Nikki Bella Explains Why She Thanks John Cena During Her WWE Hall of Fame Speech

The Bella Twins were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame back in April, and their induction speech featured a surprise mention from Nikki's ex-fiance John Cena. Late in the speech the former Divas Champion thanked John, saying, "And to John, thank you for teaching me a lot about this business and helping me truly find my fearless side." The shoutout came as a surprise given the tumultuous break-up the two had one month before they were supposed to get married. Bella explained why she mentioned the 16-time former world champion while making a recent appearance on Entertainment Tonight.

I didn't think anything about it because when you're in those moments at the Hall of Fame, you really look at your career and you're like, 'Who was there, who helped me along the way?'" Bella said (h/t Us Weekly). "So much of the time people will talk about themselves, and for me, I look at my career and I know that wasn't just because of me. It was Brie [Bella], it was the Bella army, it was the producers, all the people that believed in me, and John was a big part of that."

"He really helped me be that fearless side and showed me a part of that world that I never saw before," she added. "I think just because you have breakups or whatever it may be, doesn't mean you can't thank those people and just truly be so grateful for the help that they had."

Bella has gone into detail several times about why she and Cena decided to split. She's now engaged to Artem Chigvintsev, while Cena is married to Shay Shariatzadeh.

"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. "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."