Nikki & Brie Bella, two of the most iconic female Superstars in WWE history, are the latest inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020. They will take their place in the hallowed hall on Thursday, April 2, in Tampa, Fla., during WrestleMania 36 Week. The news was first revealed by Alexa Bliss during “A Moment of Bliss” on Friday Night SmackDown.
The Bella Twins join Batista and nWo members Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman and Kevin Nash in the 2020 class so far. Nikki & Brie will react to the huge news in an interview on WWE Backstage this Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET on FS1.
The road to the WWE Hall of Fame was a long one for Nikki & Brie, who started their WWE careers by having a little fun deceiving their opponents. Brie debuted in August 2008 and strung together a series of wins, seemingly getting a second wind after scampering under the ring. However, their ruse would soon be revealed to be a bit of “Twin Magic,” as it was discovered that Brie’s twin sister Nikki was hiding under the ring, ready to switch places and pick up the victory. Though they had been found out, that tactic would go on to pay off for the Bellas countless times over the years.
Though “Twin Magic” was their calling card early on, Nikki & Brie proved they were extremely capable competitors. Brie was the first to capture championship gold, defeating Eve Torres to become WWE Divas Champion in April 2011. Nikki followed suit one year later with a victory over fellow WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix. Nikki captured the title again at Survivor Series 2014, dethroning AJ Lee to kickstart a reign that would last 300 days, the longest in Divas Championship history.
Throughout their time in WWE, The Bella Twins were part of many classic rivalries, facing off with the likes of Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Stephanie McMahon and even each other. They also helped introduce a new generation of fans to WWE with their hit reality shows “Total Divas” and “Total Bellas,” as well as their YouTube channel, which boasts more than 2.6 million subscribers.
And now, they’re being recognized for their incredible careers with the ultimate honour: induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Don’t miss The Bella Twins taking their place in sports-entertainment history during the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Thursday, April 2, during WrestleMania 36 Week. Tickets for the ceremony are available now at Ticketmaster and the Amalie Arena box office.
The Bella Twins had brought their “magic” to the ring for more than a decade and they will now do it again in Tampa when they will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020. The twins are what we can call “WWE babies” as they were trained and made their careers in WWE. After participating in the 2006 WWE Diva Search, they were signed to developmental contracts in 2007. They would wrestle in FCW, also be managers, but they crossed the roads of Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, Natalya or Katie Lea Burchill during their year there.
On August 29, 2008, episode of SmackDown, Brie Bella defeated Victoria. She had a series of matches with Victoria and Victoria’s accomplice Natalya. In each match, Brie would roll out of the ring and go underneath it, emerging revived as she would then win the match. On the November 7 episode of SmackDown, Brie picked up a win against Victoria and then ran under the ring to escape Natalya and Victoria, but Victoria and Natalya both reached for Brie under the ring, resulting in both Nikkie and Brie being pulled out. The twins had their first official match as a team on the November 21 episode of SmackDown, defeating Victoria and Natalya.
That was a time where Divas matches were like 3-minute long or Divas were eye candies. They were Carlito and Primo, then John Morrison and The Miz’s love interest. Later, the would fight for the heart of Daniel Bryan (we know who won it in the end). But, meanwhile, the twins have never stop wrestling, on RAW, SmackDown and ECW, sometimes one against each other, mostly as a team. Think Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres, Tamina Snuka, Gail Kim, Jillian Hall, Melina, Maryse, Kelly Kelly, AJ Lee, Kaitlyn, all these wrestlers were their first opponents.
On April 11, 2011, Brie defeated Eve Torres to win the Divas Championship, marking the first time either twin had held a championship in WWE. She would lose it to Kelly Kelly on RAW, ending her reign at 70 days. The Bellas began to show friction in March 2012 after both twins lost to AJ Lee in singles competition. On April 23, 2012, Nikki defeated Phoenix in a lumberjill match on RAW to win the Divas Championship for the first time. Brie lost Nikki’s championship to Layla at Extreme Rules on April 29, 2012, after Twin Magic failed, ending her Divas Championship reign after only a week. The following night on Raw, they competed in their last match with the WWE, the twins had been fired by Executive Administrator Eve Torres, in storyline, but they were in fact in need of a hiatus.
The Bella Twins returned to WWE on the March 11, 2013, episode of RAW in a backstage segment with Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow). On the March 15 episode of SmackDown, the twins attacked The Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi) and the following week interfered in matches between Team Rhodes Scholars and Brodus Clay and Tensai, but were attacked by The Funkadactyls. The twins made their in-ring return 2 weeks later. Their comeback was featured in Total Divas, the reality TV program. Their love lives, matches, feuds in and out of the ring has been depicted.
In April 2014, Brie became involved in her real-life husband Daniel Bryan’s ongoing storyline with Stephanie McMahon and Kane. She received a match against McMahon at SummerSlam 2014. Nikki attacked Brie at the event, which allowed McMahon to win the match. After a few months feuding, Nikki and Brie reunited at Survivor Series 2014 when Nikki defeated AJ Lee with Brie’s help to become a two-time Divas Champion. Nikki would retain against AJ Lee, Naomi, Paige. After weeks of Team Bella outnumbering Paige, Naomi and Tamina, Stephanie McMahon called for a “Revolution” in the WWE Divas division and introduced the debuting Charlotte and Becky Lynch as Paige’s allies while NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks debuted as an ally to Naomi and Tamina.
On the September 14, 2015, episode of RAW, Nikki defended her title against Charlotte, who pinned Brie after the twins had switched places to win the match, but she retained the championship since the title cannot change hands by disqualification and in the process became the new longest reigning Divas Champion in history, surpassing AJ Lee’s previous record of 295 days. Nikki dropped the championship to Charlotte at Night of Champions, ending her reign at 301 days.
Shortly after, Nikki went on a hiatus from both television and in-ring competition due to a neck injury which would require surgery. During Nikki’s absence, Brie continued to compete in singles competition and in tag team matches with Alicia Fox. In April 2016, Brie confirmed that she would be taking an extended break from in-ring competition, citing family reasons while also stating that she will continue working for WWE as an ambassador.
At the Royal Rumble 2018, Brie and Nikki participated in the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match at No. 28 and No. 27, respectively, making it into the final four with Asuka and Sasha Banks. Nikki received a title opportunity against Ronda Rousey at WWE Evolution on October 28, 2018, but was unsuccessful. In March 2019, both Bellas announced on Total Bellas, their own reality TV show, that they had retired from in-ring competition.
Many say The Bellas Twins have been the trailblazers of the Women’s Revolution. For sure, they influenced the #GIveDivasAChance movement in 2015, that led to all the changes we have witnessed in WWE for women wrestlers. The Bella Twins are just unique because they are twins and offered something different in an entertainment business. They capitalized on their wrestling career to build an empire made of a reality TV series, a podcast, a clothing line, a wine label, and a beauty and body line. Now, their empire will extend to the WWE Hall of Fame.
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