If WWE Were Being Honest About Nia Jax
Not like most pushes.
WWE Money In The Bank's Women's Title clash will be the (latest) biggest match in the history of the division. This is a fact not down to the quality of the storyline leading up to it though, nor any sense of struggle the Champion may have experienced in her efforts to hold on to the prestigious prize thus far.
As per modern match-making mechanisms, Nia Jax will defend her title against Ronda Rousey as part of a rivalry in reverse. Former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion and absolutely massive f*cking star Rousey was dragged along to recent NBC up-fronts alongside women's division stalwart Charlotte and Jax - the company's latest sandwich board for ethical stances. Implying that the added press attention fuelled her desire for the contest, Nia challenged Ronda and effectively forced her to accept despite the tentative respect initially shown by a woman otherwise promoted as the toughest person on the planet. Already upside down in concept, it was bungled further in execution when the cripplingly awkward scenes between the two traversed onto a more traditional live setting.
On the Monday Night Raw following the stand-off, the two engaged in a contract signing that predictably swung from civil to senseless when it was turned into yet another vehicle to remind audiences that Stephanie McMahon was in fact the only female on the flagship that really mattered. The Commissioner played the devil on each performer's shoulder, condescendingly riling the other up to the sound of groans from a crowd that knew the script before the played-out dialogue had even been delivered.
Few of the faults in the storyline had at this point laid with the performers. WWE, as usual, did nothing to help the two wrestlers ahead of the wrestling match. Instead, the company stole headlines at a press conference and the McMahon family stole heat on television. Rousey's involvement in general is a hand-wringing exercise for another time, but with foundations so brittle, the remainder of the angle couldn't afford another misstep. Sadly, it's yet to put another foot right. This, despite the fact that Nia Jax has been literally walked through her entire career up to this point by the organisation, tripping and stumbling more than most but taking with her opportunities scant afforded elsewhere on the card.
There's a certain ugliness in punching down when blaming the ills of a broken business on the foibles of a flawed performer, but WWE's desperation to have their cake and eat it with one such as Jax has been the most vomit-inducing in some time. These are not just the words of one disgruntled writer, more the sentiments of an arena full of those yet to beat the traffic.
CONT'D...