Nia Jax had one of the biggest names in wrestling willing to help her get into WWE, but The Rock made it clear that being part of his family wasn’t going to guarantee her anything. In fact, he encouraged her to keep their relationship a secret when she went for her tryout.
During an appearance on the Keep It Aloha podcast, Jax revealed how she went from pursuing a modeling career to following in her family’s wrestling footsteps. It all started when The Rock’s mother, Ata Johnson, invited her to attend WrestleMania 28, where she watched The Rock return to the ring.
Seeing the action up close made Jax realize that professional wrestling might be something she wanted to pursue. She eventually asked Ata whether someone like her could make it in WWE, and the response was exactly what she needed to hear.
“And so I just looked at my aunt and you know, I’m like, ‘Hey, you think I could do something like this?’ And she was like, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ She’s such my hype woman, you know, she’s like, ‘Yes, of course. I think you’d be beautiful. They don’t have a woman like you, you know, you’re different.'”
That conversation eventually led to The Rock offering to arrange a WWE tryout. However, he wasn’t interested in having Jax rely on his influence to get ahead. He told her that getting the opportunity was all he could do and even suggested keeping their family ties quiet.
“And so uh Dwayne was like, ‘Hey, I can get you a tryout, but that’s it. Like, I can’t do anything else for you.’ And he was like, ‘It’s probably better you don’t tell anybody who you’re related to.'”
Jax took that advice seriously. Rather than walking into WWE and introducing herself as The Rock’s relative, she kept the connection private and focused on proving she could handle the demanding tryout process.
“Um so yeah, I tried out. I kept my you know, kept it under wraps who I was related to and thankfully I got, you know, hired because of like who I am and what I could do and then the rest was history from there.”
Getting through the tryout wasn’t easy, either. Jax recalled how badly the wrestling ropes bruised her back during training. When she sent pictures of the injuries to her mother, the response was immediate — come home. But Jax had already fallen in love with wrestling.
“I just remember, you know, having my tryout and it was it’s brutal and the ropes was actually what really like messed me up. My whole back was just black and blue and I took a picture and I sent it back home. My mom was like, ‘Come home.’ And uh I was like, ‘No, I love it. I want to do this more.'”
Jax eventually earned her place in WWE and went on to become a multiple-time women’s champion. While her connection to The Rock has never been a secret throughout most of her WWE career, she made it clear that she wanted to establish herself through her own work rather than depend on her family’s reputation.
The story also explains why Jax has always valued carving out her own identity in WWE despite belonging to one of wrestling’s most recognizable families. The Rock helped open the door, but she had to prove she deserved to stay.
What do you think about The Rock telling Nia Jax to keep their family connection a secret during her WWE tryout? Was that the right approach, or should she have embraced her wrestling background from the beginning? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
