Former WWE superstar and Hall of Famer Nikki Bella was recently interviewed by NBC Chicago to commemorate her 40th birthday when the topic of her name being excluded from a live broadcast of Monday Night Raw came up. Nikki, who now goes by her real name Nikki Garcia due to WWE owning the trademark to Nikki Bella, said that she was disheartened to learn that that announcer Michael Cole had purposely omitted her name from a live advertisement for USA Network’s Barmageddon, a game show for which she serves as the cohost alongside Carson Daly and Blake Shelton.
“It’s sad,” Nikki said. “There’s obviously a lot of things I could say about that. I think more than anything it’s disappointing. I worked there for 16 years and I helped paved the way for them. Not only that, they’ve always been family to me.”
The thirty-seven-year old Nikki last wrestled for the WWE in the 2020 Royal Rumble. She remains the longest-reigning Divas champion in the division’s history and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside her twin sister, Brie Bella, in 2021. It’s the latter accomplishment that makes Nikki Bella’s disappointment all the more resonant.
“It’s sad because we all look at it as family,” Nikki continued. “OK, they don’t want to say my name. That’s fine. But hey, Barmageddon got a shout out! So did Blake Shelton, so that makes me happy. So many people at the WWE will always be family to me and I communicate with so many of them. And the WWE Universe will always be family to me, as well as my Bella Army, so I’m just so appreciative for all of you and all of us that can still live the memories.”
Nikki also mentioned that the WWE purposely omitting names seems to happen more frequently with women and not men who were formerly under the WWE’s employ.
“It’s disappointing because I don’t see it happen with the men. And for some reason with the women who are outspoken, and we’ve seen this with the women in the past, they just want to ban us.”
One recent example which demonstrates what Nikki is talking about would be the WWE edited former WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks, (who now goes by the name Mercedes Mone in New Japan Pro Wrestling).
Notwithstanding, Nikki doesn’t harbor any lingering resentment with the WWE.
“Walking away, for me, it wasn’t malicious,” she said. “I wanted to do things without hearing the word no, and it was just strictly business. And maybe there was some personal things that had happened over the years that also pushed me towards that.”
What do you think of the fact that Nikki Bella is ‘disappointed’ in having her name purposely excluded during WWE Barmageddon plug? Do you think the WWE excluding Nikki Bella’s name is petty or just a prudent business move? Let us know in the comments.
