Nikki Bella Addresses “Coop” Chants During February 2 WWE RAW

Nikki Bella’s return to WWE Raw didn’t exactly go how she imagined—and it had nothing to do with the ring rust. It was the crowd reaction in Philly that threw her off.

Appearing with sister Brie Bella on The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki admitted she totally misread the audience during their promo segment last Monday. What she thought were boos turned out to be chants of “Coooop”—a shoutout to Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean, who’s been rumored to be linked with Nikki.

Brie set the stage, saying, “When we walked out there, and I thought we were getting boo’d.” Nikki jumped in with the full breakdown of what was going through her head live in the moment. It wasn’t boos—it was love. Well, maybe love for someone else.

“Okay, this is my thing. So before I — I mean, I’ve only been off TV before the Rumble was three weeks, three Mondays. Okay, I’m in my heel run, and I love being in my heel run. And as you know, we have to prepare ourselves — like, we have to have a certain mindset before we go out. And I always put myself in a very much heel-mode mindset. It’s just how I work, it’s how I do things, it’s how I prep. So when I go out there, to me, it made sense — like, I’m getting booed, right?”

“She laughed about what I said. I wasn’t dissing my Eagles. When you’re live, you’re just reacting to what is organically happening. What I said about the Eagles, I just assumed they knew I was a diehard Eagles fan, so they’re booing the fact that they’re not in the Super Bowl.”

Brie tried to save the moment on the mic, “I did say, ‘They’re saying Coop.’ None of it was scripted.” But Nikki was already deep into heel mode and explained how instincts took over:

“You just don’t know what to say in the moment. All I know, and what we’re taught at times, when you have a crowd chanting something so much, you need to acknowledge and then we move on. I don’t know if that was the best way to acknowledge the crowd.”

Brie’s response?“You added fuel to the fire.” Nikki didn’t fight it, “I didn’t mean it that way.”

The Bellas both agreed the whole thing felt like a Total Bellas scene—chaotic, awkward, and somehow exactly on-brand. But through all the noise, they made one thing clear: they’re not back for a nostalgia pop. They want the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, and they’re ready to mix it up with today’s top teams.

Did Nikki get caught slipping with that promo, or was it the perfect heel move? Drop your thoughts below and let us know what you think of the Bellas stepping back into the ring.

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