The Bella Twins On Why They First Left WWE In 2012

Hollywood actor and former WWE Creative Writer, Freddie Prinze Jr. this week had The Bella Twins as his guests on Wrestling with Freddie.

The Freddie and The Bella Twins dived into a number of topics. This included how WWE's female superstars were given just five minutes, including entrances, to make an impression according to Prinze Jr. during his time with the company.

"When we first signed with WWE, and we made it TV finally, we re-did a five-year contract," Nikki Bella said. "So we were on TV for five years and our five years were coming up. I remember at that point, Brie and I just did not like how women were treated in WWE. Two-minute matches but were allowed ten minutes on live events. While we were working hard on live events, we were never allowed a showcase on TV and our stories didn't have depth and we just weren't treated right. I remember when our contract was coming up and we kept wanting to talk about it. They were like 'yeah, yeah we need to get to that, we need to get to that.' So finally, I and Brie got a point where we said 'let's not remind them, and let's see what happens.'

"So, it's about — I think our contracts up after this one RAW, the next day. Still, no one talks to us, and I'm the champion. This is when I beat Beth Phoenix and I'm wondering if anyone is going to talk to me about my contract. Sure enough, the reason why I dropped it to Layla in Chicago out of nowhere was that I was like 'I'm not signing.' They were like 'we'll give you these stories,' and I was like, you couldn't even have a conversation with me. I remember we'd just had this conversation and I said 'we're leaving.' They still probably thought Brie and I were going to sign after the show or that week, they kept calling. Literally, when we left RAW in Chicago, after the championship match, we left and that was it."

The duo eventually re-signed with the company, as they looked to make a difference and change the game when it came to the women in WWE. The Bella Twins saw the women's locker room was miserable and a big change was needed. The hit reality series Total Divas gave the women's roster a huge lift and more exposure on WWE programming in 2013.

"The one thing, and it's what you said like how Vince recognizes it. We all know Vince is all about putting a**** in seats," Brie Bella explains. "He cares about money. Like, buying the ticket and all this, and the one thing that Total Divas did was it showed Vince that people are coming to the show to see women. It was more than just like men coming, it started to be young girls and women buying tickets just to see the Total Divas.

"He doesn't quantify oh there's a sign or there's a sign, it was starting to get a point where you'd see these crowds, and I think that's when Vince was like we have to give them more time because people are coming now."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Wrestling with Freddie with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.