Nikki Bella Admits WWE Return Character Struggles, Rejects Babyface Alignment

Nikki Bella Reflects On Alignment Struggles And Finding Her Character Direction In WWE

Following her return to WWE television on SmackDown, Hall of Famer Nikki Bella opened up about the initial struggles she faced finding her character’s identity after being sidelined with an ankle injury earlier in the year.

Speaking on The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki reflected on her current run and admitted that it took stepping away due to injury to evaluate her performance and figure out how her persona fits into today’s women’s division.

Overcoming Initial Unpreparedness And Finding A Groove

Nikki revealed that rewatching her early return matches was eye-opening, acknowledging that she didn’t feel fully equipped at first:

Evaluating Her Return: “The injury gave me finally a moment to really think of, like, I didn’t, you know, when I first came back, I just wasn’t fully prepared, and I didn’t get all the tools to then continue to be prepared. And that was really hard. And I was, like, looking back at my matches like, ‘Oh man.’”
Channeling Past Success: “I felt like, you know what, I’m starting to really, and you probably have noticed this, I’m finally feeling a lot like me, like who I thrive to be. Like in our Team Bella run, in my longest-running Divas Champion run. And yeah, and it goes, you know, break the fourth wall a little bit to a lot of the women on SmackDown. But I feel like I’m finally just getting in my groove.”

Bouncing Between Alignments To Embracing The Heel Role

A major point of confusion during her initial comeback was constant alignment changes. Nikki agreed with her sister Brie Bella, who noted the creative uncertainty surrounding how her character was positioned against the current roster:

“Yeah. And it’s very different. And then, you know, I was going in a short amount of time, babyface, heel, babyface, neutral. And finally now it’s like, no, she’s arrived. This is who she is.”

When Brie joked that this iteration of Nikki is far from a babyface persona, Nikki quickly concurred, embracing her natural edge:

“There’s no babyface about me.”

With those alignment shifts behind her, Nikki now feels firmly settled into a persona reminiscent of her peak championship run, setting the stage for an authentic presence on SmackDown moving forward.