Wrestling Star Nia Jax in Cute Workout Gear is “Full of Gratitude”

Wrestling champion Nia Jax (real name Savelina Fanene) is taking a break from the madness of the fighting ring to relax, breathe, and enjoy the beauty of nature. Jax, 39, shared pictures of herself wearing black workout gear, looking zen and serene as she sat outside in a yoga pose. “Full of gratitude 🙏🏽,” she captioned the post. Here’s what inspired Jax to lose weight, gain a huge amount of confidence, and become an even better fighter.

1. Pilates and Personal Training

Jax says she is currently training in preparation for her return to the ring. "I am training. I'll train over at D-Von Dudley's ring,” she told Bill Apter, via Cultaholic. “He's great and then I go over to Nattie and TJ's [Natalya & TJ Wilson], so they run me through some drills and stuff like that and I have matches. I'll get in the ring every now and then with some of my friends like Charlotte [Flair] and her husband, Manny [Andrade El Idolo)... Right now, I'm enjoying being at home with my family. I have a new nephew and I've kind of started being obsessed with Pilates.”

2. Pickleball Matches

Jax enjoys pickleball matches with her friends, which is a great way to get a cardio workout while having fun. “I think one of the things that we as a society have underestimated is the benefit of being outdoors, and a lot of pickleball is played in the setting of existing tennis courts or other newer courts that are being specially designed for pickleball that are outdoors,” cardiologist and Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Calum MacRae tells CNBC. “Something like pickleball, which is an active, social sport and builds community, sustains people in regular exercise over time. It’s really something that for us is exciting to see.”

3. Losing 48 Pounds

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Jax lost a whopping 48 pounds in just six months after feeling uncomfortable at friend Charlotte Flair’s wedding. “Me to @MsCharlotteWWE after her wedding: ‘I feel gross & uncomfortable! I want to lose weight’. @MsCharlotteWWE to me: ‘Please let me help you! You got this woman.’ Officially started in October…6 months later, down 48lbs🥺🙏🏽 Sends me killer workouts and motivates me 💪🏾🥺,” Jax tweeted. Nice work!

4. No Glam Squad

Jax takes care of her own pre-ring prep, no glam squad needed or necessary. “I really take pride in doing my own make-up all the time which takes me about 40 minutes, and my hair takes another 15 to 20 minutes,” she told Metro. “Putting on my gear is probably another 15 minutes, so all in all I don’t think an hour and a half is too bad!”

5. Body Type Pride

Jax is proud to represent a different body type in the wrestling world. "I noticed they were always beautiful women but skinnier and smaller than me," she told Refinery29. "I just never really saw somebody like me in the business, and I didn't think that somebody like me would fit in to that business. Maybe a young girl seeing me and not feeling comfortable in her group can feel like, Oh my gosh, look, she went out there and she’s different and I look like her and she’s kicking ass and she’s taking names. Maybe one day I can do that and I should just embrace who I am.”

In the electrifying realm of WWE's NXT, Cora Jade emerges as a force to reckon with, captivating both the ring and fans' hearts. The path to NXT wasn't an easy one, as she has revealed in recent videos. With unwavering determination, she turned her childhood dream into reality, making her mark in the Dusty Classic. From grueling tryouts under the guidance of wrestling legends to navigating the love-hate relationship with passionate fans, Jade's journey is nothing short of remarkable. Amid the whirlwind rise to fame, she remains grounded, embracing the surreal moments and eagerly anticipating the future of WWE. Here’s a roundup of her latest reflections, inspired by a new swimsuit photo she posted saying, “I’m busy.”

1. Here’s how She Got Into NXT

How did she get into NXT? “Well, I started watching the WWE product when I was about eight years old because my dad and my younger brother watched it together and I was just a huge fan of it. So as soon as I saw it, I was like, this is what I want to do,” she said on the Mark Moses Show. “ So when I was about 15, 16, I started wrestling on the independent circuit around the country, but I started in Chicago because that's where I'm from. And then in the pandemic around towards the end of 2020, I got an email to come do a tryout and I did the tryout in October of 2020 and then made my debut in the Dusty Classic a few months later in January of ’21. So it's been a crazy ride, but that was how I got started and I've loved it every step of the way.”

2. Her Tryout for NXT Was Tough

Her tryout “was definitely probably one of the hardest things I've ever done,” she told Mark Moses. “But luckily one of my trainers, Kevin Quinn, he trained CM Punk, Lita, John Cena. He had a hand in so many people in wrestling and he had been to Japan and done a bunch of stuff. He ran a training school, so he would put us through these Sunday training cardio days we would call 'em, and it was just so much conditioning and it would be so much, and it was so at the time exhausting. But I think that really prepared me for the tryout because he kind of pushed us as much as we could be pushed then. So it made me feel like I could do anything. So when it came time for the tryout, I felt very prepared and everything I had down pat, I was ready to—all the drills had, I had already done them with my trainer before, so I felt like he really prepared me the best way possible. But it's so mentally and physically exhausting and just you got to be sharp in your mind and in your physical movements and everything was the craziest thing and the hardest thing I've ever done. But at the same time, I felt like I came in very prepared. I wanted to be here so bad. I knew what it took to get here.”

3. It’s a Love-Hate Relationship With Fans Sometimes

The WWE “has some of the most passionate fans I've ever witnessed in my life, but especially the NXT fans who are here, it's pretty much probably the same group of people that are here every week,” she told Moses. “They're very dedicated and they're super into it and they're a very solid fan base, so they're very passionate about who they love and who they hate. So sometimes it's a love-hate relationship.”

4. Sometimes it Feels Like a Dream

“It's definitely crazy,” she says of her rise to fame on Fightful Wrestling With Sean Ross Sapp. “Sometimes I feel like I have to kind of pull myself out of it and kind realize what I'm doing because I feel like it all moves so fast and I'm a very stressed person. I want everything to be like I'm a perfectionist and I want everything to be perfect. So sometimes I got to step back and be like, this is really cool. Literally I'm doing everything I dreamed of when I was eight years old. I literally played this out in my head and it's unfolding in front of me, so I'm very lucky and very grateful. But it is crazy sometimes to step back and be like, this is actually happening.”

5. ”Still Going Strong”

“I think 2.0 really opened up a lot of opportunities for younger people like myself, and I think that change is kind of really what helped me be able to grow and have all these opportunities. So I'm so grateful for that. But now like you said, we're moving in a bit of a different, more neutral direction, and I don't know what the future holds, but I feel like WWE is a very exciting place right now. So I can only imagine that it's only up from here and I can't wait to see what this next era is. And generation of Jade will still be going strong no matter what.”

Mercedes Mone is a very successful wrestler. She is currently with AEW, and was previously with WWE. She recently did a training session with the gym. Mone shared a video of it on Instagram, captioning it, “Always gotta stop by @hogwrestling to learn from @sensationalamazingred anytime I’m in New York! Thank you HOG Krew.” How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Mercedes Mone stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

1. She Wants To Promote Black Women Wrestlers

Mone tells The Ringer that she wants to promote black women in the wrestling world. “I was thinking about this the other day. It’s been our goal. It’s the goal. It’s the dream. It’s the standard. It’s the barrier that we’ve been breaking down, and it’s letting people know that we’re here to stay and you have to get used to that standard.”

2. She Puts Her Heart Into Things

Mone opened up about wrestling after an injury to The New York Post. “This was almost all taken away from me and I couldn’t imagine where I would be if I didn’t have wrestling. I would be so, so lost,” Moné said. “So for me, it’s really putting my heart, my soul, my body all out there all over again and not being afraid of getting hurt. That’s the biggest thing about having an injury is not being afraid of hitting these moves you hit before. You don’t want to get hurt again. I’m ready to put my body on the line. I’m ready to put my heart out there.”

3. She Works With Trainers

As you can see from her recent post, Mone makes sure to train. She also shared this Instagram post from the gym, and praised her trainers in the caption. “Thank you @flatbackstraining For being a safe space to do what I love most. For reminding me who da fuck I am. For welcoming me and making me better with every training session. For being a school that all wrestlers can be proud of.For going above and beyond for a young vet like this Brooklyn Girl. For being there for me when I didn’t know where to start again. And reigniting my mind, body, and passion. 💙It’s almost time.”

4. She Does Yoga

Mone loves to practice yoga to stay in shape. She shared these photos on Instagram of herself doing poses. Mone captioned the post, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Harvard Health states that yoga can help with your mental state. “Yoga develops inner awareness. It focuses your attention on your body's abilities at the present moment. It helps develop breath and strength of mind and body. It's not about physical appearance. Yoga studios typically don't have mirrors. This is so people can focus their awareness inward rather than how a pose — or the people around them — looks. Surveys have found that those who practiced yoga were more aware of their bodies than people who didn't practice yoga. They were also more satisfied with and less critical of their bodies. For these reasons, yoga has become an integral part in the treatment of eating disorders and programs that promote positive body image and self-esteem.”

5. She Doesn’t Pressure Herself

Mone revealed in an interview with The Ringer that she doesn’t pressure herself to perform well. “I don’t want to put pressure on myself because I’ve been doing this for 14 years. I have more excitement than pressure, but I am really nervous as well, just because it’s been a year since I performed, but being in the ring with someone like Willow Nightingale, I know it’s going to be absolutely everything I’ve ever dreamed of. We’re going to go out there and steal the show.”

WWE star Natalya Neidhart is showing the intense training routine she credits for her health, strength, and recovery. Neidhart, 42, shared a video of herself wearing a gray one-piece exercise outfit, using heavy weights in her garage. “The secret is to outwork everyone 🤫,” she captioned the post. “Ready for your dark side to come out on Raw. They are not giving you your props. Time to be the She Hulk,” a fan commented. Here’s what’s next for the popular fighter.

1. Pain-Free Thanks to Training

Natalya Neidhart/Instagram

Neidhart credits her good physique to putting in the work with her training. “As time goes on, I feel like I’m really and excited about what I’m doing and where I’m going,” she told Toronto Sun. “Sometimes I wake up and wonder when I am going to feel that feeling like my knees hurt. I’ve been so lucky. I wake up and feel almost pain free. I attribute my health, my actual physical health, to really incredible training because I still train every single week.”

2. Push Through the Pain

Natalya Neidhart/Instagram

Neidhart says wrestling is a painful hobby. “You do have to push through the pain to decide whether you like it,” she told Toronto Sun. “You have to find out whether the risk is worth the reward, so to speak. For me, when I first started doing it, it definitely did hurt physically, but I found that because I enjoyed it so much, mentally and physically, I felt like I recovered quickly and started to develop a tolerance for the pain. I was able to build a thick skin pretty fast, especially in the Dungeon.”

3. Fan Favorite

Neidhart loves positive feedback from the fans. “When we have opportunities we have to nail those performances and I feel like every time I have gotten an opportunity to have a championship match like I did last year with Rhea Ripley on Raw, I felt extremely proud of that match,” she said on the Gorilla Position podcast. “We did really great ratings with it and it was very, very well-received. I remember feeling so happy with that and being every time I am given an opportunity I have to nail it because I want to be able to prove to the people who make the decisions about my career that I can go and that I can hang.”

4. Redefining Success

Natalya Neidhart/Instagram

Neidhart is philosophical about her career so far. “I’ve learned to redefine success in this industry,” she told Toronto Sun. “It’s not always about who has the most championships. Sometimes, success is having your health, your relationship and being able to have something to show for yourself. Attaining longevity while cultivating the future of our industry, like the pat your head and rub your stomach trick. How do you have success here and then cultivate the future? I feel like I’ve found that.”

5. Always the Bridesmaid

Natalya Neidhart/Instagram

Neidhart is ready to take on new roles in WWE. “The company looks at me like a steady, stable foundation for so many different reasons but for me, it is okay to want more and say ‘Hey, I want to be the bride.’ I don’t mind being the bridesmaid but sometimes I want to be the bride,” she said on the Gorilla Position podcast. “I am confident that 2024 is going to be a huge year of growth for me for so many different reasons. I am working on so many different projects right now that are really exciting and I am over the moon about them.”

WWE Star Natalya Neidhart gives the same energy to training as she does when fighting in the ring—no wonder she’s such a force to be reckoned with. Neidhart, 41, shared an intense picture of herself wearing black shorts and a sports bra, holding on to ropes. “My home away from home. @thedungeon2.0,” she captioned the post. Neidhart has developed a fantastic training and diet routine over the years—here’s how she does it.

1. No Crazy Workouts

Natalya Neidhart/Instagram

Neidhart’s workouts are balanced and doable. “I don’t do crazy amounts of cardio. I don’t lift extremely heavy weights. I don’t beat myself up if I have a cheat meal,” she told Bar Bend. “If I can only get to the gym three days a week, that’s fine. If I get to the gym six days a week, that’s even better. I used to beat myself up if I had a cheat meal. The next day I’d be doing crazy amounts of cardio trying to burn off what I ate the night before. Now, I feel like I’ve taken all that pressure off myself.”

2. Clean and Jerk

Natalya Neidhart/Instagram

Neidhart focuses on Olympic lifting at the gym, with her favorite move being the clean and jerk. “You’re lifting weight off the ground and you’re throwing it up, so you’re giving your body a whole-body workout,” she told PEOPLE. “And it definitely imitates us throwing people down in the ring!”

3. Training For the Fight

Natalya Neidhart/Instagram

Neidhart’s preparation for competitions is understandably intense. “The days leading up to Wrestlemania we really watch what we eat, and I hit the gym no matter what,” she told PEOPLE. “When you’re walking out in front of 70,000 people you want to look your absolute best, because it’s not just those people that are watching you live, it’s 170-plus countries around the globe that are tuning in.”

4. Food Journal

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Neidhart keeps track of her food for accountability. “When I kept the food journal in my iCloud notes, it really made me more accountable,” she told Bar Bend. “Then I would try to cut off my eating past 8 p.m. It really helped me lose weight and keep it off. I don’t need to have anything big and heavy past 8 p.m., and then when I’m on the road and wrestling, I try to keep that same thing in mind. If I need something after a match I’ll have a protein shake, or some cottage cheese, or a Greek yogurt.”

5. Supplement Queen

Natalya Neidhart/Instagram

Neidhart is a big fan of taking supplements for health and beauty. “I’m always looking for really good supplements for my hair, for my skin, for my nails, and for my brain,” she told Bar Bend. “I love fueling my body with the best of the best. I’ve only had one surgery in 16 years. I’ve been wrestling for 16 uninterrupted years in the company, and I feel like all these vitamins and supplements help me so much. They keep bones and ligaments strong.”