Nikki Bella Opens Up About Bringing Her Personal Issues Into WWE Storylines
Leading up to their match at last month's Evolution pay-per-view, Nikki Bella and RAW women's champion Ronda Rousey weren't shy about getting personal in their promos. On a recent episode of the In This Corner podcast, Bella discussed what it's like bringing real-life drama into WWE storylines.
Bella recently went through a public breakup with fellow WWE superstar John Cena earlier this year, and Rousey referenced the breakup numerous times leading up to the match. Bella said it's something that comes with the job of being a professional wrestler. She said she still is not fully healed from the breakup, but she chose to return for the match at Evolution because she wanted to please the fans.
"There are definitely an emotional price to pay bringing it. I don't think the fans understand what we give them because at the end of the day we are still human beings so stuff still hurts, it can still make us very emotional," Bella said. "To be honest, this comeback was so soon for me to come back because very much my happy place I was able to share it with someone, but this was for the women, this was for WWE Evolution, so that was why I had to come back. There was a part of me where, when I had said yes, I wondered if I could handle it. At the end of the day I am a woman who went through a public breakup and it still affects me."
Despite not seeing Cena in person, Bella had no way of avoiding Cena because he is the face of the WWE. She admitted it was hard to deal with that, but she said it showed how far she is willing to go to perform for the fans. Bella pointed to Roman Reigns' battle with leukemia as another example of WWE superstars having to work through real-life issues, and she said they do that because of how much they love performing.
"It has taken–I am not even lying, so much meditation to be able to hold my chin up high when I walk into the building and bite my lip and not want to cry when I see that man's face everywhere I turn," she said, referring to Cena. "Whether it is on a truck, on a poster, so we do pay for that, but at the end of the day I love what I do and I want to sell a pay per view and I want to have an amazing match. I want to have an amazing story going into it, I do it for the fans. Whether they like it or not I do it for them. I do it for the Bella Army. Thing is, when you guys have a hard day at work you tune into us to escape where you can get lost into your imagination and let me get lost with my superheroes and villains, and that is the sacrifices we make for you guys. Look at Joe [Roman Reigns]. Joe can't wait to fight so he can get back into the ring and perform for you, which is what makes WWE Superstars so beautiful so you know, we kind of put this protective shell in front of us, and whether or not it hurts, we just want to give it our best performance."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit In This Corner with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: In This Corner
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.