Nia Jax crashed the 2019 Men’s Royal Rumble, ambushing number 30 entrant R-Truth and taking his place. Jax’s shocking appearance makes her the fourth female wrestler to compete in the Men’s Royal Rumble.
Jax had already competed in the Women’s Royal Rumble earlier in the card, where she entered at number 29 and eliminated Natalya (#2), Io Shirai (#22) and Bayley (#27), the latter with an assist from Charlotte Flair. Nia Jax may have been inspired by the winner of the Women’s Royal Rumble, Becky Lynch, who took the place of Lana (#28) after the Ravishing Russian was injured during her husband Rusev’s unsuccessful title defense against Shinsuke Nakamura on the kickoff show.
Jax has been a controversial figure in the WWE of late, since she botched a punch during Becky Lynch’s pre-Survivor Series invasion of Monday Night Raw. Lynch suffered a concussion and a broken nose, which left her unable to compete in a scheduled champion vs champion match with Ronda Rousey.
Three other women have competed in the Men’s Royal Rumble over the years. Chyna competed twice, in 1999 and 2000, where she eliminated Mark Henry and Chris Jericho respectively. She was then almost immediately eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin and Big Boss Man. Her combined in-ring time clocks in at just over a minute. Beth Phoenix was next, in the 2010 Royal Rumble. She entered at number 6, eliminated the Great Khali, and was immediately eliminated by CM Punk after just over a minute and a half. Kharma, better known as Awesome Kong, was the most recent female competitor in the Men’s Royal Rumble until Jax. She eliminated Hunico before being immediately eliminated herself by Dolph Ziggler, with just over a minute in the ring.
Nia Jax now, incredibly, holds the record for longest time in a Men’s Royal Rumble by a female wrestler. She lasted just under three and a half minutes and eliminated one competitor, Mustafa Ali. Sworn enemies Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio teamed up to eliminate Jax. Mysterio landed a 619 on a prone Jax, which Orton followed up with an RKO before both men hauled Jax over the top rope.
Check back in with Diva Dirt for more news out of the Royal Rumble.
