The Bella Twins are coming from a place of love.
Nikki and Brie Bella appeared on the Tamron Hall show to discuss their recent comments about WWE not properly honoring its female talent at RAW Is XXX. Nikki said that it’s not about them even being on that show, but they feel like WWE should have done more to show respect to the women that paved the way for today’s roster.
Nikki: “When you have love and passion for something and you put your heart and your soul in it, you want to be appreciated. And I think that’s in any industry. For us female wrestlers, it was RAW 30, the 30th anniversary, and throughout those 30 years, women have done a whole lot to make RAW what it is, so when you have a three-hour show and it’s male-dominated and women pretty much aren’t being honored at all, you just sit back and you’re like, ‘Why aren’t we being appreciated?’ Why don’t you even have a video package showcasing what all of these incredible women have done. Even when I spoke out — I’m someone that they’ve called ‘No Filter Nikki’ and I know sometimes my team is like ‘if we could just take your phone…’ but it made me upset for all of the women because I know the feeling of walking out to the ring — and it happens to some of the men — but you walk out and put your body on the line, you give it your all just to entertain the fans and the TV viewers, and you just come back and want to feel appreciated for it. Some of us have had career-ending injuries and we shouldn’t go away. Even if I feel like a wrestler is not with a company, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be remembered. So I wished and I hoped and maybe it’ll be more in the future, but [I hope] that women will finally be appreciated for what they do.”
Brie then said that today’s women are doing great work, but there are others that came before them that deserve more recognition.
Brie: “I think what the women are doing at WWE today is amazing. The women wrestlers are doing incredible things, but it took so many women from the past to pave that road and it’s OK to say thank you and recognize that. I think when Nikki and I speak it always makes headlines, but the thing we love is we come from passion for women. The Bella Twins don’t have to be at RAW 30, it’s all the other women that we could give you a whole long list that should have been there.”
More must-reads: