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Though she hasn't been an active wrestler since 2018, there are few professional wrestlers who are as popular in 2023 as Nikki Bella. She's a reality television star, a member of the Barmageddon team, and when she somehow finds time, she's a pretty prolific Instagram Live user, where she talks all things professional wrestling, Nikki Bella Says I Do, and occasionally, other sports teams entirely, like the Philadelphia Eagles.
But with great power comes great responsibility, and after creating a bit of a stir for her comments on RAW XXX after the show aired, Nikki had to circle back to the topic and discuss why she receives so much hate from a small but vocal segment of professional wrestling fans on The Bellas podcast.
“Even when it comes to the wrestling industry, I'm the most hated person online,” Bella said via Fightful. “There was literally an article written about it two weeks ago. It is true, I'm the most hated person in the wrestling industry, and it's so mind-blowing because I'm probably one of the nicest. Beyond that, I am hated for being so misunderstood. If I stick up for the women, I'm hated. If I stick up for myself, I'm hated. The thing that has always been mind-blowing is, I've never claimed to be the best wrestler. For some reason, me wrestling and showing passion and love, they hate me for it. It's like I'm not allowed to be passionate or have love for it.”
“In every industry, there's an MVP, there's a champ, there's the best. In ours, you don't have to be the best wrestler to be the most popular. I think a lot of people didn't like my popularity. We get dragged for a lot of stuff. Why should my passion and love be taken away or why should I be hated for it? I love the business so much and I loved being in the ring so much. I never claimed to be the best, and people dragged me as if I'm out there saying, ‘no one can beat me.' Yes, I am the longest-reigning divas champion in history, that'll never change. It's not like we were in the Olympics and I got there and won it.”
Technically speaking, Nikki is correct, professional wrestling isn't the Olympics, and sometimes, the most popular performer isn't the most technically talented one, as Brie Bella's husband Bryan Danielson will tell you. Still, for some fans, that isn't enough, they hate the WWE Hall of Famer for more reasons than one, and that still bothers Nikki even though she knows it shouldn't.
Nikki Bella doesn't understand why some fans take things so seriously.
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Discussing the topic further, Bella explained that, while most wrestling fans are great, especially the Bella Army, some want nothing more than to see her fail.
“There is so much more that goes into being a WWE Champion, there are so many components that go into it,” Bella said.
“It's really crazy because the wrestling industry absolutely hates me online. Not all of them. Obviously, the Bella Army is so strong. We're talking about 10% out of 100. I also feel like I'm misunderstood. They read headlines, they don't listen to me fully. When we were on IG Live and Raw 30 came up, I was on IG Live for a good 20-30 minutes talking about Barmageddon season finale, and questions came in about Raw 30. That was about three minutes of a 20-minute IG Live, but people cut things down and made it as if I went on IG Live to talk about that. It's interesting because, it's mind-blowing to me because I see all the hate, and it's really hard, because I love this business so much.”
“I broke my neck in this business, and other bones, but I came back, I've risked my life, I've risked so many things because of how much I love it. It's hard when you're so hated for something. I'm always confused of like, why, what have I ever done? Being successful, literally, that's it, because I'm successful…I've never turned my back on the wrestling industry. The more success I've had, I've always tried to bring more awareness to women's wrestling, and empower more women, what can my success do for others? There are a lot of people that see that, and write articles about that too, which I'm so appreciative of the people that stick up for you [Brie] and I, and have written amazing articles about us and showcase that is truly incredible. That small group, it's a really distinct demo, and it is mind-blowing. I also think, the people that do hate, they are the ones that are afraid to not go with the flow. They're afraid that trolls are going to turn on them. There is a bandwagon of Bella hate.”
Will fans ever, you know, stop hating the Bellas? Maybe one day, but while they remain fixtures of television for a number of things that don't include professional wrestling, fans will, unfortunately, continue to give them a hard time.
