Nikki Bella reveals how plans changed for WWE Clash in Paris match
Nikki Bella’s match against Becky Lynch originally wasn’t supposed to happen at WWE Clash in Paris.
The two faced off at Sunday’s PLE with Lynch defeating Bella to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. While recapping the weekend on The Nikki & Brie Show, Bella confirmed that her match against Lynch was originally planned for an episode of Raw before those plans were changed due to Naomi’s pregnancy.
“So from Birmingham until I arrived in Paris, I didn’t go home because I knew, okay, by the time I go [from] England back to [San Francisco International Airport], then have to do SFO back to Paris, I would really be home for two days, crazy jet lagged and to prepare for a match that originally was going to be on Raw, that got moved to the PLE,” Bella said while discussing her preparation for the match. “I’m like, I have to stay overseas and just prep, kick the jet lag out.”
Bella said she believes she found out about the change one week before. She doesn’t fully know what the original Clash in Paris card was going to be but assumes there was only one women’s match scheduled, which would have been Naomi defending the Women’s World Championship against Stephanie Vaquer.
That Naomi vs. Vaquer bout got pulled following Naomi’s pregnancy announcement, with a new champ now set to be crowned when Vaquer faces IYO SKY at WWE Wrestlepalooza.
Bella said getting to have a title match in Paris was a dream come true, and she feels so proud of herself despite there being a couple of spots in the match that didn’t go according to plan. Bella noted that people were clapping for her backstage when she came back after the match, which was really special to her. She got some hate on X/Twitter for her performance, but Bella is focusing more on the love she received and how much fun she had.
“This is a part of life and coming back,” she said. “Things don’t happen overnight. And if you look at other comebacks, like, I’m not here to do a one-off and go to the [Performance Center] and train the same match for five hours every day to perform that 15 minutes that I just put 30 hours in.
“I’m doing it as I have so much passion and love for this business. And that’s why I was like, I’m not going to let people take away of how much fun I had out there and how I loved every second. I was like in heaven. Like, I truly love wrestling. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m traveling every week.”
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.