Nikki Garcia (Nikki Bella): I Received A Legal Letter From WWE About Name Change Ahead Of WWE Exit
Nikki Garcia reflects on changing her name and leaving WWE.
Nikki Garcia reflects on changing her name and leaving WWE.
Nikki and Brie Garcia, formerly known as The Bella Twins, left WWE in March following a lengthy tenture with the company. The sisters collectively held the WWE Divas Championship three times, and they were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Since their departure, Nikki and Brie have been going by the Garcia Twins or Nikki and Brie Garcia.
Speaking with Amanda Hirsch on Not Skinny But Not Fat, Nikki and Brie were asked whether they asked The Rock and John Cena for advice as they prepared to transition away from WWE. After noting that they didn’t, Nikki described how she feels like it’s different for women. She also detailed how she got a legal letter from WWE before her contract expired.
“I think it’s different for men than women. There was never even a conversation. I think a lot of us, we thought, ‘Oh, maybe there will be a conversation because we have such a huge brand, and we were actually making WWE a lot of money. So we actually thought there was gonna be a conversation of, ‘Okay, you guys aren’t re-signing. Let’s talk about the name. Maybe when you do future projects, we take a percentage, you keep the name.’ I’ll be honest, I got a lawyer letter four hours before my contact was ending. They were seizing it all. I keep that letter in my office so I can always see it and just know that, as I enter this new chapter, it’s like I get to see what wasn’t even talked about [with] something I built for 20 years, but I know that I have the power as a woman to build something else for the next 20 years. It was upsetting because we were attached, but also I get a business, like, ‘Hey, this is our platform.’ I get it, I’m very understanding in that way. That is their IP. But we would have continued to have built that if there was a talk,” Nikki said.
During the interview, Nikki and Brie commented on potentially having one last run. Check out their comments here.
Brie Garcia recently noted that she plans to wrestle again. Click here to see what Bryan Danielson had to say about Brie Bella potentially joining him in AEW.
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