All good things must come to an end after a WWE Hall Of Fame-worthy career, The Bella Twins are officially no more. On a new episode of The Nikki & Brie Show, the notable duo announced that they are officially retiring their WWE ring last name, Bella, in favor of their actual last name, Garcia, going forward.
“Our listeners and everyone in the world right now is asking ‘Why?’ You had this amazing name that you got from your grandfather, Pop Pop, who’d always call us ‘my Bellas, my Bellas.’ And so why after 17 years is that gone?” Nikki posited. “Brie and I are almost 40, we’re gonna be 40 in November. We’re mothers, we’re entrepreneurs. We’re executive producers. We’re starring now, we’re hosting shows. And when our contracts, when our contract came up with WWE mutually we all knew like we just needed to head into this new chapter.”
“I just wanna thank Brie Bella. Brie Bella, the character that, the name, all of it,” Brie reflected. “That I have been the last, you know, pretty much almost, I don’t know, 16, 17 years. I am 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’s gonna do next.”
“And I am so beyond grateful for Nikki Bella, Nikki Bella, whoa. She empowered me,” Nikki continued. “She inspired me. She truly made me become fearless and the road that she has paved and what she’s done for women and the youth and will continue to do just as Nikki Garcia.”
The change in name could simply be for branding purposes but it would be hard not to think about Nikki and Brie potentially wrestling outside of WWE under a new name, especially since they confirmed they are no longer under contract. Recently, Britt Baker D.M.D. remarked, “You can look but you can’t touch,” during a backstage AEW promo leading many to speculate that the then-Bella Twins could be AEW bound. After all, it was only a few weeks after Darby Allin uttered the phrase “best in the world” that CM Punk debuted in AEW.
There’s also the Bryan Danielson storyline going on with AEW World Champion MJF. Following his iron man draw against MJF at Revolution, Danielson cut a bloody, tear-filled promo backstage noting that he was “going home” after the loss. While he’s back home nursing his wounds, could he be convincing his wife and sister-in-law to sign with AEW and be alongside him when he returns to TV? It’s possible, especially in the wake of the criticism Nikki and Brie lobbed at WWE Raw XXX’s lack of female representation.
Stay with Haus Of Wrestling for all the latest on the future of The Garcia Twins.