Daniel Bryan Says the Bellas Deserve More Respect

Brie Bella and Nikki Bella were on the leading edge of the WWE Women's Revolution, but according to Daniel Bryan, the pair do not get enough respect.

The Bellas essentially bridged the gap between the old "Divas" era of women's wrestling in the WWE and today's more athletic era of women's wrestling. Because of the fact that they came into the company during the time when WWE was hiring models first and foremost, Bryan says the pair get undue criticism.

Bryan was asked on this week's edition of Booker T's Podcast, Heated Conversations, if Brie and Nikki get enough respect and had a thought provoking answer.

"I don't think so," Bryan replied. "Obviously I'm very close to the situation and I know that a lot of hardcore wrestling fans look at them and their era as a negative on women's wrestling. Brie [Bella] was in the ring when the ring when the hashtag 'give divas a chance' because they were only in like a 30-second match. I think people were frustrated with this idea that the women weren't being given more opportunities. They worked very hard for that kind of thing and there were part of this transition into divas to women's wrestling.

"But I also think that... I get women coming up to me and saying 'oh my god, you're Daniel Bryan, right? From the show'. And that's how I know that they're not necessarily wrestling fans, they're Total Divas or Total Bellas fans. I think exposing our product to a different audience is always good. That's one of things that I think Vince [McMahon] will say, and a lot of people will say, is that one of the great things about things like Total Divas and Total Bellas is it exposes WWE talent to a whole new audience of people."

Some will say Bryan's view will be dismissed by some given the fact that he and Brie are husband and wife, but that may also be an ignorant point of view. Bryan has always had a well-balanced view on the world of wrestling and it's hard to argue with his rationale here. There's no doubt that Total Divas and Total Bellas has brought more eyes to the wrestling product.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription