell said. [From 48:50 to 49:20]
Check out his comments in the video below:
It remains to be seen where Nia Jax's rivalry with Naomi goes from here on SmackDown. Meanwhile, Tiffany Stratton continues to loom in the background with her Money in the Bank contract.
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus wants to wrestle Nia Jax
Trish Stratus was last seen at Money in the Bank earlier this year, hosting the show in her home country of Canada. Stratus was featured heavily on WWE programming last year, too. She concluded her year-long rivalry with Becky Lynch before leaving.
In a recent interview with TV Insider, the Hall of Famer praised Jax and revealed that she wished to step inside the squared circle with The Irresistible Force. She humorously added that it only made sense to retire after the WWE Women's Champion had steamrolled her.
"Nia Jax, I’m so happy she came back. She has a great presence. She has been owning it. I really enjoy watching her. I have this weird thing where I don’t think I could fully retire until I’m rag-dolled by her. Is that weird? Imagine that? Then I can retire [laughs]," she said.
In her final in-ring performance as of this writing, WWE had a cliffhanger for Trish Stratus's potential return. Her protégé, Zoey Stark, left her lying in the ring after Stratus lost to Becky Lynch inside a steel cage.
If you use the quote from the first part of this article, please credit Story Time with Dutch Mantell and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.