8 Things WWE Fans Need To Know About Nia Jax

8. Basketball Was Her First Sport

Nia Jax is a lifelong professional wrestling fan, but like so many of her peers, she started her athletic career in a completely different vocation. Born in Hawaii to a Samoan father and German mother, Nia and her family moved to San Diego, California at a very young age. She became a huge fan of the city’s two major sports teams - the Chargers (NFL) and Padres (MLB) - and chose to take-up basketball while attending Carlsbad High School.

She was a natural on the court, and continued to play basketball all the way through her college career. With coaches praising her elite-level athleticism, discipline, and dedication, Jax became one of Palomar College’s most widely-respected student athletes, and if it weren’t for her subsequent career moves, there’s a strong chance she could’ve wound-up in the WNBA.

It was her basketball scholarship that took her to college, but Jax also excelled away from the court. Her passion for basketball was slowly drifting away, and after leaving college with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Jax found herself transfixed by a new passion.