Nia Jax on Having ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ While in WWE, Trying to be the ‘Company Girl’

– Former WWE Superstar Nia Jax, aka Lena Fanene, was the guest on this week’s edition of The Sessions with Renee Paquette. During the interview, Jax revealed she was offered a spot in the women’s Rumble match at this year’s WWE Royal Rumble event, but she turned it down. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Nia Jax on feeling good after her WWE release: “It’s scary to say but I feel really good. Like, happy. It’s almost like Stockholm Syndrome. I was in this crazy, almost slightly abusive relationship with a company. But also good, there are good parts to it. But now it’s done. I kind of get to be myself again, which I haven’t been in a long time. So I feel good, but it’s also just a scary party where you’re like ‘okay, who is Lina now that she’s not Nia Jax?'”

On being a company girl and compares being in WWE to Stockholm Syndrome: “I think I became a company girl. Like that’s what kind of bothered me back in the day. I kind of was like, ‘okay, they always have my back. I don’t have to worry about that. They’ll always take care of me.’ That sort of thing. And like certain things, I was like, ‘I don’t feel really comfortable with that, but I’ll just do it because that’s what he (Vince McMahon) wants. That’s what they want.’ And I think that’s where I kind of got lost in the shuffle, just kind of thinking that appeasing certain people would actually benefit me. When I did speak up, things did happen. And then I’m thinking, ‘okay, then I don’t have to do it again.’ I have that problem feeling that I am such a big person in real life. I didn’t want the reputation of being, ‘oh she’s loud, she’s obnoxious, and she’s hard to work with.’ That was the line I was teetering because you hear people who are like that. You can see it and you’re like, ‘I don’t want to be that person.’ It was that line that I played where most people were like, ‘why are you getting booked like that? This is so dumb.’ And I’m like, ‘no, I’m doing the right thing.’ You know, that Stockholm Syndrome. When you have people in the production meetings that have your back, it goes a long way, and I think certain people did have my back. But I think it was also me speaking up, and I let certain things go. There were a couple of times I did speak up, but it wasn’t in my defense, it was to help others.”

Nia Jax was released by WWE last November.