Nia Jax’s return to WWE in 2023 did not just mark a comeback. It marked a reset.

After being released during roster cuts in 2021, Jax spent two years away from the company before reappearing once Paul Triple H Levesque took over creative control. Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Jax made it clear that the time away fundamentally changed how she approached both wrestling and her life.

“I feel like I changed in a better way. Like, I got better and I elevated my game a little bit more,” Jax said. “Not that I didn’t think I had the opportunity in my first part, but I think because it was a different schedule and , I wasn’t really, like, locked in as I could have been. When I had the break and I was able to see what I could improve on, I was able to change it coming back.”

Jax explained that her original WWE run came during a time when the company demanded total commitment, often at the expense of everything else. Under Vince McMahon’s leadership, she felt pressure to make WWE her entire world, from her physical health to her personal life.

“Some of the girls that I came up with, we all kind of made WWE our whole lives. Like, morning, noon, and night, storylines, talking about it all the time and worried about our bookings,” she said. “Back in the day, if you got hurt, you were forgotten about. It was hard to get back in the rhythm, so we pushed through things. Like, ‘I’m not hurt, I’m fine, I’m going to stay and I want to skip on all my friends’ weddings and baby showers.’”

Returning under a different regime allowed Jax to redefine that mindset.

“And then coming back, it felt different to where it’s like, no, WWE is my passion and I love it and I want to be a part of it, but it’s not going to be my entire life. I’m not going to make it like the focal point.”

Jax also described how creatively limiting her first run felt, explaining that she was told to wrestle a very specific way based on her size. That approach changed dramatically under Levesque, who encouraged her to lean into her full ability rather than stay boxed into a narrow role.

“I was taught a certain way, like, ‘You’re a certain size, you can’t do these things. Stay away from this. Don’t let them do this to you,’” Jax said. “So I was kind of pigeonholed into a little bit of , and I was afraid to get out of it because, you know, the person telling me is somebody who runs the show and you work for an audience of one.”

She added, “And so this time around, Hunter was more like, ‘Be you. Be you, do you, show them what you can do.’ Because he’s like, ‘I know what you’re capable of.’ So I feel like the difference is just me kind of being myself a little bit more.”

The results of that freedom were clear. Jax became a Women’s Champion under both leadership eras, most recently holding the WWE Women’s Championship on SmackDown from August 2024 through January 2025. She also captured the Queen of the Ring crown in 2024.

Jax also revealed that she has lost 100 pounds from her highest weight, calling the transformation part of a larger shift in how she prioritises her health and longevity. She competed in the Women’s Royal Rumble last weekend, where her run came to an end after being eliminated by Charlotte Flair.