WWE: Nia Jax Reveals What Led to Infamous Becky Lynch Punch and Aftermath

By Matthew Aguilar

Lina Fanene, formerly known in WWE as Nia Jax, is opening up about her time in WWE and some of the more memorable moments along the way, and that includes the infamous punch that launched Becky Lynch into megastardom. Fanene appeared on Renee Paquette's The Sessions podcast to talk about her time in WWE and the days since, and during that conversation, she revealed all the details on what led to the punch, what happened behind the scenes after it happened, and Lynch's reaction to the whole thing, starting with the SmackDown invasion.

"Yeah, it was right before Survivor Series where I think she and Ronda [Rousey] were gonna have a singles. So Smackdown was invading. The producer of that match, I won't name names, basically was like, 'This needs to look real," Fanene said. "Say sorry, later.' We were all like, okay, cool. Like, let's go, let's have fun, whatever. Being the larger person, I feel as though people feel, 'Oh, we can hit the s*** out of her. She'll be fine', which is true. Like for the most part, like I get wailed and whatever. I'm okay. I just remember when they invaded, I felt everybody came after me, which is okay, but like, I was getting nailed in the back of my head. I'm like, geez Louise. Okay, I get it."

"Then, I continued to get punched in the back of the frickin' head and I was like, Good lord. I just turned around and I really just like, go to clear the person. Whatever angles I show. My face wasn't close. I didn't punch her. But it did connect. I didn't even realize it was Becky. I honestly thought it was Lana. Then I look around and I'm like, Oh my gosh, there's blood everywhere," Fanene said. "Then I look and I'm like, Oh crap, Becky's down. Then we go to the segment, everything happens, and I'm like, shit was that me? Like I was like, Oh crap, get backstage. She got taken up to medical immediately, and I'm worried about her, like what's going on? Then I'm also freaking out because they're slowly replaying it."

She went to find Lynch to make sure she was okay and Vince to see what the damage would be and was probably a little surprised at both of their reactions.

"Kevin [Dunn] sends the replayed events in gorilla and it's replaying slow and they're cutting to every frickin' angle. I was like, I'm so screwed. So I go to check on her and of course, medicals, like 'everybody out.' I'll give her some space because everybody wants to make sure she is okay," Fanene said. "I went to Vince [McMahon] and I was like, 'I'm so sorry', and he was laughing and he was just like, 'Well, it's not ballet.' So then I walk away. I was like, leave it alone. Then I'm like texting Becky making sure she's okay and just bugging the shit out of her. And of course, she's like, 'Oh, that's fine.'"

That moment ended up being a huge one for Lynch, cementing her new persona and paving the way for The Man and a killer Title run, so it seems it really worked out for the best.

H/T PWMania

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