Nikki Bella says she was prepared to have a “PLE match” with Paige on WWE SmackDown

As seen during the September 11th 2026 edition of WWE SmackDown, Nikki Bella defeated Paige in a match that only lasted around three minutes. While speaking on her podcast with sister Brie, Nikki addressed the situation…

“I was the number one most-searched female wrestler worldwide? I hit number two on the Twitter worldwide timeline in Mexico, and then I was number nine in the U.S. And then, you know, we had our different things, but our numbers ended up being the most talked about from Friday Night SmackDown.

Even though we thought we were going to have this PLE match, and I came in super-prepared for that, it turned into—and I love storytelling—so, like, let’s continue this. I’m all about the story. So, like, take it away, and then you put in that, and it’s great heat, right? And it gets people talking. Now it’s like, ‘When’s this going to happen? What’s next?'”