Nia Jax said wrestling should keep some of its old backstage traditions, arguing that rookies are still expected to know the unwritten rules. Appearing on The Masked Man Show with Kazeem and David Shoemaker, Jax said newcomers should come in early, stay late and learn the culture that has long governed life behind the curtain.
“There’s an unspoken rule where rookies should know the rules backstage. And so sometimes they don’t, and then they get in trouble for not knowing something,” Jax said, adding that “rookies should come in early and stay late.” She also recalled that “back in the day, if we were on the bus, the rookie would get the alcohol off the bus and help everybody — certain things like that.”
Jax said she believes some customs are worth preserving because wrestling remains a niche business. “I find it’s better to keep certain traditions because wrestling is such a niche,” she said, describing the industry as something that will never become soft. “I don’t think we’re ever going to be something soft; it’s always going to be kind of like we’re Barnum & Bailey, like we’re a circus,” she said. “We kind of have to keep a little tradition.”
The comments landed as Jax and Lash Legend prepare for a far more immediate test this weekend: the pair is set to challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way tag team match at WrestleMania 42. The timing gives her remarks a sharper edge, tying a conversation about locker-room hierarchy to one of WWE’s biggest matches of the year.
The contrast is hard to miss. Jax is defending a system built on tradition even as she heads into a title opportunity in a modernized, high-stakes WrestleMania setting. What happens in the ring on WrestleMania 42 will say more about her and Legend’s standing than any backstage rule ever could.
