The Bella Twins are no more.
Twin sisters Brie Bella and Nikki Bella announced on their SiriusXM podcast on Tuesday that they’re officially retiring from the WWE and leaving their wrestling personas behind.
“When our contract came up with WWE, mutually we all knew that we needed to head into this new chapter,” Nikki said on the latest episode of the “The Nikki & Brie Show.” “Today we are officially from here on out, the Garcia Twins.”
The 39-year-old sisters reintroduced themselves as Brie and Nikki Garcia, their birth names. On Twitter, the duo said they’re “owning who we are, being unapologetically us and fiercely walking through that open door.”
The Bella Twins debuted on WWE in 2008 as a tag team duo and each held the WWE Divas Championship title individually throughout their careers. (Nikki Bella holds the record for the longest reign in WWE history at 301 days.) The Bella Sisters were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
Although it’s difficult to leave behind the “Bella” moniker their grandfather affectionally gave them, Nikki Garcia explained they’re ready to embrace the next phase of their lives as mothers and entrepreneurs as they approach their 40th birthday in November. Brie Bella shares two children with her pro wrestling husband Bryan Danielson, while Nikka Bella has one child with her husband Artem Chigvintsev, a Russian dancer and her former “Dancing with the Stars” partner.
“I just want to thank Brie Bella… the character, the name, all of it which I’ve been the last 16 or 17 years,” Brie Garcia said. “I’m so excited to close that chapter on Brie Bella, put that book to the side and open up a new one. See what Brie Garcia is going to do next.”
Nikki Bella shared similar sentiments: “I’m so beyond grateful for Nikki Bella. Nikki Bella empowered me, she inspired me. She truly made me beyond fearless. The road she has paved and what she’s done for women, the youth and what she will continue to do just as Nikki Garcia.”
