Brie Bella ‘bummed’ by lack of time for WWE SmackDown match
She understands the reasoning behind it, but Brie Bella was “bummed” that her match on WWE SmackDown last week only got a few minutes of time.
Bella lost to Fatal Influence member Lainey Reid on the July 3 edition of SmackDown. The bout, which lasted just over three minutes, was the first singles match Bella has had since returning to the WWE ring. Before this, she had not competed in any singles matches since 2018.
On the Nikki & Brie Show, Bella noted that she’s been pitching to have a singles match for a while. Only getting three minutes was disappointing, but she understands that SmackDown is going through a transition period right now switching back to two hours. SmackDown exists as a three-hour show for the first half of the year before moving to two hours for the second half. Last Friday’s episode was the first since the switch.
“I’ve been wanting it forever. So when I finally was like, ‘Oh, I get a singles match,’ I was super excited. When I heard the times, I was bummed,” Bella said. “But also I understand, SmackDown is back to two hours. It’ll be two hours until January. So all of a sudden, when you have all these storylines going on SmackDown and it’s a three-hour show, and then boom, you get cut down to two hours, you’re back to fighting for TV time, and, you know, they’re going to condense a lot of stuff.
“So a part of me understood it. I mean, obviously, I won’t lie — I was bummed. So for me, this is how I look at it, is that they tried to get a bunch of stuff in. And obviously, I’m always grateful to be on the card.”
Bella said she tried to make the most out of the three minutes and believes she left the fans wanting more. Backstage, Bella joked with her tag team partner Paige about how — if anyone was going to get less time — it made sense for it to be Bella since she’s from the Divas era.
While wishing the match was longer, Bella is taking the approach of being grateful for everything she gets to do both in and outside of the ring. She has the mindset of always doing her best even when obstacles are presented.
“I’ll admit, even when I heard my time before I got to the building, I was like, I was pissed,” Bella said. “But then I was like, ‘You know what, Brie?’ Look what I get to do for a living.”
Brie Bella performing Bryan Danielson’s moves —
Another thing Bella is grateful for is that — despite her husband Bryan Danielson being with AEW — WWE has allowed her to perform his signature moves. The match against Reid included Bella applying the Yes Lock.
“My biggest thing I asked for is, ‘I want to put on the Yes Lock.’ And they let me,” Bella said. “I honestly will be honest, I didn’t know if they would, because it is Bryan’s. And when people see the Yes Lock, it’s not like they think of Brie Bella. Hopefully I change that, but they think of Daniel Bryan. So I was very grateful.”
Danielson, who helps coach Bella, is happy to see his wife utilizing some of his arsenal.
“He was like, ‘Brie, I’m retired. If there’s anyone in the world I want to have my moves, it’s my wife.’ So that made me feel good,” Bella said.
The Bella vs. Reid singles match set up a WWE Women’s Tag Team title bout for Saturday Night’s Main Event in New York City on July 18. Bella & Paige will put their belts on the line against Reid & Fallon Henley.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.