Why Did Nia Jax Get Fired by WWE In 2021?

During a wave of layoffs due to budget cuts by WWE in 2021, Savelina Fanene, known in WWE as Nia Jax, was one of those affected and lost her job. Ending her career in the company after several years where she became one of the top stars of Raw and SmackDown from 2016 until 2021, even winning the RAW Women’s Championship. After her departure, Fanene did not join any other wrestling promotions. Remaining away from WWE rings and any other company, except for her participation in the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble.

After this, several rumors indicated that the former women’s champion could return to the company, which finally ended up happening as she returned as a full-time superstar on the September 11 episode of Monday Night RAW, attacking Raquel Rodriguez and Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. Since then, Jax has not looked back, as she is still a mainstay in the WWE and is being booked as one of the top heels in the Stamford-based promotion.

But why was she removed from the company in the first place? Was it because of the budget cuts? Well, her departure from the company was not without controversy. The fighter never hid her anti-vaccine stance, a controversial issue from one of the most complicated times in our recent history. With the WWE being strict about the safety of their superstars, was this the reason behind her being fired from the promotion? At least that’s how it sounds, according to the statements of the WWE superstar.

On Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast, Nia Jax revealed that her getting fired wasn’t because of the budget cuts, as revealed during her phone conversation with John Laurinaitis. She even volunteered to take a pay cut, but Laurinaitis still claimed that the budget wasn’t the reason. And her firing wasn’t part of the WWE script. Instead, it was a decision by Vince McMahon, who wanted Jax to take the COVID-19 vaccine and be an example for the locker room by getting vaccinated. However, she refused to do so, as she didn’t want to appease them. She said, “It was a personal choice. I got caught up in the blurred lines of Nia Jax… I can’t be something they want me to be just to appease them. At the end of the day, am I going to feel good about myself? There’s plenty of other stooges in the locker room.”

Nevertheless, that’s not the only reason Jax has often come under the firing squad.

Nia Jax’s unsafe style added to her deteriorating reputation

In addition, Jax has often been harshly criticized by many fans, who consider her a danger to her colleagues. The wrestler has been the cause of several injuries and botches on the main roster. Perhaps the most remembered being breaking Becky Lynch’s nose. A mishap that, on the other hand, would further boost the Irishwoman’s evolution toward her character of “The Man”. So her being unsafe did not help her case either.

But her firing surely did help her, as she soon joined the Hall of Famer Academy and was trained by none other than D-Von Dudley. Something that truly helped her become a much safer wrestler to have a match with. With this new ability to be a lot safer, fans are sure that Nia Jax is a contender to be the Women’s Champion now. Something that is far better than being compared to Vader in terms of being the unsafest pro wrestler to exist. What do you think? Has Nia Jax improved her in-ring skills? Let us know in the comments.