Brie Bella has plenty of crazy stories from her WWE career. None of them involves outrunning police across the Arizona desert in flip-flops.
While speaking with Stephanie McMahon on What’s Your Story?, the former WWE Divas Champion was asked about the wildest party she ever attended growing up. That question immediately brought back one unforgettable night when what started as a typical Arizona desert party turned into a full-blown sprint from the cops.
According to Brie, desert parties were a huge part of growing up in Arizona. They were held so far outside town that everyone assumed police wouldn’t bother making the trip. Until one night, they did.
“Oh my gosh. I mean… in Arizona at that time, desert parties were rages. It took a while for cops to get out there, but it was easy.”
Stephanie pointed out that the remote location was probably what made those parties so popular, and Brie agreed before revealing exactly how the night unraveled.
“Probably the craziest one I went to is when cops did come and I actually… a cop went to grab my arm and I sprinted—and I was fast.”
Stephanie immediately wanted to know whether she actually got away. Brie’s answer came without hesitation: “I got away.” The escape itself is something she’ll never forget. Brie said she was wearing nothing but flip-flops while running through the desert, but the fear of getting caught completely took over. She dug her toes so deeply into her sandals while sprinting that they were permanently bent out of shape afterwards.
“I was wearing flip-flops and I’m not kidding you. My toes clawed into ’em so deep and I was sprinting in flip-flops… That’s how scared I was. I remember later I looked at my shoes and you could just see… that’s how hard I was gripping.”
Stephanie couldn’t believe what she was hearing: “That’s nuts.” Despite how funny the story sounds today, Brie admitted it was anything but funny in the moment. As police yelled for everyone to stop, she wasn’t worried about rattlesnakes, scorpions or anything else hiding in the Arizona desert. She had one goal—don’t get caught.
“I think I would’ve rather died by rattlesnake… all I thought about was, ‘Oh my gosh, no way I’m having my parents called.’ They’re like, ‘Stop! Stop!’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, right. I’m out.'”
Looking back, Brie said those desert parties remain some of her favorite memories—not because of the police chase, but because they captured a completely different way of growing up. Friends would gather under the stars with no phones, no social media and no distractions, listening to country or rock music while talking for hours.
“For us, what was amazing… you just have the stars and you’re listening to the desert noises. We were playing either country music or rock and roll and everyone’s just chatting. We didn’t have the phones. I just thought it was so different.”
Today, Brie can laugh about the night she outran police across the desert. As a teenager, though, she genuinely believed getting caught—and having her parents receive that phone call—would have been the worst thing imaginable.
Have you ever had a childhood story that’s hilarious now but felt terrifying at the time? Let us know in the comments below.
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