WWE: The Bellas Twins go out on their own as The Garcia Twins

After nearly two decades in WWE, The Bella Twins, Brie, and Nikki, are going out on their own as The Garcia Twins.

When Nikki Bella of The Bella Twins made the following announcement on her Serious XM podcast, “today we are officially from here on out, the Garcia Twins, Brie and Nikki Garcia,” it marked yet another inflection point in the women's revolution of WWE history.

Arguably the most popular women's tag team in WWE history, and trailblazers of the women's revolution who helped to usher in the era of Superstars over Divas, The Bellas are WWE Hall of Famers, certified pop-getters when they show up on screen, and, much like Brie's husband, Bryan Danielson, could have stayed employed by The Fed for the rest of their lives, with legacy paychecks coming in monthly for nothing more than a few non-wrestling appearances and the occasional commitment as a brand ambassador.

So naturally, the first question fans wanted to know coming out of this announcement was why? Why did the duo throw away nearly two decades of character-building to go it alone under a new moniker? Well, for the sisters, it all came down to controlling their narrative, to borrow a phrase from EC3.

“Our listeners and everyone in the world right now is asking why,” Nikki said. “Why, you had this amazing name that you got from your grandpop who would always call up ‘my bellas, my bellas.’ So why, after 17 years, is that gone? Brie and I, almost 40, we’re gonna be 40 in November; we’re mothers, we’re entrepreneurs, we’re executive producers right now, we’re hosting shows, and when our contracts came up with WWE, mutually we all just knew that we needed to head into this new chapter.”

“I just wanted to thank Brie Bella,” Brie said. “The character, the name, all of it that I have been for the last 16, 17 years, I am so excited to close that chapter, Brie Bella, put that book to the side, open up a new one and see what Brie Garcia is gonna do next.”

“I am so beyond grateful for Niki Bella,” Nikki said. “Whoa, she empowered me, she inspired me, she truly made me become fearless. And the road that she has paved and what she has done for women and the youth, and will continue to do, just as Nikki Garcia.”

So what does this mean for the future? Are The Garcia Twins going to continue to push their media empire and attempt to remain on television over their multiple different shows, podcasts, and hosting gigs? Or could this signify a potential return to the ring, as both women took part in the 2022 Royal Rumble and certainly have more than a few ins at AEW, where Danielson, Saraya, and even more of their old WWE friends currently work? With AEW Women's World Tag Team Championships titles having long been rumored, why not start the division off with two of the biggest names to hit free agency in years, even if their exact moniker has changed ever so slightly?

Nikki Gacria mentions missing her in-ring run with The Bella Twins in WWE.

Speaking with Renee Paquette on The Sessions back in February as part of a now-prophetic interview, Garcia mentioned just how much she missed being in the wrestling ring and, more specifically, cutting promos.

“I miss it a lot,” Bella said via Fightful. “Every time I go do cardio and I put on my music, I'm thinking of storylines and cutting promos. We were playing flag football this week and I'm cutting promos. I have so much fun with it. I miss it. I miss it so much. I watch every now and then, and it's only the women's stuff. I'll watch certain matches and I'm like, ‘that would be so fun to be a part of' or when I hear them cutting promos. What the women are doing there is great, that's why they need more opportunities. When I was on SmackDown, every storyline that I did had nothing to do with the championship and we had great stories. I wish I could be back. I would love to go back and do things. It's just different when you're a mom.”

Could a promotion like AEW offer a lighter workload that allows the Garcias to remain on weekly television, have meaningful feuds, and wrestle as much or as little as they would like either as a championship-caliber tag team or as more hands-off managers? Sure, the duo has filled both roles before, though before WWE offered Women's Tag Team Championships, and it could be cool to see the duo finally secure gold as a team. Whether that happens, however, is very much a wait-and-see.