Nikki Bella reflects on first WWE singles match in seven years
On WWE Raw last night, Nikki Bella competed in her first singles match in nearly seven years.
Bella defeated Chelsea Green in a bout that was set up when she eliminated Green from the Evolution Battle Royal the previous night. It was Bella’s first singles match since 2018, when she had a run that included facing Ronda Rousey at the inaugural Evolution pay-per-view.
Following last night’s show, Bella was a guest on WWE’s Raw Recap podcast. She admitted to still being blown up from the match but said it was an amazing experience overall.
“I’m feeling a lot of emotions right now, a lot,” Bella said. “Overall, it truly felt amazing. The crowd was incredible. I mean, my Bella Army is truly one of the greatest fandoms in history, in the world. And our fans — our WWE Universe — are what make matches so great. So the energy in that arena was absolutely amazing.”
Bella said she has always put a lot of pressure on herself, but she’s at a point in her life where she understands she’s not going to be perfect after a seven-year layoff.
“Where I’m at now is, I knew I wasn’t going to go in tonight and be perfect. I knew I wasn’t going to be an IYO SKY. I wasn’t going to be a Rhea Ripley. I wasn’t going to be a Bayley. I wasn’t even going to be a Chelsea Green,” she said. “But what I did know going in there was — give it your best. It’s been seven years. You’ve had a baby. You haven’t been in that ring. And people don’t understand how hard it is to be in there. I mean, one, wrestling conditioning is different than anything. Even if you’re going to train for the Olympics, there is something different in what we do. So I was very blown up, but I gave it my all.”
Bella used her Rack Attack 2.0 finisher to defeat Green. There was then a post-match angle where Green and her Secret Hervice (Piper Niven & Alba Fyre) attacked Bella until Stephanie Vaquer made the save. Vaquer won the Evolution Battle Royal on Sunday and is set to challenge either Naomi, IYO SKY, or Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship next month at Clash in Paris.
“If it’s not Brie, there’s no one else that I would want than another fellow Latina, Stephanie,” Bella said on Raw Recap.
Bella’s WWE comeback began back at the Royal Rumble and resumed leading into Evolution. The WWE Hall of Famer was originally set for a program with Liv Morgan, but those plans had to change when Morgan suffered a dislocated shoulder that forced her off the Evolution card. Bella reiterated on Raw Recap that she’s back in WWE for a while and is looking forward to building on the foundation she’s formed so far.
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.