WWE legend denies Nia Jax was unsafe and justifies her stiff punches; he calls her a "beautiful woman and a good athlete"
During her time in WWE, Nia Jax seemingly developed a reputation for being dangerous in the ring. 'Road Dogg' Brian James, however, felt that the former WWE star was unjustly criticized and explained why during the latest episode of his Oh...You Didn't Know podcast.
There have been a few instances in WWE where Nia Jax legitimately busted open her rival with a rather stiff punch. While the likes of Becky Lynch inadvertently benefited from it, a few others didn't come off looking too great after taking a few hard shots from Jax.
Brian James came out in Nia's defense and stated that getting hurt was part and parcel of a wrestler's life. Road Dogg specifically spoke about the former RAW Women's Champion and believed she unnecessarily attracted heat from the WWE Universe as she might not have been at fault on every occasion.
While James admitted that Jax had thrown a few legitimate punches at times, she might have just given a receipt for a stiff strike she would have absorbed from her opponent. The WWE Hall of Famer had nothing but words of praise for Jax, as you can view below:
"People get hurt and busted open all the time in this industry. It happens every day with every different character. So, I don't know why her work has seemed, you know, they always want to put the heat on her, but I don't know if it has always been her, you know what I mean? Yeah, she has punched some people in the face, but I think it seemed like after people punched her [laughs]. I don't know. I always really liked Nia Jax. I always thought she was a sweetheart, a beautiful woman, and a good athlete." [1:21:00 - 1:21:50]
"I think calling her work controversial is not fair" - Road Dogg on Nia Jax
Since getting released from WWE, Nia Jax returned for a one-off appearance at the Royal Rumble earlier this year and continued her hiatus from professional wrestling.
Road Dogg reiterated his views on Nia Jax's in-ring work and felt wrestling fans unfairly targeted her. The tag team legend noted that many wrestlers, and even legends of the business, were known for their hard-hitting style inside the squared circle.
He seemingly called out the double standards in how a section of the fanbase online perceives wrestling, as James added:
"I think she gets a bum rap a lot, and I think calling her work controversial is not fair. A lot of people are stiff, if that's what they mean. A lot of people worked like that. And the truth be told, when so-and-so kicks so-and-so's teeth down their throats, oh, that's working strong style. But when so-and-so knocks their teeth down, 'She doesn't know how to work!' Okay, whatever. Y'all are experts; what do we know?" [1:21:51 - 1:22:30]
What are your opinions on Nia Jax's wrestling style? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Oh...You Didn't Know and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.