Nikki Bella vents about the lack of “appreciation” for women in WWE
During an appearance on The Tamron Hall Show, The Bella Twins elaborated more on their social media criticism of WWE RAW’s 30th anniversary special…
Nikki: “So when you have a 3-hour show and it’s male-dominated and women aren’t being honored pretty much at all, you just sit back and you’re like why aren’t we being appreciated? Why don’t you even have a video package showcasing what these incredible women have done? It made me upset for all of the women because I know that feeling of walking out to the ring where you walk out and put your body on the line, you give it your all just to entertain your fans and the TV viewers. You just come back and you want to feel appreciated for that. Some of us have had career-ending injuries. We shouldn’t go away. I feel if a wrestler leaves the company, or they are no longer there, it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be remembered. I wish and I hope that maybe that will be more in the future and we still have a way to go, that women will be appreciated for what they do…”
Brie: “What the women are doing today at WWE is amazing. The present-day women wrestlers are doing incredible things but it took so many women from the past to pave that road and it’s okay to say thank you and recognize that. The Bella Twins don’t have to be at Raw 30. It’s all the other women and we can give you a whole long list, that should have been there.” (quotes courtesy of WrestlingNews.co)
She doesn’t spread her legs for WWE’s poster boy anymore and her sister is married to an AEW guy, so what should they need the Bella ring rats for anyway?
The state of women’s wrestling in WWE was borderline atrocious for most of those 30 years – an afterthought at best and exploitative at worst. (What would they put in that video package, the best bra & panties matches of the Attitude Era?) Fortunately it’s come a long way recently, thanks in large part to a developmental system that focuses on ability and athleticism and not just eye candy, but it would be disingenuous to create highlights from a time when there wasn’t much to highlight. Most of that was the fault of WWE at the time, but retconning it now would ring a little hollow.