Nikki and Brie Bella, collectively known as The Bella Twins, have revealed that they lost out on working with multiple brands due to their profession.
The Bellas were two of the most famous female wrestlers during WWE’s Divas Era. Along with their rise to fame from being in the pro wrestling company, Nikki and Brie also broke into the wider world of entertainment thanks to their involvement in Total Divas and the spinoff show Total Bellas. However, despite their popularity and having millions of fans around the world, referred to as The Bella Army, not every brand wanted to collaborate with the twins as they looked down on professional wrestling.
Speaking on Sirius XM’s Nikki and Brie Show, Nikki first noted that certain brands would not work with them as they did not want to be associated with wrestling:
“It was crazy how like certain stylists wouldn’t dress us because they were like, ‘Oh, they’re pro wrestlers,’ or there were certain brands that wouldn’t lend us clothes because they were like, ‘Well, we don’t dress pro wrestlers,’” Nikki stated. “We really had to fight hard in that world to show them that there was so much more to female pro wrestlers, that we weren’t just what they saw in the ring.”
Brie added that some brands were more hypocritical, noting that some brands wanted them to perform wrestling moves in segments in order to get a reaction from the crowd or hope to gain internet traction:
“They would be like that, but then they would realize pro wrestlers, their charisma and how loud we are, but they’re like in a segment then would want us to like body slam someone or do a suplex,” Brie said. “It was like one minute, you know.”
Nikki also pointed out how many brands claimed to champion strong women and women who were in power, but took issue with this when it came to her and her sister, who both found success in WWE as Divas Champions:
“A lot of brands kind of use like, ‘We love strong women and women empowerment,’ but you realize they were just using it as marketing,” Nikki explained. “They really didn’t actually want strong empowering women… when it came to actually using the girls that were that, it was like, ‘Oh, wait, wait, we really don’t want them to be that strong.’”
Will The Bella Twins Be At WWE Evolution 2?
Given that Nikki and Brie have been a major influence on many of the stars of today, there is a strong expectation that the twins could make an appearance at the all-women’s Premium Live Event WWE Evolution on July 13. Originally, it appeared that Nikki was set to face Liv Morgan in a singles match or that The Bella Twins were going to challenge Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Tag Team Championships. However, due to Liv Morgan suffering an injury, it is unknown who Nikki will face at the show or if she will be in action at all.
H/t to Wrestling News.co for the use of transcriptions.
Featured image: WWE
