WWE Survivor Series Crowd Gives Nia Jax a Rude Welcome

Five days after an errant right hand that lead to the sidelining of one of the top stars in the [...]

By Ryan Droste

Five days after an errant right hand that lead to the sidelining of one of the top stars in the WWE, the fans at Survivor Series gave a rude welcoming to Nia Jax.

The opening match of Survivor Series was the Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown women's elimination match, and Nia Jax received a loud, negative reaction from the crowd in Los Angeles. Jax drank it all in like a true heel would, pounding her right fist in response.

Of course, the reaction wasn't due to any heel tactics on Jax's behalf over the previous weeks. No, it wasn't due to successful heel work or any well crafted storyline, it was due to a botched right hand that lead to Becky Lynch being pulled from her match with Ronda Rousey and being sidelined for the foreseeable future. As noted, it wasn't the first time Jax has hurt an opponent for real this year. Or even the second time. It's been a trend throughout 2018.

Regardless of the source of the negative reaction, it's smart of WWE to roll with it and use it to get Jax over as a heel. The botched move by Jax has done more to get her boo's than any of her heel work in the previous weeks or years. It will remain to be seen if it's the kind of heel heat that will draw interest and money, though. There's such a thing as "good heat" and "go away heat." It was definitely "go away heat" at Survivor Series, though WWE could certainly turn that into good heat in the long term.

When Jax was tagged into the ring, she also got a negative reaction and first went toe to toe with Mandy Rose. Rose charged in and was quickly sent to the mat by Jax for a near fall, with the announcers quickly mentioning she might have a black eye if she stays in there with Nia.

Jax ended up making it to the end of the match, with she and Sasha Banks remaining on Team RAW and Asuka for Team SmackDown. Jax ended up turning on Banks, pushing her off the top rope, and allowing Asuka to defeat her with the Asuka Lock.

Jax then quickly took out Asuka, winning following a big leg drop. Jax was the sole survivor and the crowd absolutely hated it, serenading her with a chorus of boo's on the way out. There was certainly no punishment here for Jax's botch to Lynch last week as this was evidence they are going to roll with it in an attempt at continuing Jax's push.

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