Ranking All 24 WWE Debuts & Returns In 2023
6. Nia Jax
There was every reason to believe that Nia Jax’s return to
WWE this year was going to bomb horrifically. She was never booked well during
her initial run and was little more than women’s division poison by the time
she was released in 2021.
But after a decent run in the 2023 Royal Rumble, Jax returned full-time in September and immediately upended the Raw women’s division. She attacked several wrestlers in short order – Raquel Rodriguez, Zoey Stark, Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley – setting up several offshoot feuds for down the line and connecting everyone for future matches, uniting the division in a way that it never has been before.
And honestly, the women’s division has changed a lot since Nia was last in WWE. Ripley, Rodriguez and Piper Niven are all credible challengers who can match Jax’s size and strength, while wrestlers like Baszler, Stark, Becky Lynch and Natalya all could conceivably hang with her and beat her with a lucky shot.
Against all odds, Jax is a revelation to the women’s
division this time around… so far. All it takes is some bad booking, an injured
opponent or poorly received matches to tank this return.