The Bella Twins were a professional wrestling tag team which consist of Nikki Bella and Brie Bella best known for their time together in WWE.
They are both former WWE Divas Champions, with Nikki's second reign of 301 days being the longest in the title's history. In November 2015, Nikki was ranked #1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Female 50 in 2015. Brie announced that she was taking an extended break from in-ring action in April 2016.
Early lives and careers
Born sixteen minutes apart to parents Jon Garcia and Kathy Colace, Brianna and Nicole were born in San Diego, California and raised on a farm in Scottsdale, Arizona.
They then started modeling, acting, and doing promotional work. They made their first national TV appearance on the Fox reality show Meet My Folks. Following this appearance, the Garcia twins were hired to be the World Cup Twins for Budweiser and were photographed holding the World Cup trophy. They were contestants in the 2006 "International Body Doubles twins search". They participated in the 2006 WWE Diva Search but did not make the cut.
Professional wrestling careers
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
Florida Championship Wrestling (2007-2008)
Brianna and Nicole were signed to developmental contracts by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in June 2007 and were assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's then-developmental territory, in Tampa, Florida. On September 15, 2007, the twins made their in-ring debut. Dubbed The Bella Twins, they defeated Nattie Neidhart and Krissy Vaine with Victoria Crawford as the special guest referee. The duo quickly started a scripted rivalry with Neidhart and Crawford, and had a series of matches against them throughout October 2007. As a part of their on-screen personas, they switched places behind the referee's back if one of them was hurt. They also occasionally competed in mixed tag team matches, teaming with male wrestlers including Kofi Kingston and Robert Anthony. They also made some non-wrestling appearances on Heath Miller's Happy Hour promo segment.
Starting in December 2007, they managed Derrick Linkin, but this storyline was cut short when Linkin was released in January 2008. They then resumed their feud with Neidhart and Crawford, wrestling them throughout much of 2008. After Neidhart was called up to the WWE roster in April 2008, Milena Roucka took her place in the feud. The twins also competed in bikini contests, and wrestled against other competitors including Katie Lea Burchill and Daisy. Their last FCW appearance was on September 2, when they competed in a Divas battle royal won by Miss Angela.
Brand switches (2008-2011)
On the August 29, 2008 episode of SmackDown, Brianna debuted as Brie Bella and defeated Victoria. She quickly began a scripted rivalry with Victoria and Victoria's accomplice, Natalya, and had a series of matches against them. In each match, Brie would roll out of the ring and go underneath it, emerging and appearing revived, and then win the match. On the October 31 episode of SmackDown, when Brie went under the ring Victoria grabbed her legs, but a second pair of legs kicked her off, implying that a second person was under the ring. The following week on SmackDown, Brie picked up a win against Victoria and then ran under the ring to escape Natalya and Victoria, but Victoria and Natalya both reached for Brie under the ring, resulting in both Nicole and Brie being pulled out. The twins then attacked them and celebrated afterward. Nicole was then introduced as Nikki Bella. The twins had their first official match as a team on the November 21 episode of SmackDown, defeating Victoria and Natalya. They continued competing in tag team matches over the following months.
Starting in November, the twins developed an on-screen relationship with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), appearing in numerous backstage segments with them, and accompanying them to the ring. In February 2009, the storyline expanded to include John Morrison and The Miz, who flirted with the Bellas and took them on a date for Valentine's Day. The date provoked a rivalry between the teams of The Miz and Morrison and Primo and Carlito, with the four competing for the affection of the twins, who were seemingly unable to choose between them. On March 17, on ECW, Carlito and Primo, aiming for Morrison and The Miz, accidentally spat apples in the face of Brie. Nikki began to laugh at Brie's misfortune, and a fight broke out between the two, which led to Nikki leaving with The Miz and Morrison, while Brie stayed with Primo and Carlito. Brie won her first match over Nikki in a six-person intergender tag team match on SmackDown the following week. On ECW on March 31, Nikki pinned Brie in their first singles match against each other, after a distraction from Morrison and The Miz.
On April 15, 2009, The Bella Twins were both drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On April 27, Brie made her Raw in-ring debut in an eight-Diva tag team match, which her team won. Nikki also made an appearance, reuniting with her twin, as she was under the ring to help Brie during the match. Nikki then made her in-ring debut for the brand the following month in a battle royal, but was eliminated by Beth Phoenix.
On June 29, 2009, they were both traded to the ECW brand. They debuted on ECW the following night on The Abraham Washington Show, as the special guests. They quickly developed a storyline feud with Katie Lea Burchill, when Nikki defeated her in a match by switching places with Brie behind the referee's back. The following week on Superstars, Brie defeated Burchill after a similar fashion, and the feud ended in September, when Nikki defeated Burchill on Superstars.
On October 12, the Bellas were traded back to Raw as part of a tri-branded Divas trade, where they predominately appeared in backstage segments with the weekly guest stars and only occasionally competed in matches. On the January 4, 2010, episode of Raw, Brie participated in a tournament for the vacant WWE Divas Championship, but lost to Maryse in the first round, when a switch resulted in Nikki being pinned. In June 2010, they developed a feud with Jillian Hall, when Brie defeated her after switching places with Nikki. The following week, Nikki defeated Hall after switching with Brie. The feud was exacerbated when the Bellas acted as the special guest referees during one of Hall's matches. During the match, Hall attacked both twins, but lost the match when Nikki made a fast count, allowing her to be pinned by Gail Kim. The next week on Superstars, the twins defeated Hall and Maryse in a tag team match to end the storyline.
On August 31, The Bella Twins announced they would be part of the all-female third season of NXT, mentoring Jamie. Jamie was the first rookie Diva eliminated on the October 5 episode of NXT. In November, the twins began a storyline with Daniel Bryan, when Brie accompanied him to the ring for his match. Following his win, Nikki ran out and the two fought over Bryan's affection, until Bryan broke it up and had them hug each other. They began to manage Bryan and frequently accompanied him to the ring over the next two months. In January 2011, both Bellas turned into villainous characters, when they discovered Bryan kissing Gail Kim backstage and assaulted her. They continued to attack Kim, both at the Royal Rumble and on Raw, and on February 7, they teamed with Melina in a losing effort to Kim, Eve Torres, and Tamina.
Divas Champions (2011-2012)
The Bellas began feuding with Eve Torres after they appeared as lumberjills during a Divas Championship match between Torres and Natalya on the February 14 episode of Raw. Following the match, they attacked Torres backstage before Gail Kim and Natalya stopped them. The next week, the twins defeated Torres and Kim in a tag team match. The following week, Nikki won a battle royal to become the number one contender for the Divas Championship, and unsuccessfully challenged Torres for the championship on March 7.
On April 11, Brie defeated Torres to win the Divas Championship, marking the first time either twin had held a championship in WWE. Brie went on to successfully defend the championship against Kelly Kelly at Over the Limit, after switching places with Nikki. On a special "Power to the People" episode of Raw on June 20, Brie defended her WWE Divas Championship against Kelly, who was selected by voters. Kelly then defeated Brie and won the championship. On July 17, Brie challenged Kelly for the championship in a rematch at Money in the Bank, but failed to win.
The twins spent the majority of the rest of the year in tag team matches, regularly facing Kelly and Torres. The Bellas began to show friction for the second time since joining WWE in March 2012, after both twins lost to AJ Lee in singles competition. After Brie's match with Lee, Nikki revealed that Brie was rooting for Team Johnny in the 12-man tag team match at WrestleMania XXVIII, whilst Nikki was rooting for Team Teddy, thus furthering their dissension.
On the April 6 episode of SmackDown, Nikki defeated the Divas Champion Beth Phoenix in a non-title match, after Kelly Kelly distracted Phoenix. On April 23, Nikki defeated Phoenix in a lumberjill match on Raw to win the Divas Championship for the first time. Brie lost Nikki's championship to Layla at Extreme Rules after Twin Magic failed, ending her Divas Championship reign after only a week. The following night on Raw, they competed in their last match with the WWE, failing to win back the Divas Championship from Layla in a triple threat match. Later that night, WWE announced on their website that the twins had been fired by Executive Administrator Eve Torres.
Independent circuit (2012-2013)
On May 1, 2012, the twins appeared at their first independent wrestling show in Newburgh, New York at Northeast Wrestling. They later appeared for CTWE Pro Wrestling at the Season Beatings pay-per-view on December 15, each accompanying a different wrestler to the ring.
Return to WWE
Total Divas storylines (2013-2014)
The Bella Twins returned to WWE on the March 11, 2013, episode of Raw in a backstage segment with Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow). On the March 15 episode of SmackDown, the twins attacked The Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi), and the following week interfered in matches between Team Rhodes Scholars and Brodus Clay and Tensai, but were attacked by The Funkadactyls. The twins made their in-ring return facing and defeating The Funkadactyls on the March 27 episode of Main Event after interference from Cody Rhodes, and also defeated them on Raw five days later. The Bella Twins were scheduled to participate in an eight-person tag team match with Team Rhodes Scholars against Tons of Funk (Clay and Tensai) and The Funkadactyls at WrestleMania 29, but the match was cancelled due to time restraints, and instead took place the following night on Raw, where The Bella Twins and Team Rhodes Scollars were defeated. The twins continued their feud with The Funkadactyls throughout April, defeating them in standard tag team, and six-Diva tag team matches. In June, Nikki suffered a fractured tibia.
Upon the debut of the Total Divas reality television program in July, The Bellas began feud with their co-star on the show, Natalya. Brie and Natalya went on to trade victories in singles competition on Raw and at SummerSlam. The cast of Total Divas then transitioned into a scripted feud with Divas Champion AJ Lee, who mocked the show and cast. At Night of Champions, Brie unsuccessfully challenged Lee for the Divas Championship in a four-way match, which also involved Natalya and Naomi. Following Brie's real-life engagement to Daniel Bryan, their relationship began to be acknowledged on WWE television. Continuing their feud into October, Brie and AJ Lee faced off at the Battleground and Hell in a Cell pay-per-views for the Divas Championship, but Brie was unsuccessful. Nikki returned to in-ring action on the October 25 episode of SmackDown, losing to Lee. At Survivor Series the following month, the twins were part of the victorious Team Total Divas. The twins failed to win the Divas Championship again at WrestleMania XXX in the Divas Invitational match, which was won by AJ Lee.
Feud with Stephanie McMahon and brief split (2014)
In April 2014, Brie became involved in her real-life husband Daniel Bryan's ongoing storyline with Stephanie McMahon and Kane, where as part of the storyline, McMahon threatened to fire Brie if, an injured, Bryan did not relinquish the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Payback, which forced Brie to "quit" WWE before slapping McMahon in the face. After Brie quit, McMahon put Nikki in several handicap matches as punishment. After a month absence, Brie returned to WWE television, appearing in the crowd on July 21; following a confrontation, McMahon slapped Brie and was subsequently arrested. In order to have Brie drop the "charges", Brie was rehired and received a match against McMahon at SummerSlam.
At the pay-per-view, Nikki turned villainous by attacking Brie, which allowed McMahon to win the match. The next several weeks saw the twins fight in several backstage and in-ring segments, including a cameo appearance from Jerry Springer on Raw on September 8. As part of the storyline, McMahon declared Nikki the face of the WWE Divas division and granted her a match at Night of Champions for the WWE Divas Championship, which she failed to win. Nikki then obtained permission to begin forcing Brie to compete in handicap matches, similar to her punishment at the hands of McMahon, although Brie was able to win them. This led to a match between the twins at Hell in a Cell, where the loser was forced to become the winner's personal assistant for 30 days, in which Nikki defeated Brie. Five days later on SmackDown, Nikki won a Halloween costume battle royal to become the number one contender for the Divas Championship.
Divas Champion and Team Bella (2014-2016)
Nikki received her title match against AJ Lee on November 23 at Survivor Series, which she won, with Brie's help, to become a two-time Divas Champion. The duo had reconciled at this point, with Brie also turning heel in the process. Nikki then went on to retain her championship in three separate occasions — against Lee in a rematch on December 14, at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, against Naomi two days later on SmackDown and against Paige at Fastlane on February 22, 2015. Paige and AJ then formed an alliance against Bellas which led to a tag team match at WrestleMania 31, where AJ and Paige were victorious.
On April 26, after Nikki, with the help of Brie, once again retained her title against Naomi at Extreme Rules a feud started, with Naomi aligning with the returning Tamina to even the odds against Bellas, who began showing more heroic characteristics, This change in character was criticized as "sudden", "randomly" and "for no reason". This led to a tag team match between the two teams on May 17, at Payback, which Naomi and Tamina won. Two weeks later, at Elimination Chamber, Nikki retained her title against Naomi and Paige in a triple-threat match, with Brie banned from ringside.
In June, The Bella Twins became villains once again by employing Twin Magic, which helped Nikki retain the title against Paige on the June 1 episode of Raw and at Money in the Bank. During the feud with Paige, Alicia Fox allied with them to form Team Bella. At the The Beast in the East on July 4, Nikki retained the title against Paige and Tamina. After weeks of Team Bella outnumbering Paige, Naomi, and Tamina, Stephanie McMahon called for a "revolution" in the WWE Divas division and introduced the debuting Charlotte and Becky Lynch as Paige's allies. NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks debuted as an ally to Naomi and Tamina, which led to a brawl between the three teams. Nikki then lost to Charlotte in a tag team match on the August 3 episode of Raw, and to Sasha on the August 17 episode of Raw in a non-title match. The three teams faced off on August 23 at SummerSlam in a three team elimination match, in which Team Bella first eliminated Team B.A.D., before Team PCB's win.
On the September 14 episode of Raw, Nikki defended her title against Charlotte, who pinned Brie after the twins had switched places to win the match, however, since the title can't change hands by disqualification, Nikki retained the championship, and in the process, became the new longest reigning Divas Champion in history, surpassing AJ Lee's previous record of 295 days. Nikki dropped the championship to Charlotte, on September 20, at Night of Champions, ending her reign at 301 days, and failed to regain the title in a rematch on October 25 at Hell in a Cell. Shortly after, Nikki went on a hiatus from television due to a neck injury which would require surgery, but returned for one night on December 21, to accept the Slammy Award for Diva of the Year. During this time, Brie continued to compete in singles competition, and in tag team matches with Fox.
Various storylines and Brie's semi-retirement (2016-present)
After defeating Charlotte in a non-title match on the February 1 episode of Raw, Brie was granted a match for the WWE Divas Championship at Fastlane on February 21, where she failed to capture the title. During that time, Team Bella quietly disbanded and Brie transitioned into a fan favorite.
Upon March, Brie was placed in a feud with Lana, who argued that Brie's fans only supported her out of pity for having a "bad husband", and went on to distract Brie during her matches and attack her after the matches. Brie then aligned herself with fellow Total Divas cast members Alicia Fox, Natalya, Paige and Eva Marie, while Lana aligned herself with Team B.A.D. (Naomi and Tamina), Summer Rae and Emma, leading to a 10-woman tag team match on the WrestleMania 32 kick-off show, which Team Total Divas would win when Brie submitted Naomi. Three days later, on April 6, Brie confirmed that she would be taking an extended break from in-ring competition, citing family reasons, while also stating that she will continue working for WWE as an ambassador.
Other media
Prior to working with WWE, the twins appeared on Meet My Folks. Both twins also appeared in the music video for "Right Side of the Bed" by the band Atreyu. They also appeared in the music video for "Na Na" by Trey Songz in 2014. The twins made a guest appearance on the MTV series Ridiculousness in October 2012.
The twins guest starred on the television series Psych, in the 2014 episode "A Nightmare on State Street". Nikki and Brie are part of the main cast for the reality television show Total Divas, which began airing in July 2013. In April 2016, it was announced that Total Bellas, a spin-off of Total Divas starring the twins, would begin airing in fall 2016.
Nikki and Brie co-starred in the 2014 independent film Confessions of a Womanizer, and provided voices for the 2015 movie The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!.
Both twins appeared on the WWE YouTube show The JBL & Cole Show. Nikki appeared at the Miss USA 2013 pageant as one of the celebrity judges. They appeared at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards, where they presented the award for Best Female. The twins were both nominated for Choice Female Athlete at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards. Brie appeared alongside Paige, Natalya and the Chrisley family on the 88th Academy Awards edition of E! Countdown to the Red Carpet in February 2016.
The Bella Twins have appeared in seven WWE video games. They made their in-game debut at WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2010 and appeared in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, WWE 12 (DLC), WWE 13, WWE 2K14 (DLC), WWE 2K15, and WWE 2K16. She was confirmed to be one of the first three wrestlers to be scanned for WWE 2K17 but it is unknown if she will make the cut.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Confessions of a Womanizer | Erica and Sally | |
| 2015 | The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! | Brie and Nikki Boulder | Voice performances |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002/2003 | Meet My Folks | Unknown | |
| 2012 | Ridiculousness | Themselves | |
| 2013-present | Total Divas | Main Cast (Season 1-present) | |
| 2014 | Psych | Episode: "A Nightmare on State Street" | |
| 2016 | Total Bellas | Main Cast |
Personal lives
Since 2012, Nicole has been dating fellow professional wrestler John Cena. Nicole previously dated Nick Nemeth, who is known on-screen as Dolph Ziggler. In May 2014, Nicole revealed on Total Divas that she had married her high school sweetheart at the age of 20; the marriage was annulled three years later. Nicole also announced on Total Divas in 2014 that she is a qualified real-estate agent.
Brianna and her long-term boyfriend, retired professional wrestler Bryan Danielson (better known as Daniel Bryan), revealed their engagement in September 2013. The couple married on April 11, 2014. She was previously in a relationship with former Poison guitarist Richie Kotzen. Brianna is an animal and environmental advocate, and has used her appearances on Total Divas to promote awareness of environmental and animal cruelty issues.
In wrestling
Nikki Bella setting up to perform the Rack Attack on Naomi Nikki Bella executing an Alabama slam on Paige at WrestleMania 31 Brie Bella applying a single leg Boston crab on Cameron Brie Bella performing a missile dropkick on Naomi Brie Bella setting up a snap suplex on Aksana at WrestleMania XXX- Finishing moves used by both
- Bella Buster (Sitout facebuster) — 2008-2013
- Twin Magic (Simultaneously switching places on a distracted referee, often followed by a Bella Buster or a small package)
- Brie's finishing moves
- Superkick
- Bella Buster (Sitout facebuster, sometimes while running or diving) — 2008-2016
- "Yes!" Lock (Omoplata) - 2014-2016; adopted from her husband
- Nikki's finishing moves
- Rack Attack (Backbreaker rack drop) — 2013-2015
- Signature moves used by both
- Abdominal stretch, transitioned into a modified chinlock, to a seated opponent
- Diving crossbody
- Flying clothesline, sometimes done repeatedly in succession
- Fireman's carry takeover, followed by an armbar
- Hair-pull mat slam
- Jumping snapmare
- Monkey flip
- Multiple pinning variations
- Roll-up
- Schoolgirl, sometimes out of a corner
- Reverse chinlock
- Snapmare, followed by a rolling neck snap
- Running one-handed bulldog
- Slingshot suplex
- Snap suplex
- Springboard arm drag
- Suicide dive
- Sunset flip powerbomb, from an elevated position
- Brie's signature moves
- Backflip knee arm drag
- DDT
- Flying clothesline, sometimes from the ring apron
- Multiple kick variations
- Baseball slide
- Missile drop, from the second rope, with theatrics
- Running low drop, to the head or side of a kneeling opponent
- Running single leg drop
- Repeated shoot, to the chest, back or midsection of a kneeling or cornered opponent
- Bicycle toe
- Multiple pinning variations
- Crucifix
- Small package
- Multiple elbow drop strikes, to an seated opponent's shoulder
- Modified headscissors armbar
- Running knee, to a seated opponent's head, with theatrics
- Single leg Boston crab, sometimes while kneeling on the opponent's back
- Thesz press, followed by multiple punches
- Nikki's signature moves
- Alabama slam
- Back body drop
- Cross armbreaker
- Front powerslam, while applying a hammerlock
- Headscissors, sometimes transitioned into figure-four and followed by multiple push-up facebusters
- Handstand cornered backflip calf kick, to an oncoming opponent
- One-handed thesz press, followed by multiple mat slams
- Modified achilles lock
- Running elbow or forearm smash, sometimes to an oncoming opponent
- Snapmare knee attack
- Spinebuster, sometimes to an oncoming opponent
- Springboard roundhouse kick
- Tilt-a-whirl headscissors takedown
- Tag team moves
- Double team finishing moves
- Double superkick
- Rolling double leg slam
- double hair-pull
- mat slam
- Double team signature moves
- Double arm wringer hair-pull mat slam
- Double dropkick, to an oncoming opponent
- Double flapjack
- Double hiptoss
- Double team finishing moves
- With Alicia Fox
- Double team signature moves
- Double axe handle, to an opponent's midsection, sometimes followed by a legsweep (Nikki)
- Diving double axe handle, from the second rope, to the opponent's arm
- Double suplex
- Double team signature moves
- Managers
- Eva Marie
- Alicia Fox
- Wrestlers managed
- The Colóns (Carlito and Primo)
- Daniel Bryan
- John Cena
- John Morrison
- The Miz
- Luke Robinson
- Jerry Lawler
- Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow)
- Eva Marie
- Alicia Fox
- Entrance themes
- "You Can Look (But You Can't Touch)" performed by Kim Sozzi and composed by Jim Johnston (2008-present)
- "Beautiful Life" by CFO$ (Brie Bella, 2014-2016)
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked Brie 16 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2014
- PWI ranked Nikki 1 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2015
- Rolling Stone
- Diva of the Year (2015) - Nikki
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter'
- Worst Feud of the Year (2014)
- Worst Feud of the Year (2015)
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (2013)
- WWE
- WWE Divas Championship (3 times) - Brie (1), Nikki (2)
- Slammy Awards (4 times)
- Couple of the Year (2013, 2014) - Brie (with Daniel Bryan)
- Diva of the Year (2013, 2015) — (2013-both, 2015-Nikki)
Luchas de Apuestas record
See also: Luchas de Apuestas| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikki Bella (winner's personal assistant for 30 days/contract) | Brie Bella (winner's personal assistant for 30 days/contract) | Dallas, Texas | Hell in a Cell | 000000002014-10-26-0000October 26, 2014 |
[ Source: Wikipedia ]