"This has been years coming" - The Bella Twins on why they left WWE

WWE Hall of Famers The Bella Twins (aka The Garcia Twins) recently opened up on why they left the Stamford-based company.

Brie and Nikki Bella signed with WWE in 2007. They spent nearly nine years as in-ring competitors. While Brie once held the Divas Championship once, her twin sister won the title twice.

Meanwhile, the two ladies starred in the company's reality TV show called Total Divas. Although they retired nearly seven years ago, The Bella Twins continued working as WWE Ambassadors until they recently announced their departure from the promotion.

During the latest episode of their podcast, The Bella Twins addressed as to why they decided to leave Vince McMahon's promotion.

"When our contract came up with WWE, mutually, we all knew we needed to head into this next chapter. We are so grateful for the past 17 years. I have learned so much in and out of the ring. I have traveled all over the world, I have incredible fandom. It's been amazing.

This is part of relationships. Whether it's business, love, this is relationships in life. Sometimes, you come to this part of your life where it's like, 'let’s go separate ways. It doesn't mean it's forever, but we just know that it's right,'" Nikki said.

Brie also disclosed that they had thought about leaving WWE for several years prior to arriving at a decision.

"It doesn't mean that it's bad either. When things like this happen, everyone wants to look for the negative. 'What happened? It had to be something crazy.' It wasn't. It was actually something beautiful. [We] thought about it for a while. This has been years coming. I want to thank Brie Bella.

The character, the name, pretty much that I've been the last 16-17 years. Thank you to that name because it caused a lot of change in my life and many lives. It did a lot of great things for me. It's really fun to end that chapter. For everyone, at some point in your life, to do a new change, a new journey. I'm so excited to close that chapter on Brie Bella, put that book to the side, and open up a new one, and see what Brie Garcia is going to do next," Brie added. [H/T: NoDQ]

Hi I’m Nikki Garcia, Hi I’m Brie Garcia. And we’re the Garcia Twins. 👯‍♀️ Welcome to our next chapter! 🦋✨🤍✨🦄🤩🥳🫶🏼🫶🏼🍷🥂🍾 https://t.co/w6GQM0P7Zi

The Bella Twins responded to a heartfelt message from a top AEW star. Check out their comments here.

WWE Hall of Famers The Bella Twins are looking forward to the new chapter in their lives

Like her sister Brie, Nikki Bella disclosed that she was grateful for her WWE character. She also stated that she was excited to start a new chapter in her life.

The two-time Divas Champion also explained what was "amazing" about starting a new chapter.

"What's so amazing about starting this new chapter and with our names, our roots, what was from birth. it's super empowering because we're betting on ourselves. That leap of faith, we are taking that leap of faith, we're re-introducing ourselves after 17 years and it shows…you and I have gotten to the point where we know our worth.

We know what we’ve done and we know where we want to go. We're at the point in our lives where we don't want to hear no. We've worked on that for 17 years and this marks, finally, we put that in action a lot, but now we're doing it in a different way." Nikki said.

We are SO excited to be hosting #TwinLove on @PrimeVideo, an upcoming social dating experiment series that explores the love lives of identical twins 👀👯 Stay tuned for more info!

press.amazonstudios.com/us/en/press-re… https://t.co/oFZXp7dMnC

A recently released WWE Superstar sent a message to The Bella Twins. Check it out here.