WWE Rumors: The Bella Twins were the reason why Bayley and Sasha Banks dropped their titles
What's the story?
One of the stranger title changes that occurred at WrestleMania 35 was when the first team to hold the Women's Tag Team Titles, Bayley and Sasha Banks, lost their titles to The IIconics after only one successful title defense.
According to Nikki Bella on the Bella Twins podcast, it was done in order for the Australian duo to enter into a program after WrestleMania with the Bella Twins. WrestlingNews.co carried transcripts of Bella's words during her podcast.
In case you didn't know...
Nikki Bella had recently retired after a recurring neck injury flared up once more. She last appeared in the ring against Ronda Rousey at Evolution last October. Brie Bella had also been away from WWE since then. On February of this year, Bayley and Banks became the first-ever WWE Women's Tag Team Champions.
The heart of the matter
Bayley and Banks won the titles at Elimination Chamber in February of this year. They would then defend the titles in against Nia Jax and Tamina at Fastlane. At WrestleMania, they defended the titles in a Fatal Four Way with the IIconics shockingly winning the titles.
It was met with some question as the first title holders had a short reign and had gone to NXT to say they would be defending the titles across all of WWE's brands. It is part of the reason why Banks has been away from the WWE since the show.
According to Nikki Bella, she mentioned that the reason why Bayley and Banks dropped the titles so soon was because WWE had plans for the IIconics to feud with the Bellas following the Show of Shows.
“Brie and I, we were gonna come back and fight for the tag titles after WrestleMania and we were gonna go against The IIconics for a few months,” Nikki said. “Deep down inside, I kept having this weird feeling that I needed to get an x-ray on my neck because for a while I wasn’t feeling okay. Brie knows that in December after Evolution, I just kept telling her that I feel off and my head doesn’t feel right…”
Due to the uncertainty around her health and the fact that they had just retired months earlier, the reported plans changed. Brie mentioned that 'they were supposed to return on the SmackDown after WrestleMania 35 to kick off the feud with The IIconics.
Her sister's neck issues, and an ensuing MRI results 'derailed those plans'. WrestlingNews.co's report mentioned that 'doctors told Nikki that she had inflammation around the metal of her neck and her neck is fully herniated. Even worse, doctors found a benign cyst on her brain. She was told that one bad bump could cause her to be paralyzed.'
And with that, according to the Bella Twins, a planned feud with the IIconics was the reason behind two of the hardest-working women in the company in Banks and Bayley dropping the titles so soon after winning them.
What's next?
WWE needs to rely on the wrestlers they have and not the part-timers who come and go when they want. When they do that, they unintentionally make some of the full-time talents angry. This could also be why the tag titles have been so unevenly represented following WrestleMania.
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