Nikki Bella has revealed that she seriously considered a commitment to AEW.
In 2018, Nikki Bella officially retired from the ring due to her past with neck and spine injuries, and, aside from a one-off Royal Rumble appearance, she has maintained her absence from the squared circle. The 40-year-old is a former two-time Divas Champion and is well-known for her time in WWE, however she is now a free agent after her deal with the company expired in 2023, meaning a return to the ring could possibly happen elsewhere, and it appears that she nearly opened talks with AEW.
Speaking on the Nikki & Brie show, Nikki explained that, following Mercedes Monè’s AEW debut, she thought about whether she could wrestle again and almost called Tony Khan to enquire about coming into the company before deciding to hold off to make sure she can be around for her son.
“Since we’ve been lifting so much, we always say, we always start to get that wrestling mindset, ‘We’re going to go back and do this story and cut this promo.’ You get it, but how serious I got where I was like, ‘Okay, I think I can do maybe a year at AEW and I can do it every week.’ When I saw Mercedes (Monè) debut and cut her promo, that line stuck with me, ‘Here, we’re going to make the evolution worldwide.’ I was like, ‘They do.’ It goes into many leagues, is what she means, it doesn’t have to be at one place. It can be at all these places where all these women are wrestling at. I go, ‘Brie, I think I can do it for a year. I can do it here to here and go every week.’ Then, I thought of Matteo. I had a good week of like, ‘This is it. I’m going to call Tony Khan. I’m your girl. I will commit.’ Then, I was like, ‘I can’t do that to my son right now. He needs me,'”
-Nikki Bella
Should this come to be, Brie has already ruled herself out of making the comeback alongside her sister, as her husband Bryan Danielson’s AEW commitments mean that she would have to focus on parenting duties instead of returning to the ring. As of now, there aren’t any plans for either Nikki or Brie to begin competing again, but, as ever, this may change later down the line.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Nikki Bella returning to the ring as we hear more.
H/T to Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription.
