Nikki Bella and Paige have started digging into parts of each other’s lives that normally stay well outside a WWE storyline. According to Nikki, none of those personal shots were originally supposed to happen until the fans themselves pushed the feud in that direction.
While speaking on The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki addressed the September 4 SmackDown promo that saw things get especially nasty between herself and Paige. The segment included shots involving John Cena and Nikki’s divorce, but Nikki isn’t bothered by WWE allowing the rivalry to get that personal. In fact, that’s the kind of material she enjoys using when it gets something out of the audience.
“Well, and I know people can feel both ways and, like, believe me, I get it. But I think I’m all for, you know, what entertains a crowd, what helps make a crowd react.”
Nikki then revealed where the personal direction actually came from. According to her, chants from fans in Canada stirred everything up, and without those chants, the material that eventually made it into the SmackDown promo wouldn’t have happened.
“And I’ve always loved bringing something personal into it, and it all got stirred up from what they were chanting in Canada. If they never chanting that, you know, none of the stuff in the promo would’ve ever happened.”
That makes the increasingly nasty nature of the feud a little more interesting. Rather than WWE starting with a plan to drag Nikki’s personal history into things, Nikki says the audience reaction helped send the storyline there and everything began falling into place afterwards.
The WWE Hall of Famer also got to experience the response immediately because the SmackDown exchange was done live. Nikki could hear how the crowd was reacting as the personal shots kept coming.
“So it’s just kind of fallen into place that way. Right. But I mean, the crowd just being there, ’cause you know, we shot that live, it was amazing to hear, like, the reactions and even, you know, the stuff I brought before.”
The response didn’t stop when SmackDown ended. Nikki noticed just how divided fans were online over how personal the segment became, but she doesn’t see that split reaction as a reason to back away from it.
“And it is funny to see the reactions online, you know, very torn.”
For Nikki, getting people arguing about the feud is still getting them invested. With her match against Paige coming up in Mexico City, she believes that reaction only makes what happens next more interesting.
“Great. You know, it’s, oh, that’s, you know me, I’ll always feel that way. And, you know, it’s gonna make it really fun for what we’re gonna do tomorrow night.”
The personal issue exploded on the September 4 SmackDown when Paige used John Cena’s “hustle, loyalty and respect” line against Nikki before taking another shot at her divorce. Nikki later responded on social media by promising to end Paige’s trash talk when they meet in Mexico City.
Now there’s an explanation for how the feud got there in the first place. Nikki says the fans in Canada helped open that door, and once the personal material started getting a reaction, she had no problem walking straight through it.
Do you think Nikki Bella and Paige getting this personal has made their feud better, or has WWE taken it too far? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
