Nikki Bella Thanks John Cena During Her WWE Hall of Fame Induction Speech

Nikki and Brie Bella were officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, and Nikki wound up throwing fans a curveball by bringing up her ex-fiance John Cena during the pair’s acceptance speech. The two dated for the majority of the 2010s and even got engaged in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania 33, but broke up one month before their scheduled wedding in 2018. She specifically thanked the 16-time world champion for teaching her so much about wrestling and how to be “fearless.”

“And to John, thank you for teaching me a lot about this business and helping me truly find my fearless side,” Bella said.

Bella has gone into detail on several occasions why she and Cena parted ways.

“For the purpose of his privacy, I don’t want to retread old events here — particularly the ones that got plenty of screen time and rehashing in the media. There is not much more to milk from that well-documented chain of events,” Bella wrote in her memoir, Incomparable, last year. “But I do think there is value in explaining what I learned about myself during a time of extreme highs and lows, in the hopes that it helps some of you.”

“Rather than turn and face that, I pushed it under the carpet and figured I could pretend like it wasn’t there. Because I was terrified of losing my love, I stuffed my desire for marriage and kids as deep as I could,” she wrote. “He had made it clear that they weren’t on the menu for him. That’s tough, though, because if you’re inclined that way, then the more you grow to love someone, the more you want it all. I stopped giving voice to those needs, though. I was worried my ex would call it off and let me go. And while I wanted those things very badly — I just wanted him more.”

Cena has since married Shay Shariatzadeh, while Bella is engaged to her Dancing With The Stars partner Artem Chigvintsev. The two welcomed their first child, Matteo, last July.