We are in the midst of an unprecedented Divas Revolution in the WWE, and fans of women’s wrestling couldn’t be happier. With the likes of Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Charlotte having made their debuts just before Battleground, the Divas are getting a lot more airtime, and are currently taking up not one, but two of the most anticipated match-ups on Monday Night Raw every week.
I am not complaining about this new development in the division one bit, in fact it’s one of the things that makes me stay up as long as I do during Raw on Monday Nights. But it’s as clear as the day is long that there’s been an undeniable antagonist in this story, and it’s been the Bella twins.
WWE fans seem to be split down the middle with regards to the Bella twins, particularly Nikki Bella, whose reign as Divas Champion is less than a couple of weeks away from edging out AJ Lee’s record as longest-reigning champion in the division. Many see Nikki Bella as an undeserving champion altogether, never mind being the one to break AJ’s record. Her lack of experience in comparison to many of the other Divas angers a lot of people. It’s also worth noting that the Bellas have achieved most of their success since Nikki became John Cena’s girlfriend, but make of that what you will.
I, on the other hand, am actually a fan of the Bellas. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t always in their corner. A few years ago I was one of their biggest critics, thinking their talents, or lack thereof, were undeservingly being utilised by WWE while “real” wrestlers were toiling away earning little to no success. It’s only in the last few years that I’ve started to come around, right about the time that the Bellas, both Nikki and Brie, started to improve in the ring and on the microphone.
A few years ago it looked like their only appeal was the fact that they were good-looking twins. Today, Brie and Nikki have created a reputable brand to their names, both individual and combined, with “Fearless Nikki” and “Brie Mode” backing them up should they go in separate directions.
Love her or hate her, and I think the latter is kind of the point, Nikki Bella is one of the best heels that the division has seen in a long time. People complain these days because it seems like they bounce back and forth between hero and villain, but they’re definitely heels. Just not typical ones.
They acknowledge their fans, and they cater to them, but they’re still the bad guys. That’s where they excel. Nikki Bella is the woman who knows she is good despite the criticism thrown her way, and she capitalises on that to do her job even better. She welcomes the fans and, I really despise this over-used word, but the haters as well.
Nikki Bella is not my favourite female wrestler in the WWE, but she’s probably up there. I love Paige, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Natalya, Brie Bella, Emma and a few others, but Nikki is definitely where she belongs. She’s good in the ring, even though it took nearly five years for her to show any improvements, she can talk up a storm when she wants to and she brings people into the loop with her starring role on Total Divas, a show I used to call a guilty pleasure, but it’s honestly a great show.
I can totally justify Nikki Bella surpassing AJ Lee’s record. I could go into more detail about Nikki Bella’s appeal, her talents in the ring, her passion for the WWE, or I could put it quite simply and say that Nikki Bella is allowed to break that record for the simple reason that it will piss people off. At the end of the day, that’s her job as a heel. You’re not going to stop watching Raw and Smackdown because she held the title for a specific number of days in a row. If you do, then this isn’t for you.
You can be mad, you can kick and scream, write 5000 words on Tumblr about how she doesn’t deserve it and how AJ Lee is the greatest WWE Diva of all time, but you’re just going to be contributing to the very thing you hate. I loved AJ Lee, just like I loved, and still am a huge supporter of CM Punk. But they’re gone now. And if Seth Rollins, Sheamus, Kevin Owens, Cesaro or Randy Orton hold the title for longer than 434 days in a row, I’ll be sad, but I’ll get over it. The company isn’t going to stop operating because AJ Lee isn’t there, you have to get with the times and move on.
So to answer my own question; will Nikki Bella break the record, will her title reign stand the test of time and will she make history as the longest-reigning Divas Champion in WWE history? In the immortal words of her brother-in-law, YES, YES, YES!
That’ll do it for me today, folks. If you enjoyed this article, please be sure to share it on Twitter, Facebook and all social media. You can also follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_UTS to speak with me about wrestling, my writing or anything at all.
Thanks for reading!
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Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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