Nikki Garcia, aka Nikki Bella, has addressed the confusion surrounding her recent promo on WWE Raw, where she appeared to insult the Philadelphia Eagles. During the segment, the crowd began chanting “Coop,” in reference to Eagles player Cooper DeJean, who has been linked to Garcia in media reports. Garcia, misinterpreting the chants as boos, responded in character, which led to further backlash from the live audience.
Speaking on SiriusXM’s The Nikki and Brie Show, Garcia explained that she believed the crowd was reacting to her heel persona and the Eagles’ absence from the Super Bowl.
“So when I go out there, to me, it made sense, like I’m getting booed, right? But it was, and then she laughed about what I said. By the way, I wasn’t dissing my Eagles,” Garcia said. “You guys have to understand that when you’re live, not only are you in front of a live crowd, you’re live on TV. You’re just reacting to what’s organically happening, so like what I said about the Eagles, I just assumed they knew I was a die hard Eagles fan, so they’re booing the fact that they’re not in the Super Bowl.”
‘We Have No Loyalty’
Garcia noted that her reaction was driven by her character’s mindset. She noted that as a heel, loyalty is not a priority.
“Well, that’s what heel Nikki does. We have no loyalty, as you know,” she stated.
Brie Garcia chimed in, revealing that the entire interaction was improvised. She admitted that she realized what the crowd was chanting but the segment moved too fast to correct course effectively.
“I honestly should have said, because I did say, ‘They’re saying Coop,’ but you guys, none of that scripted. None of it was scripted,” Brie said.
Nikki admitted that in hindsight, her attempt to handle the crowd interaction may not have been the best choice.
“None of it. Well, and then what I say. I mean, you just don’t know what to say in the moment, right? All I know and what we’re taught at times when you have a crowd chanting something so much, you need to acknowledge because then we move on, and I don’t know if that was the best way to acknowledge the crowd,” Nikki explained. “And I didn’t mean it that way though.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit SiriusXM’s The Nikki and Brie Show with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
