Ex-WWE star does not blame Nia Jax for SmackDown "botch"

Nia Jax is currently feuding with Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus. In a recent video, former WWE star Stevie Richards reacted to a segment involving the trio on the February 21 episode of SmackDown.

Stratton defeated Candice LeRae before being attacked by Jax. The segment ended with The Irresistible Force performing a middle-rope Double Annihilator on Stratton and Stratus. However, she did not connect with as much force as usual.

Richards said on The Stevie Richards Show that fans should blame producers for the weak execution of the move rather than Jax:

"I think it's purely a positioning issue. I can't believe, once again, I call these agents, these producers out more times than I care to. They rehearsed this. They didn't just go in and do this. So, earlier in the day when this is set up like this, I'd be looking at that going, 'Well, wait a minute. You gotta now, literally, instead of going down this far to sit down, now you shorten it to here.'" [4:00 – 4:28]

On March 1, Candice LeRae and Nia Jax will face Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus at Elimination Chamber. The event will take place in Stratus' hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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How Stevie Richards would have prevented Nia Jax botch

Wrestlers discuss ideas for their matches and segments with a producer before shows. WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H also has a say in key storyline developments and match outcomes.

Stevie Richards reiterated that Nia Jax was not to blame and questioned why nobody gave her a better idea before the segment:

"Nia did the right thing, so what went wrong was just the agent, the producer, the writer, Triple H, if anybody saw that and saw it being done in that light, should have been like, 'Why don't we try doing it this way?' and I think it would have turned out a lot better." [7:00 – 7:17]

Richards previously explained why Jax's use of the Annihilator in a segment with Rhea Ripley was "baffling" and "unnecessary."

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Please credit The Stevie Richards Show and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.