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Nikki Bella was unfortunately out for WrestleMania 42 and was unable to go after the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship with her sister Brie.
Instead, the next best thing happened. Nikki Bella came out and addressed the Las Vegas crowd and announced that Paige would be her replacement. Fans were electrified to see Paige’s return after several years away. She and Brie Bella would go on to win the titles.
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Nikki Bella, Paige and Brie Bella celebrate during WrestleMania 42 Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Rich Freeda/WWE)
Ahead of Brie Bella and Paige’s tag team title defense against Nia Jax and Lash Legend at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Nikki Bella recalled the WrestleMania moment in a recent interview with Pakinomist Digital.
“It was amazing,” she recalled. “I feel like there’s no one else that could have taken my place and would have had that kind of impact than Paige because we have so much history with Paige and Paige is really like a sister to Brie and I and she’s a huge star with a ton of equity. I was so happy for her. I mean, of course, you’re just down anyway, I can say you can say the exact right thing, even about the injury. feelings.”
Bella said she was happy for her sister and Paige for their tag team win, adding that she noticed the two might have better chemistry in the ring than she does.
Paige and Brie Bella address the crowd during WWE RAW at the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., on May 11, 2026. (Michael Owens/WWE)
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“But I was really happy for Paige, and also Brie and Paige have such similar vibes,” she said. “Almost, I want to, more than me and Brie. They’re like, those plaid print, punk-type style girls. So when I see them every week on TV, I’m like, this is really working. This is amazing. So it makes me really, really happy for her — for Paige and for Brie.”
Bella, who became the Chief Margarita Officer for Madam Paleta Tequila, is working hard to get back into action after suffering the serious ankle injury.
She explained her timeline to Pakinomist Digital.
“At the moment, I’m getting my X-rays in mid-June. So X-rays, MRIs, to see how the growth is — did my bones grow back completely? All the things,” she said. “But today I was really pumped because I got to squat for the first time. So I’ve been working with my trainer and my PT and last week I got to a level where now we have to focus on strengthening. So, I’d say it’s so much work. My broken neck was a lot easier than this, and how is that possible?
Nikki Bella confronts Becky Lynch on Monday Night RAW at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on August 4, 2025. (Michael Marques/WWE)
“But I was so fired up this morning because being back in a squat position, and even though it’s obviously not the weight I’m used to, but just starting somewhere, it just felt so good. And doing an actual full workout, and don’t get me wrong, there are some things, I look like a baby deer and my legs shake like nobody’s business, but I try to work as hard as I can when I have a good starting point. get those x-rays because if I can be cleared, like mid to late June, then they look at strength, you go through all these strength tests, I try to get mine as close to there as possible.”
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For now, Bella will have to sit and watch her sister and Paige at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Fort Wayne, Indiana at 20 A.M.
