WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella is in the midst of a full-time comeback in WWE and has opened up about her personal goals for this new chapter of her career. The former Divas Champion revealed that while she initially wanted to keep her classic “Fearless Nikki” persona for nostalgic reasons, she is now looking to evolve the character.
Nikki returned to WWE earlier this year and has quickly re-established herself as a top star in the women’s division. Speaking on her SiriusXM podcast, The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki discussed her mindset and goals for her current run. She explained that her focus is on pushing herself physically and creatively to see how she can “hang in this era.”
“As far as me personally, one thing I knew that I wanted out of this comeback and I still do is one, to get back into my strong shape and my wrestling shape and to get to a place where I used to be many years ago. So, physically, that part, and then it was to get myself into the wrestling place of this new era. Like, “Okay, how far can I push myself beyond my comfort zone and how can I hang in this era?” You know, who I am as a wrestler and in the ring. Am I going to change that? You know, I’ve always been more known as a powerhouse and that slightly changed when I came back from my broken neck, so in that way, I had to change, you know, some of my move set and change, you know, what I was doing in my craft and now I know I’m going to do that again.”
Nikki revealed that her initial plan to present a purely nostalgic version of her character has changed now that she is back in the mix. She also praised the new, more collaborative creative process in WWE, which she says is “very different than before.”
“I wanted to keep Fearless Nikki as Fearless Nikki because to me, my comeback was more about being nostalgia and “Okay, here’s this Hall of Famer and this legend, so let’s just keep her as is.” That was my mindset and you know me. I’m a marketing machine, so I wanted to keep what was marketable, what people recognized me as, but now being in it, I’m actually wanting to kind of change her a little bit… I do work with creative every week hands on. I love being hands-on. Everyone there is hands-on. It’s actually very different than before. Even when we do promos, you know, we used to get handed something and it’s way different now. It’s really cool.”
You can hear her full conversation on The Nikki & Brie Show, which is available anytime on the SiriusXM app.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit The Nikki & Brie Show with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
