Nikki Bella reveals why the Bella Twins left the WWE in 2012. They also spoke about the treatment of the women’s division back then.
The Bella Twins were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last year in light of their contribution to the promotion over the years. Nikki and Brie were once the backbone of the women’s division in the WWE. However, there was a point when they were unhappy with the way the WWE was treating them and the women’s division in general.
During a recent conversation with Freddie Prinze Jr. on his show Wrestling with Freddie, Nikki revealed that she and Brie were reluctant to re-sign with the WWE because of how they handled them and once it was clear that she was not going to renew, she had to drop her championship.
Nikki Bella reveals why the Bella Twins left the WWE in 2012
“When we first signed with WWE, and we made it TV finally, we re-did a five-year contract. So we were on TV for five years and our five years were coming up. I remember at that point, Brie and I just did not like how women were treated in WWE. Two-minute matches but were allowed ten minutes on live events. While we were working hard on live events, we were never allowed a showcase on TV and our stories didn’t have depth and we just weren’t treated right.
I remember when our contract was coming up and we kept wanting to talk about it. They were like ‘yeah, yeah we need to get to that, we need to get to that.’ So finally, I and Brie got a point where we said ‘let’s not remind them, and let’s see what happens.’
So, it’s about — I think our contracts up after this one RAW, the next day. Still, no one talks to us, and I’m the champion. This is when I beat Beth Phoenix and I’m wondering if anyone is going to talk to me about my contract. Sure enough, the reason why I dropped it to Layla in Chicago out of nowhere was that I was like ‘I’m not signing.’
They were like ‘we’ll give you these stories,’ and I was like, you couldn’t even have a conversation with me. I remember we’d just had this conversation and I said ‘we’re leaving.’
They still probably thought Brie and I were going to sign after the show or that week, they kept calling. Literally, when we left RAW in Chicago, after the championship match, we left and that was it.”
“They were losing their will and their hope”
Nikki also discussed how WWE’s handling of their women’s division was killing the morale of their performers.
“We needed to find a way to be treated like men and treated equally. That’s what we wanted for the women. We wanted to empower the women. We were about everyone. ‘Who are we getting over today? What’s the story?’ We never worried about getting our sh*t in.
We just wanted everything to be good and for people to be happy. The locker room was becoming so miserable because girls were working so hard on live events and getting to Raw or SmackDown and being so disappointed. They were losing their will and their hope. We were like, ‘there needs to be a massive change here, this is not good.'”
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