Nikki Bella and Brie Bella scrubbed all references to their WWE personas from their social media on Tuesday. The two changed their profile names from Bella to their original last names, Garcia. The pair’s Twitter account also uploaded a video of themselves being reintroduced as The Garcia Twins, with a voiceover saying, “This next chapter of our lives is about taking it to the next level. Owning who we are, being unapologetically us and fiercely walking through that open door.” Nikki also posted a pair of childhood photos labeled Nicole and Brianna Garcia.
The two were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 but have recently made some disparaging remarks about the company and how their time in it has been viewed. They were also recently backstage at AEW Revolution, likely to cheer on Bryan Danielson as he competed in the show’s main event.
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Update: Shortly after the social media overhaul, the two confirmed with People that they’re leaving the WWE. They’re also changing the name of their weekly podcast, now calling it The Nikki & Brie Show.
“I think that was the time when I saw so many women with their heads down that I was like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna fight real hard for this.’ I didn’t have to come back with reality cameras,” Nikki said on a recent episode of The Sessions. “I already had them with me. But I chose to come back to make sure that we showcase women’s wrestling because I thought what women were doing was so badass and they weren’t being appreciated for it. Honestly, Total Divas should have been praised even more, I felt, because what we were doing was we literally were at the point of almost beating the Kardashians in the ratings. We were shaking the world up and like, what a great time. We could have had the industry behind us, but instead they used it to turn it against us. That was really shocking to me because I was like, ‘But wait, we’re making great changes for Women’s Wrestling. Why are you hating on it?’”
“I think a few, like, as far as the boss, I felt like it was the first time he lost control of what he could make and not make because when Brie and I won Diva of the Year, we got in trouble, and I got yelled at,” she continued. “I remember we came back so happy and it was like, ‘Oh, because you brought in all these new viewers, and the women are now voting for you, and all these new women are here.’ Everyone around was on the floor like, ‘The Bella Twins are getting yelled at for being successful’, because it wasn’t what they wanted because they were the storytellers. They push who they want the crowd to be behind. Perception is reality. That is WWE to a T. Even though the fans think they own it, no, they laugh in the back. ‘No, we own you at the end of the day.’ So I truly believe Total Divas was the first thing they couldn’t control. They couldn’t control the success. They couldn’t control what the mainstream was.”
