15 Exact Moments Failed WWE Gimmicks Actually Got Over
12. Jacy Jayne
Jacy Jayne was an unfancied member of the NXT women’s division for quite a while.
She was back-up to Mandy Rose in the Toxic Attraction stable, and while she was proficient in the ring, it would be quite a stretch to designate her as the workhorse of the group. When Rose was booted, Fatal Influence was formed from its ashes. Jayne was elevated into the role of leader. At first, the act was lamentable - NXT’s backwards “all women secretly hate each other” creative philosophy writ large. But then Jacy Jayne, quietly, started to get really good.
She wasn’t so good that people campaigned for her to win the NXT Women’s title - but that she did, in extraordinary fashion, at the expense of Stephanie Vaquer, on the May 27, 2025 edition of NXT. This was such a shock result that NXT played it almost identical to the ending of the streak. Shawn Michaels presides over a deeply stupid television programme most of the time, but his booking of Jacy was masterstroke-adjacent. Several of her peers, reflecting the viewpoint of a bemused audience, rubbished her as a paper champion. In a thrilling and committed development, by July 20, 2025, the opposite was true; having won the TNA Knockouts crown at Slammiversary, Jayne was a double champ.
This show of faith led to a reappraisal, or at least an acknowledgement. The strong booking brought into focus that Jayne had developed into a very credible act with wince-inducing strikes and a personality that, while utterly over-the-top at times, was big enough to carry an episodic TV brand.
It turns out the the title can make the wrestler sometimes.