Nikki Bella and Brie Bella (now going by their real names Nikki and Brie Garcia) announced on Tuesday that their current WWE contracts have expired and that the pair are moving on from the company. The news was met almost immediately with speculation that the pair might try to go work in AEW, following the likes of Saraya, Toni Storm, Athena and Ruby Soho. The pair were backstage at AEW Revolution earlier this month and have connections to the promotion given Brie’s husband Bryan Danielson is signed to a multi-year contract. But Nikki was quick to shut that idea down in a new Instagram Live stream.
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“We’re not going to AEW. I’ve seen a lot of that, because we are just there visiting Renee (Paquette) and (Saraya). I was like, I haven’t had an opportunity to take Matteo (her son) backstage to a wrestling event, and when he knew uncle Bryan was gonna be there, Matteo loves his uncle Bryan. Brie and I are like, we have to go see Bryan. The kids had so much fun,” she said.
The Bella (Garcia) Twins Explain Why They’re Leaving WWE
In the latest upside of their podcast, now titled The Nikki & Brie Show, the two explained their decision to depart from WWE. The pair were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
“When our contract came up with WWE, mutually, we all knew we needed to head into this next chapter. We are so grateful for the past 17 years. I have learned so much in and out of the ring. I have traveled all over the world, I have incredible fandom. It’s been amazing. This is part of relationships. Whether it’s business, love, this is relationships in life. Sometimes, you come to this part of your life where it’s like, ‘let’s go separate ways. It doesn’t mean it’s forever, but we just know that it’s right,’” Nikki said (h/t Fightful).
“It doesn’t mean that it’s bad either. When things like this happen, everyone wants to look for the negative,” Brie added. “‘What happened? It had to be something crazy.’ It wasn’t. It was actually something beautiful. [We] thought about it for awhile. This has been years coming. I want to thank Brie Bella. The character, the name, pretty much that I’ve been the last 16-17 years. Thank you to that name because it caused a lot of change in my life and many lives. It did a lot of great things for me. It’s really fun to end that chapter. For everyone, at some point in your life, to do a new change, a new journey. I’m so excited to close that chapter on Brie Bella, put that book to the side, and open up a new one, and see what Brie Garcia is going to do next.”
