Wrestlers Who Can't Stand The Bella Twins

WWE Hall of Famers the Bella Twins have done so much for women's wrestling, in terms of moving it into the mainstream media, since emerging on the scene in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2007. By the summer of 2008, Brie Bella and her twin sister Nikki Bella, debuted in WWE to deliver a little "Twin Magic" to their opponents between the ropes. Since then, the twins, who now go by their real names of Brie and Nikki Garcia following a brief falling-out with WWE, have only been on the onward and upward in their own careers.

Both are former WWE Divas Champions, with Nikki being the twin to hold the record of longest-reigning champion at 301 days before the belt was retired. The women really struck gold when the E! Network reality television series "Total Divas" began in July 2013. The show ran for nine seasons and led to a spin-off show entirely about the twins called "Total Bellas." Both shows highlighted the women's time within the ring and their outside business ventures, as well as their relationships. Brie is married to former AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson, formerly known as Daniel Bryan in WWE, and Nikki had a high-profile relationship with ex-fiancé John Cena. 

The Bella Twins have made a few enemies along the way in their rise to stardom in the professional wrestling sphere. Sometimes, stories the Bellas were involved in toed the line of reality with other Divas of the time resenting the fact they were in relationships with wrestlers in high positions in WWE. They have also been accused of taking opportunities from other women in the company, and the drama of "Total Divas" wasn't just for television. While they've often been praised by other women in the industry, there are some wrestlers who can't stand the Bella Twins.

Former WWE star Eva Marie is notoriously known by fans for her perceived lack of in-ring ability. Her beginnings in WWE aligned almost immediately with the conception of "Total Divas." Eva Marie was promoted to the WWE's main roster as the Bella Twins' manager after only a few weeks of formal training back in 2013, which was all documented on the program. Even from the beginning of "Total Divas," the Bella Twins were the main stars of the show and there are stories of the twins butting heads with some of their castmates, including Eva Marie, both on screen and off.

The Bellas were two stars who weren't thrilled with Marie's lack of in-ring skills and the special treatment they thought she was getting in WWE. Marie received special personal training from Brian Kendrick rather than working to come up with the other women at the WWE Performance Center. The personal training came a time when women weren't afforded such things in WWE, which likely led to the tension between the twins and Marie.

Nikki once spoke about the fact she and her sister butted heads with Marie backstage. Brie voiced her displeasure at Marie's lack of interest in training at the Performance Center with the other women during an interview with Digital Spy back in July 2015. She also said she was baffled that Marie only wanted to be back home at the end of the day in her own bed, while the other women were consistently on the road with WWE while also filming "Total Divas." Brie said that "the claws would come out" after they witnessed "someone who wouldn't sacrifice anything," when talking about "All Red Everything."

Former WWE Diva Maryse, wife of Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, and the Bella Twins had a falling out seemingly due to a business deal gone awry, and the heat was used during Maryse and Miz's WrestleMania 33 feud in 2017 against Nikki and John Cena. The following year, Maryse and Miz teamed up to take on Brie and the then-Daniel Bryan in a lesser known feud. In both instances, the women seemed to put their differences aside.

The story goes that after Maryse was let go from WWE in 2011 and the Bellas decided to leave the company in 2012, the once-close friends had an agreement to stick by each other. The falling out was referenced on an episode of "Total Divas" where Brie explained that she and Maryse had once been close, even living together at one point, but they had a huge falling out due to Maryse thinking Brie had blocked opportunities from her, including a new WWE contract. Brie explained that the three of them were offered a work opportunity, but in the end, they only wanted the Bellas, seemingly referencing either the first few seasons of the show where Maryse was not a cast member, or the Bellas return to WWE in 2013.

On the episode of "Total Divas" where Brie and Maryse were united in 2016, Maryse brought up what she called a "pact" between the three women. She explained she had a WWE contract in front of her, but she said "no" to the deal, because Brie wanted more for them and the Bellas hadn't re-signed at that point. Maryse went on to say that she didn't get a call or text from the Bellas for three and a half years. Maryse blamed Brie for ruining their friendship and told her she was "done."

Maria Kanellis is another former WWE Diva who believed that the Bella Twins took opportunities from her. In a 2013 interview, Kanellis revealed that WWE contacted her for a possible return for a WrestleMania 29 Divas tag team match, but said the Bellas prevented it from happening. Kanellis said her heat with the twins started "very randomly" and things between the women went south due to Kanellis' friendship with Dolph Ziggler, Nikki's former boyfriend.

Kanellis explained she and Ziggler had been friends backstage in WWE before the Bellas even got to the company. She said that they all were out at a party one night and she was dancing with other girls and Ziggler. Kanellis said that Nikki tapped her on the shoulder and asked what she was doing and told her that Ziggler was "with her." Kanellis said that ever since that night, things were strange between her and Nikki, but she said she would still be okay to do business with her.

The former ROH star first made the allegation about her contract being blocked on Twitter (now known as X) in a since-deleted post back in July 2013. She said she was offered a contract and "the Bellas made sure" she didn't get it. She wrote that she wasn't bitter, she just didn't like people messing with her career. 

Following the post, Kanellis said that Nikki attempted to call her. She said she was busy, but sent Nikki a text and told her there was nothing to talk about. Kanellis bluntly said that there was no reason to talk to her and Nikki wasn't worth her time. Neither Bella twin has addressed Kanellis' allegations outright.

Danielle Moinet, better known as Summer Rae in WWE, had well-documented issues with many women backstage, as revealed on "Total Divas." One person who she pushed too far happened to be Brie Bella, who said she caught Rae making inappropriate comments to her husband while all three were still in WWE.

Brie opened up against the incident on an episode of "The Bellas Podcast" (now known as "The Nikki & Brie Show") in January 2023. She said that she and Rae got in a fight because she made some "flirty, vulgar" comments to Bryan and Brie called her out for it. Brie explained that when her husband was in the trainer's room, he was having something done behind a privacy curtain. Brie was outside waiting on her husband when Rae make the comments, she and called Rae out.

Bryan told the Bella Twins that Rae wanted his opinion on who he had slept with and his wife pulled her fellow "Total Divas" star aside during the episode titled "On Brie's Bad Side," which aired in March 2014. Brie called Rae's actions a "s*****, classless thing to do," but in a separate confessional-style interview, Rae said she didn't care, because she was single and a flirt. The fight led to Brie telling Rae she wasn't invited to her wedding.

On the podcast, Brie explained that she and Rae are friends now and there don't appear to be any lingering issues between the two despite what the cameras caught on "Total Divas."

One of the Bella Twins' most notable feuds back when "Total Divas" was really starting to take off was against AJ Lee, the woman whose record Divas Championship reign Nikki eclipsed following Lee's departure from the company in April 2015. In August 2013, however, Lee took a page out of her husband CM Punk's book and delivered a savage promo, sometimes referred to as "the pipe bombshell," on "WWE Raw" where she ran down some of the other women in the company, including the entire cast of "Total Divas." She referenced the Bella Twins' relationships and said "talent isn't sexually transmitted."

The Bellas were apparently unaware Lee would be cutting the promo and took issue with it once she got backstage. Brie confronted her and Nikki fired back in a promo of her own, though it was edited from the following "WWE SmackDown." The women continued to trade personal shots at one another. Nikki blamed Lee for the fans turning on her, and said so publicly in an interview with Channel Guide Magazine. She said that it started when Lee "had a voice on WWE TV" for a year, but none of the women on "Total Divas" did. She said they never got to respond to Lee's promo, and that's when fans began to hate her. Nikki said that Lee's line of the Bella Twins coming back to WWE only for the reality show was untrue.

Despite their initial heat, Nikki kept things civil when she spoke with E! Online after defeating Lee at Survivor Series for the Divas Championship in 2014 in just 30 seconds. Nikki said she enjoyed working with Lee in the ring and her victory over her was another layer in their story.