The Bella Twins were an American
professional wrestlingtag team that performed in
WWE and consisted of identical
twin sisters
Brie Bella and
Nikki Bella. Each of the Bella Twins are former
WWE Divas Champions. Brie was the first twin in WWE to win the title, while Nikki won it twice with her second reign of 301 days being the longest reign for the now defunct title.
Both sisters signed with WWE in 2007 and were assigned to the
developmental territory,
Florida Championship Wrestling. Brie Bella was called up to the main roster in 2008. In early appearances, she surreptitiously switched places with her sister to win her matches. After some weeks, Nikki Bella was revealed as her twin. During the next few years, they worked together as a team, as well as individually. Each sister won the WWE Divas Championship once before they were released in 2012. The Bella Twins made their return in 2013 and were featured in the reality show Total Divas before getting their own spin-off, Total Bellas. They were inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame in
2021 as a team. The twins would only make occasional appearances in WWE in their last few years, but acted as ambassadors for the company until their contracts expired in 2023. Following this, they retired the "Bella" name and reintroduced themselves as The Garcia Twins as "Garcia" was their maiden name.
In November 2015, Nikki was ranked No. 1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's
Female 50.[3] In 2015, Nikki also won a WWE Slammy Award for Diva of The Year.
Early lives and careers
Nicole and Brianna Garcia were born sixteen minutes apart on November 21, 1983, in
Brawley, California and raised on a farm in the outskirts of
Scottsdale, Arizona.[4] They are of
Mexican and
Italian descent[5] and played soccer in their youth. The twins graduated from
Chaparral High School in 2002.[6] They returned to San Diego for college, where Nicole continued playing soccer for
Grossmont College, with both twins also working at Hooters.[4] A year later, the twins relocated to
Los Angeles in pursuit of acting and modeling opportunities, making ends meet doing various gigs from marketing for a now defunct record label, to cocktail waitressing at the
Mondrian Hotel.
They then made their first national TV appearance on the
Fox reality show Meet My Folks.[6][7] Following this appearance, the twins were hired to be the World Cup Twins for
Budweiser and were photographed holding the
World Cup trophy.[8] They were contestants in the 2006 "International Body Doubles twins search".[9] They participated in the
2006WWE Diva Search, but did not make the cut.[10]
Starting in December 2007, they managed Derrick Linkin,[12] 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.[13] In FCW, the twins competed in
bikini contests and wrestled against
Katie Lea Burchill,
Milena Roucka, and
Nattie Neidhart. Their last FCW appearance was on September 2, when they competed in a
Divasbattle royal won by
Miss Angela.[13]
Various storylines (2008–2011)
On the August 29 episode of SmackDown, Brianna debuted as
Brie Bella and defeated
Victoria.[14] She had a series of matches with Victoria and Victoria's accomplice
Natalya.[15][16][17] In each match, Brie would roll out of the
ring, slip underneath it, and emerge surprisingly revived to win the match.[15][18] On the November 7 episode of 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.[19] 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.[20] They continued competing in tag team matches over the following months.[21][22][23]
Starting in November, the twins developed an on-screen relationship with
The Colóns (
Carlito and
Primo).[24][25] 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.[26][27] 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.[28][29] On March 17 on ECW, Carlito and Primo, aiming for Morrison and The Miz, accidentally spat apples in the face of Brie.[30] 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.[30] Brie won her first match over Nikki in a six-person
intergender tag team match on SmackDown the following week.[31] On ECW on March 31, Nikki pinned Brie in their first
singles match against each other after a distraction from Morrison and The Miz.[32]
On April 15, The Bella Twins were both drafted to the
Raw brand as part of the
2009 supplemental draft.[33] 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.[34] 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, they were both traded to the
ECW brand.[35] They debuted on ECW the following night on The
Abraham Washington Show, as the special guests.[36] 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.[37] The following week on Superstars, Brie defeated Burchill after a similar fashion, and the feud ended in September, when Nikki defeated Burchill on Superstars.[38][39]
On October 12, the Bellas were traded back to Raw as part of a tri-branded Divas trade,[40] where they predominately appeared in backstages segments with the
weekly guest stars and only occasionally competed in matches.[11] In June 2010, they developed a feud with
Jillian Hall, when Brie defeated her after switching places with Nikki.[41] The following week, Nikki defeated Hall after switching with Brie.[42] 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.[43] The next week on Superstars, the twins defeated Hall and Maryse in a tag team match to end the storyline.[44]
On August 31, The Bella Twins announced they would be part of the all-female third season of NXT, mentoring Jamie.[45] Jamie was the first rookie Diva eliminated on the October 5 episode of NXT.[46] 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.[47] They began to manage Bryan and frequently accompanied him to the ring over the next two months.[48][49] In January 2011, they discovered Bryan kissing Gail Kim backstage and assaulted her.[50] They continued to attack Kim, both at the
Royal Rumble on January 30 and the following night on Raw.[51][52] On February 7, they teamed with
Melina in a losing effort to Kim,
Eve Torres and
Tamina.[53]
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.[11] The next week on Raw, the twins defeated Torres and Kim in a tag team match.[54] The following week on Raw, 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.[55][56]
On April 11, Brie defeated Torres to win the Divas Championship, marking the first time either twin had held a championship in WWE.[57][58] On May 22, Brie went on to successfully defend the championship against
Kelly Kelly at
Over the Limit after switching places with Nikki.[59] 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), losing the title and ending her reign at 70 days.[60] On July 17, Brie challenged Kelly for the championship in a rematch at
Money in the Bank on July 17, but she failed to win.[61]
The Bellas began to show friction in March 2012 after both twins lost to
AJ Lee in singles competition.[62][63] 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 on April 1 whilst Nikki was rooting for
Team Teddy, thus furthering their dissension.[64]
On the April 6 episode of SmackDown, Nikki defeated the Divas Champion
Beth Phoenix in a non-title match after Kelly Kelly distracted Phoenix.[65] On April 23, Nikki defeated Phoenix in a lumberjill match on Raw to win the Divas Championship for the first time.[66][67] Brie lost Nikki's championship to
Layla at
Extreme Rules on April 29 after Twin Magic failed, ending her Divas Championship reign after only a week.[68] 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.[69] Later that night, WWE announced on their website that the twins had been fired by Executive Administrator Eve Torres.[70]
Independent circuit promotions (2012–2013)
On May 1, 2012, the twins appeared at their first independent wrestling show in
Newburgh, New York at Northeast Wrestling.[71][72] 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.
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).[73] On the March 15 episode of SmackDown, the twins attacked
The Funkadactyls (
Cameron and
Naomi)[74] and the following week interfered in matches between Team Rhodes Scholars and
Brodus Clay and
Tensai, but were attacked by The Funkadactyls.[75][76] The twins made their in-ring return defeating The Funkadactyls on the March 27 episode of Main Event after interference from Cody Rhodes.[77] 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 on April 7, but the match was canceled due to time restraints[78] and instead took place the following night on Raw, where The Bella Twins and Team Rhodes Scholars were defeated.[79] In June, Nikki suffered a
fractured tibia.[80]
Upon the debut of the Total Divasreality television program in July, The Bellas began a feud with their co-star on the show
Natalya, with Brie and Natalya trading victories in singles competition on Raw and at
SummerSlam on August 18.[81][82][83] The cast of Total Divas then transitioned into a scripted feud with
Divas ChampionAJ Lee, who mocked the show and cast.[83] At
Night of Champions on September 15, Brie unsuccessfully challenged Lee for the Divas Championship in a four-way match, which also involved Natalya and Naomi.[84] Continuing their feud into October, Brie and Lee faced off at
Battleground and
Hell in a Cell for the Divas Championship, but Brie was unsuccessful.[85][86] Nikki returned to in-ring action on the October 25 episode of SmackDown, losing to Lee.[87] At
Survivor Series on November 24, the twins were part of the victorious Team Total Divas.[88] On April 6, they failed to win the Divas Championship again at
WrestleMania XXX in the Divas Invitational match, which was won by Lee.[89]
Brief split (2014)
In April 2014, Brie became involved in her real-life husband
Daniel Bryan's ongoing storyline with
Stephanie McMahon and
Kane,[90] whereas part of the storyline McMahon threatened to fire Brie if an injured Bryan did not relinquish the
WWE World Heavyweight Championship at
Payback on June 1, which forced Brie to "quit" WWE before slapping McMahon in the face.[91] After Brie "quit", McMahon put Nikki in several
handicap matches as punishment.[92][93][94] After a month absence, Brie returned to WWE television, appearing in the crowd on July 21 and starting a confrontation with McMahon who slapped Brie and was subsequently arrested.[95] In order to have Brie drop the "charges", Brie was rehired and received a match against McMahon at
SummerSlam.[96]
Nikki attacked Brie at the event on August 17, which allowed McMahon to win the match.[97] 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.[98] 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 Divas Championship, which she failed to win.[99][100] At
Hell in a Cell, Nikki defeated Brie in a match where the loser was forced to become the winner's
personal assistant for 30 days.[101]
Nikki and Brie reunited at
Survivor Series on November 23 when Nikki defeated
AJ Lee with Brie's help to become a two-time Divas Champion.[102] Nikki retained her championship in three separate occasions—against Lee in a rematch at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14,[103] against
Naomi two days later on SmackDown[104] and against
Paige on February 22, 2015, at
Fastlane.[105] Paige and Lee then formed an
alliance against the Bellas[106] which led to a tag team match at
WrestleMania 31 on March 29, which the Bellas lost.[107][108]
Team Bella (2015)
On April 20, 2015, at Monday Night Raw, the Bella Twins would briefly turn babyfaces. After Nikki retained her title over Naomi at
Extreme Rules on April 26,[109] Nikki started a
feud with Naomi after she aligned with the returning
Tamina to even the odds against Bellas. This led to a tag team match between the two teams at
Payback on May 17, which Naomi and Tamina won.[110] At
Elimination Chamber on May 31, Nikki retained her title against Naomi and Paige in a
triple threat match, with Brie banned from ringside.[111]
In June, The Bella Twins became heels 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 on June 14.[112][113] During the feud with Paige,
Alicia Fox allied with them to form Team Bella.[114] At
The Beast in the East on July 4, Nikki retained the title against Paige and Tamina.[115]
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 while
NXT Women's ChampionSasha Banks debuted as an ally to Naomi and Tamina, which led to a brawl between the three teams.[116][117] Nikki then lost to Charlotte in a tag team match on the August 3 episode of Raw[118] and to Banks on the August 17 episode of Raw in a non-title match.[119] On August 23, the three teams faced off at
SummerSlam in a
three team elimination match in which Team Bella first eliminated
Team B.A.D. before Team PCB's win.[120]
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, but she retained the championship since the title cannot change hands by disqualification and in the process became the new longest reigning Divas Champion in history, surpassing AJ Lee's previous record of 295 days.[121]
Sporadic appearances and Hall of Fame (2015–2022)
On September 20, Nikki
dropped the championship to Charlotte at
Night of Champions, ending her reign at 301 days[122] and failing to regain the title in a rematch at
Hell in a Cell on October 25.[123] Shortly after, Nikki went on a hiatus from both television and in-ring competition due to a neck injury which would require surgery,[124][125] but returned for one night on December 21 to accept the
Slammy Award for
Diva of the Year.[126] During Nikki's absence, Brie continued to compete in singles competition and in tag team matches with Fox.[126][127][128] Brie was unsuccessful in winning the Divas Championship at
Fastlane on February 21 in a match against Charlotte.[129] During that time, Team Bella quietly disbanded.[130][131]
In March 2016, 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".[132] 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 (which was officially called Team B.A.D. and Blonde), leading to a 10-woman tag team match on the
WrestleMania 32 kickoff show on April 3, which Team Total Divas would win when Naomi submitted to Brie. After the match, Nikki returned and celebrated with her co-stars.[133] 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.[134]
On January 22, 2018, on the Raw 25 Years special episode, The Bella Twins were honored as part of a segment involving women considered legends that contributed to the company's success.[135] At the
Royal Rumble on January 28, Brie and Nikki participated in the first ever women's Royal Rumble match at No. 28 and No. 27, respectively, making it into the final four with
Asuka and
Sasha Banks, with Nikki eliminating Brie before being eliminated herself by the winner Asuka.[136] On the September 3 episode of Raw, The Bella Twins competed for the first time in three years, defeating The Riott Squad (
Liv Morgan and
Sarah Logan). The Bellas teamed with
Ronda Rousey to defeat The Riott Squad at
WWE Super Show-Down on October 6 and won the rematch two nights later on Raw. After the rematch, the Bellas attacked Rousey.[137] Nikki received a title opportunity against Rousey at
WWE Evolution on October 28, but was unsuccessful.[138] In March 2019, both Bellas announced on Total Bellas that they had retired from in-ring competition with Brie making the announcement on the March 10 episode and Nikki announcing her retirement on the season finale on March 24.[139] At February 21, 2020 edition of SmackDown, it was announced that both Bellas will be inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame, during A Moment of Bliss segment.[140][141] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony took place the next year. On January 30, 2022, after a three-year break from wrestling, The Bella Twins participated in the
2022 Royal Rumble.[142]
On March 14, 2023, on their podcast The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki and Brie announced that their contracts with WWE had expired, and it was mutually agreed to not renew their contracts, as the twins wanted to start a new chapter in their lives. They subsequently reintroduced themselves as The Garcia Twins as "Garcia" was their maiden name.[143]
The twins guest starred on the television series Psych, in the 2014 episode "A Nightmare on State Street".[4][148] Nikki and Brie are part of the main cast for the
reality television show Total Divas, which began airing in July 2013.[149][150] In April 2016, it was announced that Total Bellas, a
spin-off of Total Divas starring the twins, would begin airing in fall 2016.[151]
Both twins appeared on the WWE
YouTube show The JBL & Cole Show.[160]
On November 21, 2016, Nikki and Brie unveiled their new YouTube channel which features daily fashion, beauty, travel, fitness, relationship and health videos along with daily
video blogs, created by the twins themselves.[161]
The Bella Twins appeared in
YouTuberiiSuperwomanii's video "When Someone Tries to Steal Your BFF" on March 2, 2017.[162]
On April 16, 2020, the twins were featured on the hit
YouTube channel "
First We Feast", appearing a Truth or Dab edition of Hot Ones.[163]
Lifestyle
On August 21, 2017, Nikki and Brie launched their own wine label called Belle Radici in collaboration with Hill Family Estates and Gauge Branding.[164] Later that year on November 1, 2017, Nikki and Brie launched Birdiebee, a lifestyle
intimates and
activewear brand. The line includes transitional
intimates,
activewear and
loungewear aimed at "
empowering and educating women through mirroring the twins' passion for life, strength, women's health and wellness, and fun".[165]
On January 28, 2019, Nikki and Brie launched Nicole + Brizee, a body and beauty line.[166] On March 27, 2019, Nikki and Brie launched their own podcast.[167]
In March 2020, Nikki and Brie released their memoir Incomparable.[168]
In 2021, Nikki and Brie launched another wine label called Bonita Bonita Wine.[169]
In 2021, Nikki and Brie launched their own baby gear collection in partnership with Colugo. Nikki and Brie also announced that they joined Colugo as investors and creative advisors.[170]
Personal life
On May 9, 2017, Brie gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Birdie Joe Danielson.[171] In January 2020, the twins announced they were both pregnant, with due dates a week and a half apart.[172] On July 31, Nikki gave birth to Matteo Artemovich Chigvintsev. 22 hours later, Brie gave birth to Buddy Dessert Danielson on August 1.
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