Debuting in August 2009, the Bella Twins appeared to come in as one singular person in Brie Bella, who would roll out of the ring during matches and seemingly come back revitalised and fresh.
During a feud with Natalya and Victoria the secret was unveiled that there were two – ‘Twin Magic’ was born. The other twin was introduced as Nikki Bella, and together, they went on to change the landscape in women’s wrestling. They were a constant from the ‘WWE Divas’ era to the ‘Divas Revolution’. Whether it was inside WWE, or out, they had amazing success in their careers. These are the Top Five Bella Twin Moments in WWE.
1. Conquering Reality
In 2013, WWE created the reality TV show ‘Total Diva’s’ where it would follow the lives of a handful of WWE divas and their respective partners. Nikki and Brie grew to be the most prominent members of the cast. This was possibly due to their stature in the company, as at this time Nikki was Diva’s champion and their personal relationships with Daniel Bryan and John Cena respectively brought them further into the limelight. But it was the show that began their ascent into stardom as ‘Total Divas’ was brought onto WWE TV in a feud with the ‘anti-diva’ AJ Lee (and created the second best pipebomb in WWE history).
The show, and the sisters, became so popular that WWE brandished a new reality show, ‘Total Bellas’. Along with the show, the sisters released clothing lines and had a YouTube channel. Part in thanks to John Cena and his immense car collection, the channel garnished 2.3million subscribers and counting. They now have a podcast as well, and have clearly succeeded without the need for the squared circle.
2. Longest Reigning WWE Divas Champion
Yes, I know, this is only applicable to one of the twins BUT you couldn’t leave this out when talking about the Bella Twins. Nikki won the Diva’s title from AJ Lee at Survivor Series 2014, thanks to Brie’s help as they reunited. Nikki fought through the women’s division before running into the newly debuting Charlotte from NXT. Charlotte was granted a title shot on the September 14th 2015 episode of RAW, but lost due to some ‘twin magic’.
This win gave Nikki the record for longest Divas champion, surpassing AJ Lee’s reign of 295 days. 6 days later, at Night of Champions, Nikki dropped the title to Charlotte and ended her reign of 301 days. The record is still intact to this day. Even though the Diva’s title is retired, the longest reigning women’s champion since has been Ronda Rousey at 232 days.
3. From Divas to Women
During the height of Nikki’s record-setting reign, the twins were front and centre during a feud with Naomi and the returning Tamina. Nikki defended her title against Paige and Naomi at Elimination Chamber 2015, defeating them both. During the feud with Paige, Naomi and Tamina, the twins implored the help of Alicia Fox to help the numbers game against the challengers. Due to this, Stephanie McMahon called for a ‘revolution’ and introduced Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Sasha Banks from NXT to the main roster. Becky and Charlotte would team with Paige as ‘Team PCB’ and Sasha would join Tamina and Naomi as ‘Team BAD’.
As the 3 NXT call ups were introduced it led to a brawl between all nine women. All teams traded wins and losses in the following weeks, and really showed what women’s wrestling was. Everyone knew the capability of the call-ups but it was the chance for the Bella’s specifically to step up. And they did; the twins stepped up and proved they were talented wrestlers and could hold their own in the ring, representative of Nikki’s stature as the Diva’s champ at the time.
4. Sibling Rivalry
In April 2014, Brie Bella was inserted into her Daniel Bryan’s, feud with ‘The Authority’, as they made his life a living hell week after week following his monumental win at Wrestlemania XXX. Stephanie McMahon threatened to fire Brie if Bryan didn’t relinquish the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the run up to Payback, but instead, Brie quit and emphatically slapped Stephanie in the face.
Following this, and a few incidents involving the police, Brie vs Stephanie was scheduled for SummerSlam. Stephanie won the match after Nikki turned on her sister. This led to quite a personal feud, including a segment straight from Jerry Springer and a particularly harsh line from Nikki to Brie about dying in the womb. The feud itself wasn’t too exciting in an in-ring sense, with only one match that Nikki won and Brie becoming her personal assistant for 30 days being particularly significant. However, the whole angle itself is very memorable for everything else.
5. Surprise Entrants
In 2018, WWE announced the first ever Womens Royal Rumble match, with Brie and Nikki entering the match at numbers 28 and 27 respectively. This, obviously, was massive for both women and the whole female locker room, but it was more the shock factor as both women were inactive superstars. Brie had retired to have a baby and Nikki had career-threatening neck surgery, with the Rumble being their returns to the ring. They both made it into the final four, with Nikki eliminating Brie before being eliminated by the match’s winner, Asuka. Their presence showed that they could still hang with the new breed of women’s wrestlers, as they were both considered ‘divas’ during the peaks of their careers.
Overall, the Bella Twins had turbulent, yet successful careers. They proved that they weren’t just ‘Divas’, but were professional wrestlers… greatly talented at their art. Even after their retirement, the twins are still thriving in a different spotlight.
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