YMMV / Bella Twins

• Arc Fatigue: When it became blatantly obvious that they were dragging out Nikki's reign to break AJ Lee's reign. She didn't defend the belt between Beast in the East (a month before the Divas Revolution) and the night the record was going to be up. It later emerged she had an injury and rather than dropping the belt like one would usually do during that situation, and sit at home and recover, she was on TV every week doing nothing.^note Of course, this sort of thing is not uncommon. Like how CM Punk kept his title while he was injured during his record setting reign. Ultimately, it depends on how bad the injury is. Though the difference is CM Punk was barely kept out of action 3 weeks, and HAD to wrestle the Rock a month later as this was a storyline built for half a year. Nikki had no such plans, couldn't wrestle for 3 months, and was so badly injured she had to take most of a year off.
• Adorkable: Despite her Good Is Not Soft face persona, in 2016 and 2017, whenever Nikki was tagging with Naomi - she would be seen adorably dancing along to her entrance music. She also did The Worm in a match against Summer Rae.
• Audience-Alienating Era:
  • Brie described her championship reign as such. She says that she won the title shortly before Fit Finlay was let go. Beforehand he had always lobbied for the Divas to get more time and the division suffered after he was gone. During her championship reign, Brie missed TV two weeks in a row and only had one recorded win (and that was from Nikki getting the pin).
  • The latter half of Nikki's title reign is this. Namely around the time she and her sister turned back heel and started using Twin Magic again. Most fans thought it was an idiotic idea, and it led to Nikki and Brie going through the Face–Heel Revolving Door almost every week. This was also around the time Nikki stopped defending the title, and the hatedom only increased when it became apparent that Nikki would surpass AJ Lee's title reign.
• Base-Breaking Character: Let's just say they're very divisive; either they're underrated performers who deserve a shot in the limelight or they're terrible wrestlers and charismatic black holes who only get their airtime because of their E! reality show and who they're dating, rendering them untouchable. Likewise whether or not their mic skills are good is another big one. They're either annoying or tolerable enough (aside from the segments from when they feuded with each other).
• Broken Base:
  • Diva fans (and even non-Diva fans) will argue over which twin is the better wrestler — Brie or Nikki? They have roughly the same amount of experience, but by now have developed their own distinct wrestling styles that are heavily influenced by their respective romantic partners: Nikki is a powerhouse while Brie is a high-flyer. However, as of late 2015, Nikki is generally regarded as the better wrestler of the two.
  • In a related vein, which twin is more attractive? (Not quite as stupid as it might sound, since the biggest physical difference between them — Nikki's boob job and Brie's lack thereof — makes it or breaks it for some.) The fact that Brie is thinner and more willowy, while Nikki is more muscular contributes too.
  • And on the subject of Nikki's boob job, there seems to be a Broken Base on this as well. Some fans have cried foul because it ruined "Twin Magic" or simply because they prefer their women to have natural assets, while others have praised it since it allowed the twins to become different from each other or (also simply) for obvious other reasons.
  • The announcement that they will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020. Fans are divided on whether or not they deserve their induction and even those who think that they do deserve it will argue whether or not both twins should be inducted (since many consider Nikki to have been the better of the two) and whether or not WWE should have waited a few more years after their retirements to do so; this same argument was given for the inductions of Beth Phoenix (who was the same age when she was inducted at only 36) and Trish Stratus (who was relatively young at 38).
• Character Rerailment: Thanks to their feud being lacklustre, Brie inexplicably turning heel to side with Nikki again, the childish segments in their feud with Paige, both going through the Face–Heel Revolving Door in the maligned 'Divas Revolution' storyline and Nikki's title reign being drawn out for three months without a defence - even fans of the twins were finding it hard to get invested (despite their ring work being fine at the time). Brie got re-railed in 2016 by going back to the valiant Plucky Girl fans had fallen in love with first, as opposed to her sister's Beta Bitch or the Jobber of Team Bella - ending her career on a high enough note. Nikki then returned as a solo competitor, likewise going back to the fiery Good Is Not Nice entity she had been before her 2014 heel turn. This characterization was then well-utilised in a feud with Carmella.
• Creator's Pet: Total Divas seems to be playing this up so one must wonder whether or not the twins are doing it on purpose. A few fans felt this way when Nikki was obviously being given the longest Divas' Championship reign just to overpass AJ Lee's, especially since she is John Cena's girlfriend. And ironically Kathy Colace (their mother) is engaged to John Laurinaitis, former Executive Vice President of Talent Relations.
• Critical Backlash: Nikki attracted an insane Hatedom around the time she won the Divas' Championship, and this only increased when it became clear she would surpass AJ Lee for the longest title reign. Most of the criticisms stem from Narm-filled segments during her feud with her sister (which she herself viewed as an Old Shame) and being John Cena's girlfriend. A section of fans still believe she's just as bad as when she first started to get pushed. Others however felt the criticisms were overblown and that Nikki visibly improved her mic skills and wrestling. Bleacher Report praised her match against her sister Brie, rating it higher than the other Divas' match featuring smark favourites Paige and AJ Lee the same night. Likewise Lethal WOW named her the Most Improved Diva of 2015. Outside her Hatedom, general opinion seems to be that she's not amazing but she's not as terrible as her detractors would make her out to be.
• Designated Hero: As faces. They would frequently use the switch to win matches, often unprovoked. Especially notable in their "feud" with Jillian Hall where they kept cheating to beat her. Averted when they turned back face as they abandoned Twin Magic altogether.
• Designated Villain: When Nikki was feuding with AJ Lee - who as a face is often a Designated Hero. Specifically the week after winning the title from her, AJ's only response was to call them talentless and accuse them of Really Gets Around. One promo that Nikki cut on Smackdown had to be edited because it sounded too sympathetic compared to AJ's.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Nikki was more popular than Brie with internet fans during their first run. Indeed when Brie won the Divas' Championship, many complained that Nikki should have gotten it instead. Brie didn't really take a surge in popularity until Nikki was injured and she received a singles push - as well as acknowledgment of her relationship with the very popular Daniel Bryan. Ironically Nikki is the one of the two more likely to provoke a polarizing reaction - judging by the massive Smark Hatedom she has. Which fits the twins' relationships - Daniel Bryan is the internet darling, while John Cena is the biggest Base-Breaking Character in wrestling today.
• Fandom Rivalry: If Twitter is a reliable source, Bella fans vs. AJ Lee fans especially since Nikki has surpassed AJ as the longest reigning Divas Champion. Though it's more like Bella fans vs. fans of every other Diva on the roster.
• Fan Nickname: Nikki Cena for Nikki, under the perceived notion that her almost perpetual push in 2014-2015 is due to her relationship with John Cena, which is the centerpiece for Total Divas. The hate only got worse after she broke AJ Lee's record as longest-reigning Divas Champion, which many saw as the WWE doing a Take That! to CM Punk.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • The twins on Total Divas were initially shown as real life Alpha Bitches and prone to backstage bullying or else their unpleasant traits were played up. Since their Heel–Face Turn on TV, those parts are no longer shown - Nikki in particular is presented as more sympathetic. Manipulative Editing much?
  • Carrying on the theme of their wrestling styles being based on their respective partner: Brie is dating the internet favourite Daniel Bryan, and Nikki is dating the Creator's Pet John Cena. Guess which one is a face now that they have split?
  • A kayfabe example. It was Eve who fired them from WWE in 2012. They waited so long to return because - although John Laurinaitis and David Otunga would eventually be removed from power, Eve would remain in WWE for some time. They didn't return until a few weeks after Eve had quit WWE herself.
  • Also related to Eve firing them; clearly she hadn't forgotten that the twins had cost her a second Divas' Championship reign a year ago. Also their lack of support about her plan to use John Cena a few weeks before.
• Girl-Show Ghetto: It has to be said that a large portion of the Bellas' hatedom comes from the fact that they had a very feminine image and were heavily associated with a reality series aimed at a female audience.
• Growing the Beard:
  • Their 2011 heel turn was viewed as a major step in the right direction, especially since Nikki had previously displayed flair as a heel when feuding with Brie on ECW and bullying the NXT Season 3 rookies. Twin Magic had been seen as a stale gimmick, but was utilised much better as a heel tactic, and while their wrestling still left much to be desired, it was regarded as a major jumping-on point for many fans.
  • Brie stepped it up in the ring around the time of SummerSlam 2013, controlling a match against Natalya, and displaying a lot more technical skills than were expected from her. Her subsequent singles feud with AJ Lee and face turn allowing her to play to her strengths also showed great improvement in her wrestling overall.
  • Nikki's feud with Paige between Fastlane and Wrestlemania XXXI. It started with them verbally attacking each other based on the other girl's appearance^note Nikki making fun of Paige's pale skin and stealing her clothes with Brie's help while Paige was in the shower, Paige saying, "Unlike you, I don't need an outfit to make me look good" before Nikki quite possibly went off-script on commentary and pushed the idea that she and Brie were striking back against the "Anti-Divas are inherently better than Divas" sentiment Paige represented, creating a more more interesting storyline alternative to what had been designed as middle school-level cattiness. This take on it picked up steam, culminating in the take-home episode of SmackDown before Wrestlemania featuring a promo between the twins and Paige and AJ, infusing their feud with way more intensity than before.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The "I wish you'd died in the womb" line from Nikki is even more uncomfortable when Brie revealed she was born not breathing - as their mother didn't even know she was having twins. And years later, Nikki confessed that she hated that line and never wanted to say it, but Vince McMahon basically forced her to.
  • John Cena capping off their feud against The Miz and Maryse by proposing to Nikki in front of the live crowd at WrestleMania was a Heartwarming Moment at the time because of how badly Nikki wanted to get married and have kids but had to compromise because John didn't (having had a nasty divorce before and burned off marriage, and not having enough time to devote to raising kids) and they still wanted to be together. They announced their break up in April 2018, three weeks before the wedding, which retroactively makes that segment, the feud, and Nikki's storylines with John on Total Divas and Total Bellas, much harder to watch in hindsight - especially as accounts suggest that they were still very much in love but had finally accepted their priorities in life were too different to be truly happy together.
  • The sheer amount of Slut-Shaming Nikki received from various opponents - AJ Lee, Paige, Carmella, Natalya and Ronda Rousey - becomes extremely uncomfortable in light of the release of the Bellas' biography Incomparable. Nikki revealed she was date-raped twice as a teenager, the second of which happened after an assault.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: A match on Main Event between Becky Lynch shortly after the 'Divas Revolution' storyline began, where she faced Brie. Years later, when doing a reaction video, Becky revealed how that match actually meant a lot to her - as it was one of her first on the main roster, and "made me feel very comfortable". Plus, it ended up being the main event of the show. Lethal WOW likewise included it in a list of Brie's top ten matches.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Generally anytime the twins' sisterly bond shows, such as when they're hugging each other after a victory or going to check that the other is all right after a beatdown.
  • Brie comforting her husband Daniel Bryan during the RAW where he announced his retirement. After his retirement speech, she was the first one out the stage, chanting "YES!" with the rest of the fans and giving him a kiss right in the middle of the ring. Even though Bryan's career ended sooner than both they and the fans would have liked, that moment really showed that Bryan and Brie still had their Happily Ever After.
  • After Bryan was cleared to return to active competition in 2018, he spent much of his speech celebrating his return thanking Brie for supporting him all along and encouraging him to never give up on his dream of making it back to the ring. The crowd cheered "Thank you Brie!" in response, and it's clear that she's pretty much a babyface for life after this.
  • Nikki's return at Summerslam 2016. Although working on the heel team, she received the biggest pop out of all six women and visibly broke Kayfabe to briefly smile and wave at a few fans. Her reception was so positive that they turned her Face immediately on the next Smackdown.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The Christmas edition of "Ask The Divas" had Brie name Nikki as the one most likely to get wild at a party after having too much to drink. Fast forward to Total Divas where we discover it's Brie who's the drunken mess whenever they go out, to the point where it's nicknamed "Brie Mode."
  • In their 2012 shoot interview, Nikki talks about accidentally breaking PG and getting a talking-to from Stephanie. This becomes hilarious now that she took part in a storyline where she was abused by Stephanie. It also involved gratuitous use of the non-PG word "bitch" coming from Brie.
  • The angle in which the twins compete to be Daniel Bryan's "first" now that Brie has married him in real life.
  • The name of their group with Alicia Fox, "Team Bella", goes from generic to hilarious when one remembers the "Team Edward vs. Team Jacob" of The Twilight Saga and that the main character of Twilight whose affections Edward and Jacob competed over is actually named Bella. It's even funnier with the inclusion of the incredibly pale-skinned Paige (mirroring Edward) in the three-way clash between Team Bella, Team PCB, and Team BAD.
  • Right before her title defence against Layla at Extreme Rules 2012, Nikki declared that she would be the longest reigning Divas' Champion in history. At the time, a massive dose of Tempting Fate, given how Layla would defeat her and make her reign only six days long. Turns out Nikki was right; just not about that particular title reign.
• Hollywood Pudgy: Nikki is referred to as "the fat twin". While actually working out (with the herculean John Cena no less) and her boob job has certainly made her physically bigger than Brie, she is not fat in any sense of the word and could arguably be the more attractive of the two twins depending on one's personal preferences.
• Hollywood Thin: Meanwhile, Brie gets referred to as "a stick insect" - never mind that she's naturally very thin and is also a vegan. She infamously went on an all-juice diet after freaking out over a couple of pounds, yet it is Nikki who catches flak about body image issues regarding her boob job.
• I Knew It!: Half the fanbase predicted that the mixed tag at WrestleMania 33 would end with Cena proposing to Nikki in the ring.
• Memetic Mutation: Nikki's forearm is infamous and something that even her detractors will praise for being seen as quite stiff and impressive. It's lead to comparisons of Mitsuharu Misawa and she's been dubbed the Queen of Strong Style as a result of it too.
• Narm: The Bellas can do decent mic-work so long as they play it calm, cool, and in check. The problem comes in when they try to portray real emotion. Case-in-point (and Nikki herself wasn't a fan of it):
  Nikki: I wish you had died in the WOOoomb!!
• Never Live It Down:
  • Although they appear to have shaken off a lot of the heat, there are still some fans who feel that the Bellas have no talent and got to where they are by who they are with. This oddly dogs Nikki more than Brie, ironically considering the latter has had her relationship used in storyline far more often than her sister.^note A possible explanation for this could be, as Ring the Belle pointed out, Daniel Bryan visibly benefited from his relationship to Brie; notably not getting his proper main event push until after Total Divas had started airing (compare his previous WrestleMania appearances before 2014 - bumped to the pre-show, losing his title in 18 seconds, and a six minute tag match). Additionally, being on the show allowed him to remain relevant to a mainstream audience while injured. John Cena meanwhile was already an established star, and Nikki was considered the Lesser Star of the twins for a while - making it look as though she benefited more from the relationship than him.
  • Many fans cannot forget the Narm-worthy segments during the first few weeks of the twins' feud with each other, despite their mic skills becoming at least passable since then.
  • A lot of fans will not forgive Nikki for becoming longest reigning Diva's Champion while not actually defending it for over 3 months purely to spite AJ Lee - even though given her later distaste for the 'Divas Revolution' storyline detailed in Incomparable, she obviously had no control over how she was booked.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • Their heel turn in 2011 gained them a huge number of new fans who loved their bitchy personalities.
  • Nikki has gone through the full cycle of this trope in her WWE career. She was always the more popular of the two for years. But around her heel turn in 2014 and eventual push as the longest reigning Divas' Champion, she developed a massive smark Hatedom - both due to initial Narm in her feud with Brie, accusations that she was getting pushed because of her relationship to John Cena and general Arc Fatigue in her title reign. After taking time off to recover a neck injury - and fans growing tired of Charlotte in the spotlight, hatred towards Nikki died off. Her 2016 return was very well-received, especially when she stayed away from the title picture and put the up and comer Carmella over repeatedly in their feud.
• Rooting for the Empire: Nikki was cheered over AJ in their match at TLC and against Paige on an episode of Main Event^note Main Event was a live show at the time by the way. Additionally for her title defence against Charlotte, the fans gave Nikki a bigger pop and started duelling chants for her (a la John Cena) during the match - while mostly being indifferent to Charlotte. Notably, Charlotte would turn heel shortly after winning the title, and Nikki would turn face upon returning from injury.
• Shocking Moments:
  • Brie quitting to prevent Daniel Bryan from relinquishing the title in favor of her, and slapping Stephanie McMahon so hard she fled the arena.
  • Nikki's Face–Heel Turn on Brie, knocking her out with a heavy forearm that made the crowd explode. It was so unexpected, Cewsh Reviews called it "the best heel turn of 2014".
  • Nikki defeating Natalya to win the spot as Survivor Series team captain, and using the STF to do so; marking the first time her relationship with John Cena had been acknowledged on screen.
• Tear Jerker: In 2019 Nikki revealed she had a cyst in her brain and would have to retire from wrestling for good. This came after a succession of neck problems that meant she'd been less active since 2017. She had been really hoping to come back and work a program for the Women's Tag Team titles - something she and Brie had been pushing Vince to introduce for years before they finally were.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Babyface Brie in 2014. In a loving marriage to fan-favorite Daniel Bryan that was acknowledged and used by WWE multiple times on TV, being the only Diva to fight back against the much-hated Stephanie McMahon tormenting her family and to try to give her her just desserts, and finally betrayed and abused in a huge way by her sister — Brie developed a truly sympathetic, heroic Diva character the audience could rally behind, which they did. It made no sense to suddenly drop her in favor of an inexplicable, unexplained heel turn. Face Brie seemed set to return post-Extreme Rules 2015, only to be turned heel along with Nikki yet again.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Relatedly, their 2014 feud with each other, which ended quietly with Brie rejoining her sister out of the blue after she had been betrayed, attacked, lied about, abused, and humiliated by that same sister without remorse. Fans who anticipated Brie continuing to fight back Nikki after her 30-day Indentured Servitude was up and for this to eventually kickstart the twins's singles careers were sorely disappointed. Indeed, the fact that AJ Lee had to take time off because of an injury and therefore drop the title to Nikki practically called for an over babyface that could take her spot immediately and be incorporated into a feud with Nikki. It could have redeemed the Bellas' feud in the long run, especially since the next few months would have nothing going on in the title picture until a poorly received feud with Paige until AJ made her return.
  • The storyline of Nikki counting down the days until she became the longest reigning Divas' Champion could have made for a great lengthy program - with various Divas coming forward to challenge her and her continuing to find a way to lengthen her reign. Instead the only Divas she feuds with are Paige and Naomi, and when the 'Divas Revolution' storyline starts, she doesn't defend the title for months at a time. The countdown is only introduced two weeks before the date in question, and Charlotte wins the title anyway just after the record has been set and before any momentum could have been built up.
  • Paige returned from filming in mid-2015 while Nikki had just seemingly turned face through the Bellas feuding with Naomi and Tamina. This created an interesting dynamic with both of them being rivals but still fan-favourites. Rather than attempting to explore this dynamic, both Bellas were abruptly turned back heel and started doing the 'Twin Magic' again. This led to some truly schizophrenic booking where, for the duration of the angle which became the Divas Revolution, the Bellas were treated as faces whenever they fought Team BAD but heels when fighting against PCB.
  • Earlier on NXT Season 3 Nikki turned heel and started bullying the other NXT rookies. Brie remained a face, creating an interesting dynamic when the sisters appeared together. One match in particular had Nikki forcibly dragging Brie out of the ring so she could pull the switch on her own. Despite this potential, it never led to anything and Nikki reverted to face as soon as the season was over.
  • Also, outside of Team Teddy vs Team Johnny going into WrestleMania 28, they never explored the idea of a heel Brie vs a face Nikki. Granted, the twins themselves have said the dynamic was better with Nikki as the heel, but some fans would have liked to see it anyway.
• Tough Act to Follow: While Nikki's match against Ronda Rousey at the Evolution PPV wasn't bad at all, it's near-universally agreed that it was affected by having to follow an incredibly intense Last Woman Standing match between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch - the latter of whom solidified her star status with her victory.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Nikki in her feud with Ronda Rousey ended up looking more sympathetic than intended when Ronda's main statements in her promos were to claim the Diva Era made her "sick to my stomach" and resorted to Slut-Shaming for her relationship with John Cena. The latter tactics had previously been used by both Carmella and Natalya to draw heel heat, and the only difference between their statements and Ronda's was that the crowd was apparently supposed to cheer the latter. Ring the Belle criticised Ronda for using relationship history to get cheap pops from the misogynists in the crowd.
• Unnecessary Makeover: Nikki's breast enhancements, lighter hair color and weight gain have changed her appearance to the point that you'd probably never know that she and Brie are identical twins without being told. Of course this is polarizing, as many fans find the changes to be an improvement for certain reasons.
• X-Pac Heat: Nikki received this in 2015 for a multitude of reasons: less-than-stellar wrestling skills depending on who you ask, awful mic skills, consistency in the spotlight, and the perception that she's sleeping her way to the top because she's John Cena's girlfriend. Nikki becoming the longest reigning Diva's Champion thanks to an awful ending to her title match with Charlotte^Details After the ref turns his back, Nikki switches with Brie. Brie gets pinned by Charlotte, and the ref rings the bell. Midway through celebrations, Stephanie McMahon comes out and DQs Nikki for cheating, citing the fact that Charlotte pinned Brie instead of Nikki, letting Nikki retain her belt. Never mind the fact that this exact same finish happened months before (Nikki Bella v. Paige, Money in the Bank) with the match merely being restarted solely to remove AJ of her record was the last straw for many fans. It's no wonder she's starting to get referred to "Nikki Cena". While Brie had her fair share of detractors as well, she didn't receive as much vitriol as her sister. The heat appears to be dying down after Nikki's neck injury and subsequent surgery gained her some sympathy while smark favorites Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch finally getting pushed in favor of the Total Divas cast, who have all been Demoted to Extra. Brie's mediocre matches against Charlotte in early 2016 also made it perfectly clear that Nikki was the better in-ring performer of the two. With Brie taking an indefinite hiatus due to pregnancy, fans became curious to see if Nikki could break out of this heat and succeed without her sister. She got a very warm reception during her return at Summerslam 2016 and by 2017 seems to have shaken it off entirely.