Nikki Bella addresses her Fearless Lock submission being similar to John Cena’s STF

As seen during the December 29th 2025 edition of WWE RAW, Stephanie Vaquer defended her women’s world title against Nikki Bella and Raquel. During the match, Bella applied the Fearless Lock on Raquel, which prompted fans to chant “Thank You Cena!” Bella immediately fired back by yelling, “No! Thank me!”

While speaking on her podcast with sister Brie, Nikki addressed the move being similar to John Cena’s STF…

“I think people forgot, not everyone, but I used to do the Fearless Lock. Yes, it was during a period of time when John [Cena] and I were together, but the Fearless Lock is different from his submission, it really is. He lays on top of people and grabbing the front face. The Fearless Lock is a legit submission Shayna [Baszler] gave me. We named it the Fearless Lock because of Fearless Nikki, and coming back from my broken neck, I was training a lot with Nattie [Natalya], Shayna, and Bayley at the PC. I went to an MMA place with Shayna, and she was teaching me legitimate moves.”

“I said, ‘I want to come back from this broken neck with a submission.’ She showed me this, and she’s like, ‘It’s not at all what John’s is.’ I get the step in makes people think that, but I’m on the side, and how I lock in, you see it. You’re yanking the person back. Raquel was the first person I did it on over six feet tall, and it looks a lot different. It felt different. I wasn’t expecting anything with John, so when they started chanting, ‘Thank you Cena,’ the old Nikki came alive, ‘Thank me!’ I loved it.” (quotes courtesy of F4WOnline.com)