Jacy Jayne addresses change to WWE NXT faction
When there are unexpected changes in her WWE NXT career, Jacy Jayne’s mindset is to just adapt and move forward.
Fatal Influence — Jayne’s NXT faction — recently had a departure when Jazmyn Nyx made the decision not to renew her WWE contract. In Nyx’s place, Lainey Reid has been added to the group and now works alongside original members Jayne and Fallon Henley. Tuesday night’s NXT episode saw Jayne & Reid defeat Tatum Paxley & Izzi Dame in a tag match.
Jayne addressed the change to Fatal Influence during an appearance on Busted Open Radio this week. While stopping just short of calling Reid an upgrade over Nyx, Jayne had high praise for her new partner.
“I think it’s still too soon to really say anything,” Jayne responded when asked if this is an improved version of Fatal Influence. “We had our first match, me and Lainey together, [on Tuesday]. Before that, we had had a singles match and I felt like we had great chemistry right off the bat.
“I definitely think Lainey is a huge — I don’t want to say upgrade because that’s so mean, but, you know, she’s definitely going to fit the part and she’s going to do a good job. She’s a great worker. She’s like a sponge. She listens to everything. She takes everything in really well.”
Earlier in her career, Jayne was a member of Toxic Attraction — a faction that also changed unexpectedly when Mandy Rose was released from WWE. Jayne has learned that you need to be adaptable to thrive in pro wrestling.
“But, you know, I’m kind of used to new partners all the time,” she told Busted Open Radio. “This isn’t anything new to me. It’s all part of adapting. Things change all the time. This is show business — last-minute changes, things you never thought would happen, you just have to go with the flow and figure it out as you go.”
Jayne is set to defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Paxley at Halloween Havoc this Saturday. Despite Paxley losing the tag match on NXT, she was able to stand tall heading into the PLE after fighting off an attack by Jayne and the rest of Fatal Influence.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.