The Bellas Begged Vince McMahon to Call Up NXT Women after Mania

The Bellas, shown flanking Alicia Fox here, would welcome competition from NXT
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Nikki and Brie Bella are the avatars for the shitty past and problematic present of WWE women. They were hired straight from modeling and had a rough go in the ring up until around the autumn of last year. Their story arcs have been more advertisements for Total Divas rather than self-contained narratives within the RAW/Smackdown/pay-per-view cycle, and they represent everything that the current crop of NXT favorites are not. One might think that would make them protective of their spots ahead of the apparent fans' choices, but honestly, I think they've been pegged wrong from day one of their second stint with the company.

The latest piece of evidence to their true selves comes in the form of an interview with Female First, where they claimed to have begged Vince McMahon to bring up NXT Divas to the main roster right after WrestleMania:

"My sister and I were begging [Vince McMahon] for more Divas to come up to the main roster from NXT after WrestleMania, but they have to wrap up their stories there which can sometimes be why it doesn't happen immediately and as fast as we'd like."

Asked who she'd like to make the move, she responds: "Ugh, all of them?! (laughs) Definitely Charlotte, Sasha, Bayley, Becky..."

While this news may come as a shock to some of the more stubborn Bella anti-stans, I'm not entirely surprised at the sentiment. Nikki Bella, sometime between her forced storyline hiatus as promotion for the Brie/Stephanie McMahon SummerSlam match, became one of the best complete female wrestlers and characters on the main roster. Knock the promo material all you want, but at least when she told her sister Brie that she wished she died in the womb, it had fire behind it. If that were Paige delivering a corny-ass line with the most gusto that she could have, she'd have been praised to high heavens (and rightfully so, this isn't a "let's knock the fan favorites" thing here).

Brie hasn't shown the same strides of improvement as her sister, but judging her from what she was even a year ago on this date, she's turned the corner as well. The Bellas get an unfair rap mainly because of who hired them and their histories. If you're angry that the Bellas are on-screen characters and Sara del Rey/Amato isn't, or that the Bellas even got signed and folks like Lacey or Daizee Haze, or more recently, Athena or Mercedes Martinez aren't, that's not on the Bella Twins. That's on Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, Kevin Dunn, and the other powers that be in the prior personnel department, the one that was in place before Triple H got to have his run of the indies.

Meanwhile, not only have the Bellas taken it upon themselves to improve their standing and own being professional wrestlers, but they seem to get that it's not just about them. They want to share the wealth, and honestly, in a world of professional wrestling that sometimes contains a lot of backbiting and political posturing, it's great to see them put at least a public face of wanting a more fraternal take on a division or a roster. And honestly, Nikki Bella vs. any of the NXT Four Horsewomen would be a match I'd pay good money to see. I'm glad she and her sister are on the same boat as I am.