Nikki Bella Details Injury That Led To Change In WWE WrestleMania 42 Plans

Nikki Bella missed out on WWE WrestleMania 42, and a Women's Tag Team Championship victory alongside her sister, Brie Bella, when she was replaced by Paige due to an ankle injury she suffered in a tag team match against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss on the March 27 episode of "WWE SmackDown." The sisters broke down the physical and emotional journey Nikki went through on an episode of "The Nikki and Brie Show," and Nikki explained how she finished the match when she was in serious pain.

"I knew the WrestleMania storyline was starting that night," she said. "I knew obviously Bayley and Lyra [Valkyria] were in the back. I have the girls ringside. I'm like, 'I can't ruin this for everyone. If I stop, that means nothing's going to happen tonight.' So I was like, 'I have to push through.' That's what I was thinking inside."

Nikki described the shooting pain throughout her entire body when she and Brie had Bliss up for a double suplex. She described feeling it from her hip, to her knees, to "even her brain," and she knew something was very wrong. After finishing the bout and post-match angle, Nikki said she was initially told it was believed to be sprained, and she'd be good.

"They wrap me up and I'm like wobbling down the hall in a boot, but I was like, 'Wow, this doesn't feel like a sprain, but okay,'" she said. "I haven't sprained my ankle since soccer days, so maybe sprained ankles have changed, I don't know."

The twins described having to immediately travel to New York City ahead of WWE's event in Madison Square Garden. Nikki said she had to order a scooter to get around, as she had planned on two days of fun in the city with her son.

Nikki explained that her ankle was taped up tight during "WWE Raw" at MSG, and she was asked if she was able to do a walk-in, rather than a run-in, during the Women's Tag Team Championship match. She said when she got to back and the tape was cut off, which was insanely painful; suddenly she was told she needed an MRI the following day.

"Then I get the call, and sometimes calls aren't that quick after an MRI, so when I saw one of our doctors calling, I was like, 'Oh gosh,'" Nikki explained. "I answer and they're like, 'Don't know how you managed to do all of it.' They just broke it down to me that I tore, sprained, and fractured my ankle."

Nikki said that missing the WrestleMania four-way match for the women's tag titles was hard in the moment. She said The Bellas aren't in their 30s with many more moments left in their wrestling careers, and she doesn't think a WrestleMania moment is going to come around for her.

"I get that I'll probably have my last WrestleMania next year in Saudi, maybe, but other than that, that'll be it for me," Nikki said. "This would have been my last WrestleMania moment to share with family members... I've worked really hard the last year and a half. I haven't complained. I've done what I've been told... I've been very okay taking a step back and helping out and not b******* about it. This was my moment that I worked really hard for this past year and a half. So for that to all go away is extremely hard."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Nikki & Brie Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.