The word “Diva” was pushed out of WWE years ago, but Nikki Bella and Brie Bella don’t think it needs to stay buried forever. After watching women fight for equality, headline major shows and get treated like legitimate WWE Superstars, the twins believe the old label has started to feel different.
During a recent interview with Joey Karni, Nikki and Brie were asked where the happy medium sits between being a Diva and being called a WWE Superstar.
Brie admitted that she once loved the Diva name, but said the label eventually became something women in WWE almost felt embarrassed to carry. As the women’s division pushed for equal treatment, being called a Superstar became much more important.
“I think being called a Diva for so long, we all loved it, but then I think when we kind of got into our one storyline, it kind of tarnished the name a little bit. So then you’re almost embarrassed to be a Diva, and then we were all really trying to push for equality. So then being called a Superstar meant you were equal to the men.”
Brie believes that fight has paid off. Women are now main-eventing shows, receiving more television time and working cards where the female roster can sometimes have more matches than the men.
“I feel like it had that moment, but now years have gone on and everyone looks at us as equal. Now I feel like there isn’t so much of, ‘The men get all this, the women have nothing.’ You’re really starting to see women are main-eventing, they’re getting as many matches as men.”
She also pointed to her recent time on SmackDown as proof that WWE’s women are no longer fighting just to get one segment squeezed onto the show.
“I’ve been loving being on SmackDown because I feel like there’s some nights, some Fridays, where we have more female matches than men. So it’s been really cool.”
With women now in a stronger position, Brie said younger wrestlers can bring the Diva label back without it carrying the same baggage. She believes many of today’s women grew up watching Total Divas and use the word as a tribute to the stars who inspired them.
“I think it’s been fun for the girls to bring back Diva because it doesn’t feel so bad anymore to be called a Diva. You always love it because they’ve all been inspired by Total Divas and why they got in the business. So when they call themselves that, they’re putting themselves in Natalya’s situation, or the Funkadactyls, or the Bellas.”
Nikki had a much simpler explanation. To her, “Diva” now fits right alongside the kind of confident labels women already use to describe themselves.
“We’re in the era where everyone’s using, like, ‘baddie’ or ‘mad bitch.’ Diva falls under that whole thing. If you call yourself Diva, you’re just making yourself the most important part, like main-character energy.”
The Bella Twins aren’t asking WWE to erase the progress made during the women’s revolution. Their point is that women have already proven they belong on equal footing, which means the Diva name no longer has to define what they are allowed to do inside the ring.
Do you think WWE should embrace the Diva label again, or should it remain part of the company’s past? Leave your feedback in the comments.
