Nikki Bella On Decision To Return To WWE, Reaction From Cena & Others

Nikki Bella and Brie Bella recently appeared on Busted Open Radio to promote their new reality show Total Bellas.

Regarding her in-ring return for the first time following a neck operation and lengthy hiatus on the sidelines, Nikki Bella offered the following comments.

“I think that’s what made me more nervous than ever was I didn’t want, when I did make my comeback and was able to get in the ring, I didn’t want it to be like ‘oh… she’s back.’ I wanted to be impressive. I wanted to be at the same level as all those girls. So, only being able to get in the ring for two weeks before that, because I wasn’t planning on coming back until October. So, I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to have all this time to really train hard, be at the level where these girls are at.’ But, I knew that I had to change my style as well. I wanted to be able to stay on the same level as all the girls in the new era, but knowing that I had to protect myself as well.

“It was a lot of pressure. Even on the Sunday of SummerSlam, I was hidden all day. No one could see me. I literally didn’t come off the bus until the middle of Dolph [Ziggler] and Dean’s [Ambrose] match which was on right before us….I was so nervous, but when I came back and to that reaction, it was weird it was like ‘I’m home.’ It gave me this feeling and it was good and even though I didn’t do much because they were like ‘OK, we don’t know what you can do.’ That was my first match back. I had trained, but… so that’s why I did just very little. I didn’t want to come back and then ‘oh, I’m injured again.'”

She also revealed that the process of her family and loved ones reactions to her decision to go back to WWE when she had already accomplished so much is documented on her new reality show, “Total Bellas.

“You see that in “Total Bellas” this season. You actually see a lot of those conversations of how my mom feels, my brother, John [Cena], [Daniel] Bryan and then I even have friends come in town and when they hear that I’m going back they’re like ‘wait, what? You did everything you could!’ I think that’s what everyone thought was: ‘What more do you want? You’re the longest reigning Diva’s Champion, you were #1 on PWI, and you’ve achieved all these amazing goals, you were Diva of the Year, why do you want to go back?’

“I had so many historic moments up until then so I think for people they’re like ‘you did everything you could, why do you want to go back?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t even care if I go back as a jobber. I love wrestling and I miss it. And that’s what I want to do in coming back. That’s what I told them, I was like, ‘Use me to make the Women’s division stronger. Let me help them take it to the next level.’ And that’s been the goal.”