World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2007–2012) Florida Championship Wrestling (2007–2008) Nicole was signed to a developmental contract with her sister by
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in June 2007 and was assigned to
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's then-
developmental territory, in
Tampa, Florida. At a FCW
house show on September 15, 2007, Nicole and her twin Brie, called
The Bella Twins, made their in-ring debut by defeating
Nattie Neidhart and
Krissy Vaine with
Victoria Crawford as the
special guest referee. She and Brie then resumed their feud with Neidhart and Crawford, wrestling them throughout much of 2008. After Neidhart was called up to the WWE roster in April 2008,
Milena Roucka took her place in the feud. Nikki also competed in
bikini contests, and wrestled against other competitors including
Katie Lea Burchill and Daisy. Nikki's last FCW appearance was on September 2, when she competed in a
Divas battle royal won by
Miss Angela. She quickly began a scripted rivalry with Victoria and Victoria's accomplice,
Natalya, and had a series of matches against them. In each match, Brie would roll out of the
ring and go underneath it, emerging and appearing revived, and then win the match. On the October 31 episode of
SmackDown, when Brie went under the ring, Victoria grabbed her legs, but a second pair of legs kicked her off, implying that a second person was under the ring. The following week on
SmackDown, Brie defeated Victoria and then ran under the ring to escape Natalya and Victoria, but Victoria and Natalya both reached for Brie under the ring, resulting in both Nicole and Brie being pulled out. The twins then attacked them and celebrated afterward. They continued competing in tag team matches over the following months. Starting in November, the twins developed an on-screen relationship with
The Colóns (
Carlito and
Primo), appearing in numerous backstage segments with them, and accompanying them to the ring. In February 2009, the storyline expanded to include
John Morrison and The Miz, who
flirted with the Bellas and took them on a
date for
Valentine's Day. The date provoked a rivalry between the teams of The Miz and Morrison and Primo and Carlito, with the four competing for the affection of the twins, who were seemingly unable to choose between them. On the March 17 episode of
ECW, Carlito and Primo, aiming for Morrison and The Miz, accidentally spat apples in the face of Brie. Nikki began to laugh at Brie's misfortune, and a fight broke out between the two, which led to Nikki leaving with The Miz and Morrison, while Brie stayed with Primo and Carlito, with Nikki turning
heel in the process. On the March 31 episode of
ECW, Nikki pinned Brie in their first singles match against each other after a distraction from Morrison and The Miz. On April 15, 2009, The Bella Twins were both drafted to the
Raw brand as part of the
2009 supplemental draft. On April 27, Brie made her
Raw in-ring debut in an eight-Diva tag team match, which her team won. Nikki also made an appearance, reuniting with her twin as she was under the ring to help Brie during the match, turning face in the process. Nikki then made her in-ring debut for the brand the following month in a battle royal, but was eliminated by
Beth Phoenix. On June 29, 2009, they were both traded to the ECW brand. They debuted on
ECW the following night as special guests on
The Abraham Washington Show. They developed a storyline feud with
Katie Lea Burchill, when Nikki defeated her in a match by switching places with Brie behind the referee's back. The following week on
Superstars, Brie defeated Burchill in similar fashion, and the feud ended in September when Nikki defeated Burchill on
Superstars. in 2010 On October 12, the Bellas were traded back to Raw as part of a tri-branded Divas trade, where they predominately appeared in backstage segments with the
weekly guest stars and only occasionally competed in matches. On the January 4, 2010, episode of
Raw, Brie participated in a tournament for the vacant
WWE Divas Championship, but lost to
Maryse in the first round, when a switch resulted in Nikki being pinned. In June 2010, they developed a feud with
Jillian Hall, when Brie defeated her after switching places with Nikki. The following week, Nikki defeated Hall after switching with Brie. The feud was exacerbated when the Bellas acted as the
special guest referees during one of Hall's matches. During the match, Hall attacked both twins, but lost the match when Nikki made a fast count, allowing her to be pinned by
Gail Kim. The next week on
Superstars, the twins defeated Hall and Maryse in a tag team match to end the storyline. In 2010, the Bella Twins took part of the all-female
third season of
NXT, mentoring Jamie. Jamie was the first rookie Diva eliminated on the October 5 episode of
NXT. In November, the twins began a storyline with
Daniel Bryan, when Brie accompanied him to the ring for his match. Following his win, Nikki ran out and the two fought over Bryan's affection, until Bryan broke it up and had them hug each other. They began to manage Bryan and frequently accompanied him to the ring over the next two months. In January 2011, both Bellas turned into
villainous characters for the first time in their careers, when they discovered Bryan kissing Gail Kim backstage and assaulted her. They continued to attack Kim, both at the
Royal Rumble and on
Raw, and on February 7, they teamed with
Melina in a losing effort to Kim,
Eve Torres, and
Tamina.
Divas Champion and departure (2011–2012) (right) with Nikki Bella (left) in April 2011|209x209px The Bellas began feuding with
Eve Torres after they appeared as
lumberjills during a
Divas Championship match between Torres and
Natalya on the February 14 episode of
Raw. Following the match, they attacked Torres backstage before
Gail Kim and Natalya stopped them. The following week, Nikki won a battle royal to become the number one contender for the Divas Championship, and unsuccessfully challenged Torres for the championship on March 7. On April 11, Nikki helped Brie defeat Torres to win the Divas Championship, marking the first time either twin had held a championship in WWE. Nikki helped Brie once again, this time to successfully defend the championship against
Kelly Kelly at
Over the Limit, after switching places with Brie. However, Brie lost the championship against Kelly on a special "Power to the People" episode of
Raw on June 20, ending her reign at 70 days, and failing to regain it on July 17, in a rematch against Kelly at
Money in the Bank. The twins spent the majority of the rest of the year in tag team matches, regularly facing Kelly and Torres. The Bellas began to show friction for the second time since joining WWE in March 2012, after both twins lost to
AJ Lee in singles competition. After Brie's match with Lee, Nikki revealed that Brie was rooting for
Team Johnny in the 12-man tag team match at
WrestleMania XXVIII, whilst Nikki was rooting for
Team Teddy, thus furthering their dissension. On the April 6 episode of
SmackDown, Nikki defeated then Divas Champion
Beth Phoenix in a non-title match, after Kelly Kelly distracted Phoenix. On April 23, Nikki defeated Phoenix in a lumberjill match on
Raw to win the Divas Championship for the first time. Brie lost Nikki's championship to
Layla at
Extreme Rules after
Twin Magic failed, ending her Divas Championship reign after only a week. The following night on
Raw, they competed in their last match with the WWE, failing to win back the Divas Championship from Layla in a triple threat match. Later that night, the twins were fired by Executive Administrator Eve Torres.
Independent circuit (2012–2013) On May 1, 2012, the twins appeared at their first independent wrestling show in
Newburgh, New York for the promotion
Northeast Wrestling. They later appeared for CTWE Pro Wrestling at the
Season Beatings pay-per-view on December 15, each accompanying a different wrestler to the ring.
Return to WWE (2013–2023) Total Divas storylines (2013–2014) On the March 11, 2013, episode of
Raw, The Bella Twins returned to WWE in a backstage segment with Team Rhodes Scholars (
Cody Rhodes and
Damien Sandow). On the March 15 episode of
SmackDown, they attacked
The Funkadactyls (
Cameron and
Naomi), and the following week interfered in matches between Team Rhodes Scholars and
Brodus Clay and
Tensai, but were attacked by The Funkadactyls. The twins made their in–ring return facing and defeating The Funkadactyls on the March 27 episode of
Main Event after interference from Cody Rhodes, and also defeated them on
Raw five days later. The Bella Twins were scheduled to participate in an eight–person tag team match with Team Rhodes Scholars against Tons of Funk (Clay and Tensai) and The Funkadactyls at
WrestleMania 29 on April 7, but the match was canceled due to time restraints, The twins continued their
feud with The Funkadactyls, defeating them in standard tag team, and six-Diva tag team matches. In June, Nikki suffered a
fractured tibia.Upon the debut of the
Total Divas reality television program in July, The Bellas returned and started a feud with their co-star on the show,
Natalya. Brie and Natalya went on to trade victories in singles competition on
Raw and at
SummerSlam on August 18. The cast of
Total Divas then transitioned into a scripted feud with
Divas Champion AJ Lee, who mocked the show and cast, turning The Bellas
faces in the process. At
Survivor Series on November 24, the twins were part of the victorious Team Total Divas. On the December 9 episode of
Raw, the twins were awarded
Slammy Awards for
Diva of the Year. On April 6, 2014, Nikki competed at
WrestleMania XXX in the 14-
Diva "
Vickie Guerrero Invitational match" for the Divas Championship, which was won by the defending champion AJ Lee. The same month, Brie became involved in her real-life husband
Daniel Bryan's ongoing storyline with
Stephanie McMahon and
Kane, where as part of the storyline, McMahon threatened to fire Brie if, an injured, Bryan did not relinquish the
WWE World Heavyweight Championship at
Payback on June 1, which forced Brie to "quit" WWE before slapping McMahon in the face. After Brie quit, McMahon put Nikki in several
handicap matches as punishment. After being absent for a month, Brie returned to WWE television, appearing in the crowd on July 21; following a confrontation, McMahon slapped Brie and was subsequently arrested. In order to have Brie drop the "charges", Brie was rehired and received a match against McMahon at
SummerSlam. At the pay-per-view on August 17, Nikki turned
heel by attacking Brie, which allowed McMahon to win the match. The next several weeks saw the twins fight in several backstage and in-ring segments, including a cameo appearance from
Jerry Springer on
Raw on September 8. As part of the storyline, McMahon declared Nikki the face of the Divas division and granted her a match at
Night of Champions for the Divas Championship on September 21, which she failed to win. Nikki then obtained permission to begin forcing Brie to compete in handicap matches, similar to her punishment at the hands of McMahon, although Brie was able to win them. This led to a match between the twins at
Hell in a Cell on October 26, where the loser was forced to become the winner's
personal assistant for 30 days, in which Nikki defeated Brie. Five days later on
SmackDown, Nikki won a
Halloween costume battle royal to become the number one contender for the Divas Championship.
Longest–reigning Divas Champion (2014–2015) Nikki received her title match against
AJ Lee on November 23 at
Survivor Series, which she won with Brie's help to become a two-time Divas Champion. The duo had reconciled at this point, with Brie also turning
heel in the process. Nikki then went on to retain her championship in three separate occasions – against Lee in a rematch on December 14, at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, against
Naomi two days later on
SmackDown, and against
Paige at
Fastlane on February 22, 2015. Paige and Lee then formed an
alliance against the Bellas, which led to a tag team match at
WrestleMania 31 on March 29, where Lee and Paige were victorious. On April 26, after Nikki, with the help of Brie, once again retained her title against Naomi at
Extreme Rules a
feud started with Naomi aligning with the returning
Tamina to even the odds against the Bellas, who began showing more
heroic characteristics. This change in character was criticized as "sudden", "randomly", and "for no reason". This led to a
tag team match between the two teams at
Payback on May 17, where Naomi and Tamina were victorious. At
Elimination Chamber on May 31, Nikki retained her title against Naomi and Paige in a
triple threat match, with Brie banned from ringside. In June, The Bella Twins became
villains once again by employing
Twin Magic, which helped Nikki retain the title against Paige on the June 1 episode of
Raw and at
Money in the Bank on June 14. During the feud with Paige,
Alicia Fox allied with them to form
Team Bella. At
The Beast in the East on July 4, Nikki retained the title against Paige and Tamina. After weeks of Team Bella outnumbering Paige, Naomi, and Tamina,
Stephanie McMahon called for a "revolution" in the
WWE Divas division and introduced the debuting
Charlotte and
Becky Lynch as Paige's allies, while
NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks debuted as an ally to Naomi and Tamina, which led to a brawl between the three teams. Nikki then lost to Charlotte in a tag team match on the August 3 episode of
Raw, and to Banks on the August 17 episode of
Raw in a non-title match. The three teams faced off at
SummerSlam on August 23 in a
three team elimination match, in which Team Bella first eliminated
Team B.A.D. before Team PCB won. On the September 14 episode of
Raw, Nikki defended her title against Charlotte, who pinned Brie after the twins had switched places to win the match; however, since the title cannot change hands by disqualification, Nikki retained the championship, and in the process, became the new longest reigning Divas Champion in history, surpassing AJ Lee's previous record of 295 days. Nikki
dropped the championship to Charlotte at
Night of Champions on September 20, ending her reign at 301 days, and failed to regain the title in a rematch at
Hell in a Cell on October 25. Shortly after, Nikki went on a hiatus from television due to a neck injury which would require surgery, but returned for one night on December 21, to accept the
Slammy Award for
Diva of the Year. Nikki made a brief appearance at the
WrestleMania 32 event on April 3, 2016, celebrating with Brie after winning a
10-Diva tag team match. In June, Nikki confirmed that she would no longer use her
Rack Attack maneuver and began training with her sister's husband
Daniel Bryan, who was teaching her a new
finishing move. On July 21, she was revealed to be cleared for in-ring competition and continued her training at the
WWE Performance Center.
Various storylines (2016–2018) After ten months of inactivity, Bella made a surprise return as a
villain at the
SummerSlam pay–per–view on August 21, 2016, where she replaced
Eva Marie and teamed with
Natalya and
Alexa Bliss against
Becky Lynch,
Naomi, and
Carmella whom they defeated after Bella pinned Carmella. This sparked a
storyline feud between Bella (who was established as part of the
SmackDown brand) and Carmella, also re-establishing Bella as a
face in the process. Simultaneously with her feud with Carmella, Bella took part in a
six–pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural
WWE SmackDown Women's Champion at
Backlash on September 11, where she eliminated Natalya but was eliminated by Carmella. Bella eventually gained revenge as she defeated Carmella at
No Mercy on October 9 and also at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a
no disqualification match on December 4 to end their feud. Bella then became the team captain of Team SmackDown for the traditional five–on–five elimination match at
Survivor Series. However, at the event on November 20, she was replaced by Natalya, after someone attacked her backstage before the match. In December, just after their feud ended, Carmella revealed Natalya as the attacker, who eventually confirmed it with the main reason being Bella's success and Natalya's downfall in the company. Upon the beginning of 2017, both women kept attacking each other, which led to a match at
Elimination Chamber on February 12 that ended in a double count–out. In a rematch that took place on the February 21 episode of
SmackDown, Natalya defeated Bella in a
falls count anywhere match after
Maryse attacked Bella with a
lead pipe due to Bella accidentally tripping over her in the backstage
make up area during her match with Natalya. Maryse's attack sparked a feud between the two, which actually involved Bella's real real–life boyfriend
John Cena and Maryse's real–life husband,
The Miz. This led to a
mixed tag team match between the two couples at
WrestleMania 33 on April 2, which Cena and Bella won. After the match, Cena
legitimately proposed to Bella, which she accepted. After that, she took time off from wrestling. The Bella Twins appeared at the
25th Anniversary of Raw on January 22, 2018. A few days later, both Nikki and Brie competed in the inaugural women's
royal rumble match at the
2018 Royal Rumble on January 28, where Nikki entered at #27, lasting 16 minutes and 30 seconds before she was the last woman eliminated by the eventual winner
Asuka. Both twins made an appearance at the
SummerSlam pay–per–view on August 19, showing their support for
Ronda Rousey in her match with Alexa Bliss. In September, The Bella Twins returned full-time on
Raw and feuded with The Riott Squad (
Ruby Riott,
Liv Morgan and
Sarah Logan), over which they scored victories in various tag team and singles matches. To even the odds, Ronda Rousey aligned with The Bella Twins, and the trio was able to defeat The Riott Squad at
Super Show-Down in a six–woman tag team match on October 6. Two days later on the October 8 episode of
Raw, after defeating The Riott Squad in a rematch, Nikki attacked Rousey, with Brie later following suit, turning
villainous for the first time since 2015. On October 28, Nikki faced Rousey for the
Raw Women's Championship in the
main event of the all women's pay–per–view,
WWE Evolution, in which she was unsuccessful despite multiple interferences by Brie.
Ambassador and Hall of Fame (2019–2023) On June 20, 2019, Bella ended her in-ring career after a cyst had been found on her brain. On the February 21, 2020, episode of
SmackDown, the Bella Twins were named for the
WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020. On the second night of
WrestleMania 37 on April 11, 2021, Nikki, along with her sister Brie, attacked
Bayley, sending her rolling down the ramp, turning
face once again in the process. After being medically cleared, on the January 7, 2022, episode of
SmackDown, Nikki participated in the women's Royal Rumble match at
Royal Rumble on January 29; she entered at #24, eliminating
Alicia Fox and
Sarah Logan before being eliminated by her sister Brie, who was also in the match. This was the final WWE match for both sisters at the time. On March 14, 2023, on their podcast
The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki and Brie announced that they and WWE had mutually agreed to not renew their contracts, as the twins wanted to start a new chapter in their lives. They subsequently reintroduced themselves as The Garcia Twins as "Garcia" was their maiden name.
Second return to WWE (2025–present) On February 1, 2025, at
Royal Rumble, Nikki Bella made a surprise return to WWE as the final entrant in the
2025 Women's Royal Rumble match. She eliminated Bayley before being eliminated by
Nia Jax. Bella made her return to
Raw on June 9 as a face, in her home state of Arizona and promoting
Evolution 2, where she was interrupted and attacked by one-half of the
WWE Women's Tag Team Champions,
Liv Morgan. This was reportedly going to set up a match for Evolution, but the plans were scrapped after Morgan suffered a legitimate shoulder injury the following week. On the July 7 episode of Raw, Bella announced that she would enter the
Evolution Battle Royal for a women's world championship match at
Clash in Paris. At
the event on July 13, Bella finished in fourth place, being eliminated by Jax. The next night on
Raw, Bella defeated
Chelsea Green in her first singles match since 2018. On the August 1 episode of her and her sister's podcast show Nikki and Brie, Bella revealed that she suffered an injury on the July 28 episode of
Raw while battling
Piper Niven during an eight-woman tag team match, with her
breast implants being dislocated and then afterwards pushed down into her ribs after she received an elbow drop. Over the next few weeks, she started feuding with
Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch. At
Clash in Paris, Bella failed to win the title from Lynch. On the November 10 episode of
Raw, Bella attacked
Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer after her successful title defense against
Raquel Rodriguez, turning
heel for the first time since 2018. She failed to win the title from Vaquer at
Survivor Series: WarGames. After a short hiatus, Nikki returned at the
Royal Rumble on January 31, 2026, as a face alongside the returning
Brie, officially reuniting
The Bella Twins. At
WrestleMania 42, Nikki and Brie were originally scheduled to compete for the
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship but due to an injury, Nikki was not medically cleared for the match. At the event on April 18, Nikki was replaced with a returning
Paige whom teamed with Brie to win the titles. == Other media ==