Nikki Bella recently appeared on CBS Sports’ In This Corner podcast to talk WWE Evolution, and the former WWE Diva’s Champion had plenty to get off her chest. She talked about how unfair people are to women from the diva era of WWE, and why it’s ridiculous that people blame the competitors for the decisions made by corporate.
Transcription by WrestleZone.com Senior Editor Tyler Treese
Nikki began her discussion by bringing up the origins of the term diva. “I was in so many meetings saying we’re going to make this mean something,” revealed Bella. “Make it powerful and strong and beautiful. It also gave us SmackDown women something to compete for. We were competing for nothing [at the time]. So, we were like ‘Yes! Let’s make this so strong and powerful!’ That’s what we made the Divas Championship into at that time. Something beautiful, if you look back you’ll see so many little girls wearing that Divas championship and they actually still do. They loved it.
Since the women were following the orders of WWE creative, she finds it unfair that Triple H and others have turned the label into a negative term. “I think that’s what is hard for the women of that era now,” explained Bella. “Because Triple H and that group decided to say it was a bad word. It was like, ‘Wait. You told us for years to make this an amazing word and that’s what we did!’ We put our blood sweat and tears into this. I saw the work that went into this, and it was beautiful.”
Nikki Bella’s longevity in the company has allowed for her to be a part of two different eras, and that’s why she feels like she has to speak up. “Then I got to be a part of that bridge, when people wanted to see more of us. That was beautiful, but when it gets taken away from the Diva era it hurts me. That’s why I’m back. You think diva is a bad word? I’m gonna kick your ass and show you why it isn’t a bad word.”
For everyone that is taking shots at the “diva era,” Nikki says to look back at the champions. “Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Melina, AJ Lee, Paige, Brie Bella. They’re strong, fierce women who worked really hard. I’m here to remind people of that history.”
She then went on to point out the hypocrisy of the fans that cheer the attitude era at every mention. “You want to praise the attitude era. You want to praise the girls that did bra and panties matches, but you want to discredit women that worked hard because there’s a butterfly on the championship that we didn’t design? That’s not okay with me. That’s not empowering.”
She ended her discussion by talking about the next step forward. “WWE Evolution means a lot of things, and I hope after Evolution we can stop talking about diva being a bad word,” explained Nikki Bella. “My sister and I, and a lot of the Total Divas cast always joke that ‘Oh, we’re sorry for giving you a hit reality show. We’re sorry for doing what you told us to do.’ It has effect. We get blamed for this, but you tell us to be here. I’m here to stick up for those women and remind people how hard they worked.”
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