Nia Jax wants to set the record straight.
WWE recently touted Rhea Ripley as its first-ever female Australian Champion.
Some fans took issue with this, as it’s evidently not true. As it turns out, Nia Jax actually earned that honor back in April 2018 at WrestleMania 34.
Fans might remember Jax won the RAW Women’s Championship from Alexa Bliss on the show. What they might not know, however, is that Jax (Savelina Fanene) was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Some might see this as a technicality, but this would make her the first female Australian-born champion in WWE, not Rhea Ripley.
Rhea Ripley won her first championship in WWE under the NXT UK umbrella. Ripley won the NXT UK Women’s Championship by defeating Toni Storm in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion. That reign is recognized as beginning on 28 November 2018, when the match aired.
Ripley later won the NXT Women’s Championship on the December 18, 2019 episode of NXT, her first “major” title in WWE. She is still the second singles Australian-born female champion in WWE, but she’s the fourth one overall.
Earlier that year, The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship on April 7, 2019 at WrestleMania 35. Fittingly enough, that match also involved Jax, who teamed with Tamina.
