Nikki Bella Reasoning for Botching Stephanie Vaquer’s Name on WWE RAW

Nikki Bella made her WWE television return during the June 9th edition of Monday Night Raw, but she botched Stephanie Vaquer’s last name in a big way and got brutally trolled for it. A week removed from the whole situation, Bella has addressed her botch and even got Vaquer to help her.

While speaking on the Nikki and Brie Show, Nikki and Brie Bella recently talked about how Nikki messed up saying Stephanie Vaquer’s last name on Raw last week.

Nikki Bella brought it up and said she wanted to make sure she said Stephanie’s name the right way, saying, “You have to let me know if I say this right—and she will too—Stephanie Vaquer.”

Brie Bella teased her and asked how she could mess it up on live TV, especially since she’s half Mexican, saying, “Can I just say something to you, yeah, before I ask her something? How did you mess up her last name on live television? You’re half Mexican!”

Nikki Bella explained that she was trying to give the name a little extra flair and say it with Latin style, but nerves got the best of her. Before the show, she had stopped Stephanie Vaquer in the hallway to ask how to pronounce it properly because she didn’t want to get it wrong.

Bella said she kept checking with writers and commentators to make sure, but once she got out there, she overthought it and stumbled on the name. Looking back, she felt like she should’ve just said it plainly.

“No, I—I tried to add a little spice! And now we have Stephanie here, right now. Okay, so I need to say your last name, because this went viral. I stopped you in the hallway because I wanted to say it with a Latin presence. I wanted to give it that spice. But then I got nervous, and I kept asking the writers and commentators, ‘Wait, how do I say it again?’ because I didn’t want to get it wrong. Then I went out there and tried to say it with some flair, and I guess I should’ve just said ‘Vaquer.’

But I had that in my head, and then I’m listening to how the commentators and writers were saying it… and it’s just crazy how viral it went, right?”

Stephanie was understanding and told Nikki that her name can be hard to pronounce, but she did a good job and correctly pronounced her last name by saying “Vaquer” a few times and then said, “Yeah, yeah, I know—it’s hard to say the ‘R’. But no, you said it good.”

Nikki Bella ended by saying it was all because of nerves, and that sometimes things just don’t come out right when you’re nervous. However, she promised not to mess it up again.

“It was just nerves. Nerves hit hard sometimes. You never know what’ll happen when you’re nervous. I’m never going to say it wrong again, that’s for sure.”

Nikki Bella’s botched pronunciation of Stephanie Vaquer’s name may have gone viral, but fans are glad she actually decided to correct her mistake by asking Vaquer herself. Therefore, it’s clear she won’t ever make that mistake again and that’s all that matters.

Do you have more respect for Nikki Bella for owning up to her mistake and fixing it? Sound off in the comments.

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