"Everybody judged them" - Top Female star says The Bella Twins were looked down upon by WWE locker room early in their careers
WWE Superstar Natalya recently revealed that she and many other performers in the locker room were quick to judge The Bella Twins when they first arrived in the company.
Nikki and Brie Bella made their WWE debuts in 2008, and during the time they may have looked the part, their knowledge of the business and skills in the ring were both fairly minute.
Speaking on WWE After The Bell podcast, Natalya stated that she was wrong to judge The Bella's given how much success they would go on to have.
"The Bella Twins started the same week as I did in WWE, everybody judged them. Everybody was like, their modles, you know, they're only here because they're pretty, even me I was like 'their models'. Like, what these girls don't love wrestling. They, they really proved me wrong. They worked so hard, they like stayed late. They came early. They did all this extra stuff that I was like, whoa, they made not have grown up as like, lifelong addicts of pro wrestling, but they like changed my mind and they ended up lasting longer than some of the ones that like came from the independence scene, they showed passion." From 37:15 to 37:51
During their wrestling careers, both Nikki and Brie captured the Divas Title, and the sisters have since earned legendary status in the company as they were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020.
The Bella Twins almost left WWE much earlier than planned
Although their time in the company was one of success, it almost wasn't. Early in their careers, the sisters were barely featured on either RAW or SmackDown which led to obvious frustration on their part.
Speaking on his Wrestling With Freddie podcast, former WWE Writer Freddie Prinze Jr. revealed that Nikki and Brie confronted the company's head of talent relations to get more time on television.
"He [WWE producer Michael Hayes] was the one that ran into the room when we were about to lose them,” Prinze Jr. said. “Because Brie Bella called John Laurinaitis and was like, ‘Look, our contracts are up. Put us on TV or we’re gone.’ John Laurinaitis calls Freebird [Hayes] and is like, ‘You gotta find a way to get the twins on television right now.’ Freebird runs in the writers’ room, he’s like, ‘We got twins! We gotta get them on TV!" H/T Sportskeeda
The Bella Twins' willingness to put their jobs and reputations on the line in order to get more spotlight highlights why they were able to last in WWE for as long as they were able to.