Total Bellas Series Premiere Recap (10/5): "Cena House Rules"

TOTAL BELLAS

SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 "CENA HOUSE RULES"

Episode Synopsis- Brie and Bryan move into John Cena's house to take care of Nicole after her surgery, but John's strict rules has the Bella family treading carefully.

The show opens with an overhead shot of John Cena's mansion. The camera pans into Cena's home and he lays down the house rules. John tells everyone at the dinner table that they are expected to clean up after themselves. To treat the home as if it is their own. There will be a formal dinner once a week. There will be a morning coffee together and an evening fire outside. Cena tells everyone to make their bed everyday and keep track of their laundry. Seated at the dinner table is Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Bryan Danielson, John Laurinaitis and his fiance, Kathy Colace. The mother of The Bella Twins. Also seated at the table is Nikki and Brie's brother, J.J... They all seem to be getting a kick out of John's rules and routine. Well, some of them are.

John continues with his rules as he demonstrates how to properly open his doors. He tells them to not flush anything but toilet paper down the toilet. The show then cuts to Brie Bella and Bryan in the backyard on a swing. Brie says that sometimes you think something is a great idea until something like John's rules speech happens and that's when you realize that moving in was a horrible idea..... Back to the dinner table and John finishes up laying down his law and asks if anyone has any questions for him. A stone faced JJ is shown, looking like he is at a loss for words. This would not be the end of John and his house rules. More on that to come.

The next shot on the show are quick flashes of Brie and Daniel Bryan's retirements. We now cut to Brie sitting on a couch as her sister Nicole comes in to sit next to her. Brie is angry and doesn't know where the story should start. Nikki starts by talking about her career. Highlights are shown of Nikki's longest reigning Divas title reign and her neck injury. Nikki is shown crying about her career potentially being over. She is then shown in a doctor's office. Putting on a neck brace. Nikki says that after a year of having intense pain in her neck. She decided that corrective neck surgery is the right thing for her. All the while, Her boyfriend John Cena is rehabbing his shoulder and will be in rehab for the next few months. This time period is all prior to WrestleMania in Dallas. Nikki talks about how she will not be able to lift or drive after her neck surgery. Nikki's mom suggests a nurse to take care of both her and John during their recoveries. Nikki suggests to Bryan and Brie that they could move into John's guest house to help her out.

Brie's first reaction to Nicole's suggestion of moving in was "No Way"..... Meanwhile, Brie talks about her current in ring career. How she is still a full time wrestler on the road and how Bryan is still rehabbing for his comeback. Bryan is then shown getting his long hair cut short. It was donated for kids. Brie then says they thought that Bryan was getting ready for his in ring return....... The show then cuts to a scene from The Key Arena in Seattle, Washington. Back in February, The night, Daniel Bryan announced his retirement from wrestling. Michael Cole's voice is heard breaking the retirement news as Daniel and Brie are pulling into the arena parking lot.

Bryan says hello to his fans as he heads towards the arena entrance. He admits to one off screen that this is a hard day for him. Brie is then talking about how hard this was for Bryan. Brie says that despite how much Bryan loved being a wrestler, He was forced to retire because of his injury. Bryan and Brie are shown backstage being greeted by WWE personnel like Jack Swagger. He compliments Bryan on his new haircut. Then Bryan is shown later in the day approaching the gorilla position before he goes out to address the crowd. Wrestlers, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho can be seen by the gorilla position as Bryan passes them by. Bryan is then shown with Brie. They are both crying as Byron Saxton can be heard on commentary talking about how much Bryan is respected by the locker room. A shot is then shown of several WWE wrestlers standing with somber looks on their faces. Most notably, Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. Who both seem very sad.

Lilian Garcia is then overheard on the PA system, asking the Seattle audience to please welcome Daniel Bryan. Parts of Daniel Bryan's retirement speech are shown including the moment where Bryan closes his eyes in the middle of the ring. Bryan brings up the injury to his brain as wrestlers are shown backstage watching the speech. A lighthearted moment in Bryan's speech is shown where he jokes about Brie saying YES all the time. Daniel Bryan then talks about the sadness in no longer being a wrestler. A child is shown at ringside crying as Bryan says this. The end of the speech is shown with Brie joining him, the crowd chanting YES and Vince McMahon and company on stage applauding him..... No Titus arm pull on Vince. That never made the cut...... Brie says that it has been really difficult but the next part of their lives are just beginning.

Next we see, The Bella family in a car together. Nikki is driving and talking about how nervous she feels about her upcoming surgery. Her brother, JJ gives her words of encouragement. JJ is then shown commenting on Nikki's upcoming surgery. He talks about how Bryan's career ended because of a serious injury and he understands why his sister would be scared of her career also potentially being cut short. He knows that she needs this type of neck surgery because of the potential of paralysis and he wants to be there for her when she wakes up from the surgery. Nikki is shown in a hospital room. She is preparing for surgery. Holding John Cena's hand and tells the doctor that she is nervous. The doctor insists that it is a good thing. Nikki is then shown being wheeled into the operating room. Nikki's mom, Kathy starts crying when she sees this scene. She is very worried about one wrong move in the surgery leading to paralysis. The actual surgery is shown to an extent. The doctor takes out a large herniation out of Nicole's neck. It was pushing against her spinal cord. The doctor says that she will feel a lot of relief as a result of the surgery. The doctor informs the family that it was a successful surgery.

Nikki is then shown trying to get around John's house with a neck brace on. Brie and Bryan are shown packing and agreeing to move to Tampa to help Brie's sister in her recovery. Brie and Nikki are seated together. Brie says that they have always been the type of family that stays together when things get hard. Nikki says that she thinks of Boners whenever someone says Hard. She then apologizes to Brie for her comment. Nikki then makes Brie blush when she says that Brie is now thinking about Boners. She admits that her mind went there.

The next scene is John driving Nikki around after her surgery. They spend the car ride talking about the new living arrangements with The Bella family.... J.J., Bryan and Brie are now shown arriving in Tampa. They are heading to John's home. JJ works for his mother and his mom will also be at John's house with her new soon to be husband. We then go to John and Nikki's house in Tampa. Nikki is going over a large box that Brie had shipped that has been damaged. Nikki is with her mom and her fiance, John Laurinaitis. Kathy then talks about how much she love John Laurinaitis and how they would have never met if not for her daughters. A clip is shown of Laurinaitis on Raw with both Bella twins hanging on to him. Laurinaitis then talks about how he hired The Bellas and used to be their boss and how unique this new live in situation will be for everyone. Clips are shown of John Cena beating up Laurinaitis on pay per view and using a fire extinguisher on him..... I think CM Punk remembers that match. Seeing as he was WWE champ and the main event went to Cena and Laurinaitis instead of him......

Bryan, Brie and JJ have arrived at The Cena mansion. They all enter and Brie is talking about how stunning and beautiful the home is. Brie says that Cena's guest house is bigger than Brie and Bryan's entire home. She also points out the differences between the couples. How John and Nikki like to dress up and eat fancy dinners while Brie and Bryan are more laid back and simple.

The differences are on display early. Bryan asks Nikki a simple question. We moved here to help you. What is it that you need us to do? Nikki's response, She goes into John's house rules about cleaning up. Bryan cuts her off and asks her again. How can we help you? Nikki gets it and says she needs a driver and someone to help with her dog, Winston. Bryan jokes that he and Brie are going to be clowns in Nicole's little circus. John Cena enters the room. John and Bryan joke about Brie's box after she shows the damage to it.

Nikki is talking about how they like the finer things in life especially after her and John's humble beginnings. Nikki tells Brie that she needs to put on makeup and look nicer for dinner. The evening has arrived and now everyone is getting dressed up for the formal dinner. Bryan and Brie show up shoeless for the dinner because of the no shoe rule in the house. Nikki and John explain that shoes must be worn for formal dinners. They all sit for dinner. John notices a wine stain on the table cloth and frantically sprays cleaner on it. Nikki says that it doesn't have to be done now. John says that the stain will set in and has to be cleaned immediately. Everyone at the table kind of snickers at John's behavior. It's now time to go back to The John Cena House rules.

Brie is furious after this. Especially with the way, John is bossing them around and set rules for her dog not being in the house.

Back at the dinner table. Nikki does a toast at the table and thanks everyone for their support in her recovery from surgery. John closes the dinner by saying that everyone will adjourn now and that the women will go together while the guys go together. The women go upstairs and drink wine. While the men get together and talk. John Cena offers Bryan some bottled water. He also asks Bryan if he is comfortable in his home. Bryan unconvincingly says yes. John then asks Daniel about his future and what he intends to do. John mentions how good Daniel is at wrestling. Bryan says that his biggest problem with working in wrestling is not being able to actually wrestle. Bryan then compares the end of his wrestling career to grieving after the loss of a loved one.

The next day, Bryan is headed off to The Comic Con convention in San Diego. The Bellas are headed to get some drinks at happy hour. John Cena is there at the restaurant dressed in a purple linen jacket and is setting the table. The conversation gets pretty awkward when Brie orders pickles. Nikki jokes that she may be pregnant. Brie says that she wishes she was pregnant, that you need to have sex to actually get pregnant. Brie says that she hasn't had sex for a month with Bryan in front of her mom, brother, sister and John Cena. Nikki then says that her and John have had sex 2 nights in a row. Cena calls the coupling a handicapped tandem. A one armed man and a woman with no neck. Brie is dumbfounded that her sister is having sex post neck surgery. Brie says that her dog Josie sometimes interrupts her and Bryan when they want to get intimate. She also says that her husband, Bryan doesn't know how to have quickie sex. That Bryan likes to warm up with kissing and everything else. That she wishes he would just do it rather than need a build up. Nikki says she is not surprised that Bryan doesn't like quickies and then John suggests that Brie give Bryan easy hints.

John leaves and The Bellas are still out on the town drinking. They start discussing Kama Sutra and sexual positions. Now Mama Bella is getting into her sexual exploits. How she got laid last night. Poor JJ, Her son sitting there listening to all of this. Brie is jealous that her sister and mom are getting action. Nikki asks Kathy if last night was a quickie. Kathy says that it doesn't take John Laurinaitis an hour to get off......

Fast forward to presumably the next day. Back at The Cena mansion. Everyone is at poolside. John Cena is helping JJ blow up pool floats. Josie starts harassing John Cena and then ends up biting him.

John Cena says Josie's dog bite is not acceptable and suggests calling animal control to come and take the dog away. JJ calls Bryan to tell him about what happened. Bryan apologizes over the phone. Bryan says that he will text John to apologize.

The Bella family are driving around Tampa. They are discussing things potentially getting out of hand at the house when they come across a 9 foot alligator in the road. JJ jumps out to look at it. The gator is being attended to by three people. I assume that are a part of some type of wildlife control group or something but who knows... They actually use duct tape to tape up the gator and put it in their truck. Mama Bella refuses to get out of the car and look at it. Nikki talks about how Josie the dog was walked near that same path that the gator was at. How bad she would feel if anything happened to her.

Back at The Cena home. Bryan asks JJ if John is upset about Josie biting him. JJ says that he is. Bryan sees Cena and apologizes for what his dog did to him. John says, speaking of Josie. What do we do?.... Cena gives Bryan a cold stare as he asks this question. Bryan says that Josie has high anxiety issues and that Brie and him know how to deal with the dog when it gets in that state. John calls a biting dog a liability issue.

Back at the house. JJ sets up fencing for a dog run for Josie. Brie says that she is going to build a dog park for Josie at The Cena House and she is not going to ask for permission. Says that asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission. Calls the house, The "Museum of Cena". JJ, Bryan and Brie go along with their plan. As all 3 go on about their task. Nicole sees them and questions what they are doing. When she is told about Brie's plan. Nikki is angry. That they didn't ask for permission. Nikki and Brie argue with each other. Brie agrees to not build the dog park and calls Nikki Cleopatra and tells her to go stooge to King Tut.

Clips are shown of John Cena's rules being implemented in the house and the various family members being called to task for failing to adhere to those rules. In one of the clips, Kathy is talking about doing cardio. John says that's great but "fix your bed"..... Brie is with Bryan in the backyard. She says that she is tired of all these rules and wants to go home.... Back at The Cena Home, Brie and Bryan are dressed up for another formal dinner. They talk about going back home to Phoenix. Brie is trying to get Bryan to break the news to John but he doesn't want to do it. He asks Brie to do it. Says that he is at John and Nikki's home for her and if he leaves, It will be because of Brie.

We are now at the family formal dinner. The dog run is brought up in the discussion. John is informed about what Brie and company were going to do in his yard. Brie says that they don't feel like they are at home. Nicole says that everyone is scared of John and walking on egg shells. John is surprised. He curses at the table and says we are talking about dog fences. As if to say, What's this about me?..... John says, How do we address this?, What did I do that was so bad?... Brie says that John is too stern and that it is very intimidating to talk to him. John jokes that maybe he should speak in a silly voice instead. John addresses the issue by saying that he is very difficult to live with and Nikki knows this. John apologizes if anyone feels uncomfortable in his home. He is set in his ways but he doesn't want anyone to feel like there is a dark cloud over him and that he is difficult to talk to. That's why there are designated talking times like the morning coffee sessions and the nighttime fires. The show closes with John telling everyone that between now and the end of everyone's stay. There will be ups and downs but they will work it all out.

This video aired after the show in an E news segment. The announcement that Brie is expecting a child with Bryan Danielson.