In 2019, Nia Jax emerged as only the fourth woman to ever enter the WWE Men's Royal Rumble match, and almost immediately, she made a splash by eliminating Mustafa Ali. Admittedly, though, Jax's historic outing came with an added sense of nervousness, especially as she had minimal time to practice her spots beforehand.While appearing on "Insight With Chris Van Vliet," Jax noted that she learned of her Men's Royal Rumble involvement just after doors for the premium live event had opened for fans."We had rehearsals that day, the Women's Rumble, because it was me, Becky, and Charlotte at the end of that one," Jax said. "Doors were opening. We were in Arizona and I was walking back and Johnny [Ace] is like, 'Hey kid, you got to rehearse more.' I said, 'Oh, what are we doing?' He was like, 'You're in the Men's Rumble.' I said, 'What? Doors are open, Johnny. When am I going to rehearse?' 'Oh, we're just going to rehearse this part with Truth, you go do the Women's Rumble, and then we'll talk about the guys after.' I was like, 'What?' I thought he was kidding, but then when we rehearsed it with Truth, me beating up Truth and entering at number 30, I was like, 'This is happening.'"Amidst her time in the 2019 Women's Royal Rumble, Jax removed the likes of Bayley, Natalya, and IYO SKY from the field before being eliminated herself at the hands of Becky Lynch, the eventual winner. Following this, Jax then returned to the backstage area for a private meeting with her male counterparts, including Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler, and Ali.
During the brief Men's Royal Rumble's run-through, Jax found out that she'd burst into the ring by wiping out several of the men. In Mysterio's case, he was knocked down by a big boot and an elbow drop. From there, Jax was slated to eliminate Ali from the match, then deliver a shoulder tackle to Orton, a respected veteran and world champion in WWE.Much to Jax's surprise, Orton went on to take a bump while coming off her shoulder tackle. Even more surprising to her was the successful superkick-619-RKO combo that followed."We get into it," Jax said. "I beat up Truth. Poor Truth. I beat the s*** out of Truth. Go in there, run the spots, go to tackle Randy, he takes a bump for me. I was like, 'Is that supposed to [happen]?' In my mind I'm thinking like, 'S***, did I just hit Randy too hard?' Meanwhile, I hear Kim [Orton] cussing me out. She's yelling at me, and I'm like, 'Oh s***.' Then we run through it, the 619, the RKO. I'm like, 'Holy s***, this is not happening.' Then they dump me, they dropkick me off the apron."When you're in the moment, you don't realize it," she added. "When I was done, I was like, that was a massive moment for me that those guys didn't have to. They could have said no, but they just did for me."Moments after Jax's elimination, all of the aforementioned men faced their own elimination, leaving just Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins in the ring. Despite Strowman's strength and size advantage, Rollins managed to drag "The Monster Among Men" over the top rope, then nail him with a curbstomp for the 2019 Rumble victory.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
