The latest episode of The Sessions with Renee Paquette featured WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella, in which she discussed the restrictions placed on women wrestlers during the Divas era, learning to stand up for herself, and more.
Nikki spoke about hating a sexist promo she had to cut on Awesome Kong and no longer wanting to tear other women down in promos. She also talked about the hate she receives from wrestling fans and how she used it to fuel her fire.
You can check out some of the highlights below:
On cutting a sexist promo on Awesome Kong: “I remember when I had to cut a promo on [Awesome] Kong, before Brie and I had left for eleven months. And I just remember feeling like shit. I went with what they said on paper; it was so wrong. And I talked to Kia [Kong] before, Kia and I even talked after. It just didn’t feel good, and I didn’t like it. I was like, I don’t want cheap pops from the crowd anymore. Especially if it’s not approved by the women.”
On toning down her promos: “I could have said a lot more stuff on the mic to get these greater reactions; it was never worth it to me because we’re still telling stories, and that’s kind of how I left it the rest of my career. But then some of the stuff would be said to me on a hot mic, with not even realizing. I just remember being disappointed, like, okay, we just took five steps back. [We should have been] just tearing these barriers down, breaking them; which, we still shattered them. It just took even more work.”
On how wrestling fans feel about her: “And I just have to live with this hate in this industry. It’s hard on me because I love, love wrestling. But I will just have to carry this cloud of hate with me. In the beginning it was hard, and then I was like, you know what? You can woman up, and you can make this something.”
