MR. TITO: In Defense of the Bella/Garcia Twins and Their WWE Contributions
“You can look but you can’t touch”. I just wonder if that motto, from the Bella Twins WWE theme song, has caused some bitterness amount the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC). Why? Because y’all are celebrating the Bella Twins, now dubbed the “Garcia Twins”, no longer being employed by the WWE. Obviously, WWE owns the trademark on the “Bella Twins” gimmick and the twin sisters will now go by their real names, Nicole (Nikki) and Brianna (Brie) Garcia even though the sisters helped the WWE make some serious money off of that “Bella” trademark.
But man, all of the hatred by the Internet Wrestling Community… Why? What did they do to deserve it?
Can y’all prove that either one had any connections to the Creative Team? The fact is that they are TWINS and beautiful ones at that, but they were also talented ones too.
Many fans need to QUIT acting like the Women’s Division was worth anything for 10 years before the “Divas Revolution” of 2015. Notice that name? Diva… Women were called “divas” for 10 years in the WWE and the talent roster was filled with Divas Search contestants. Nikki and Brie were in the 2006 Divas Search and made something of themselves compared to the MANY and I repeat MANY Divas Search contestants who clearly failed. Once Trish Stratus and Lita retired, there was a major need for star power at a time when horndogs Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn were still in their Attitude Era thinking mode of pillow fights and incredibly short matches.
Remember the “Give Divas a Chance” stuff during February 2015 during a RAW match between the Bella Twins and Paige/Emma? They were given 30 minutes to execute a tag match. The online outrage sparked real change in the WWE to think harder about female wrestlers. And who was Divas Champion in that match? Nikki Bella…
By the way, who did Charlotte Flair defeat to become Divas Champion during September 2015? Oh yeah, that longtime Divas Champion, Nikki Bella, who endured many short matches throughout her reign as Divas Champion from November 2014 through September 2015.
The Bella Twins were the bridge of the older OVW/FCW group to the newer NXT call-ups. They did nothing but put everyone over from the NXT call-ups. I remember when Nikki Bella had a great feud with Carmella on the Smackdown brand during 2016 and legitimately helped established Carmella as a star back then.
And yet, Bellas were the problem?
What are all of you talking about?
Oh, because one was in a relationship with John Cena? Besides 1 mixed tag team match at Wrestlemania, could y’all show me where that benefitted Nikki Bella‘s career? In fact, show me where dating Daniel Bryan helped Brie Bella. She didn’t benefit from anything… IN FACT, after Nikki dropped the Divas Title to Charlotte Flair, neither won ever won a championship ever again.
Yeah, they finished 2nd and 3rd during the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble, but that was to put over Asuka whom all of you in the Internet Wrestling Community love. They weren’t there to win it… They put over Asuka all the way.
We have yet to scratch the surface on their true contributions, Total Divas and Total Bellas. That E! Network revenue stream gave the WWE extra money from wrestling talent that they didn’t receive before. Just huge… Furthermore, the success of those shows, which were very Bella Twin driven, helped the WWE land even bigger deals with Comcast/NBC/Universal.
The other day, someone posted “who is the all-time Mrs. Wrestlemania”. Someone posted Charlotte Flair because of her in-ring success… But I said Miss Elizabeth because she drew more JUST STANDING THERE than Charlotte ever could wrestling in a ring. Who doesn’t forget Macho harassing her at ringside for Wrestlemanias 2 & 3? Who doesn’t remember the Mega Powers fully forming at Wrestlemania 4? Elizabeth in a neutral corner for Wrestlemania 5. And who doesn’t cry when Macho and Elizabeth reunited at Wrestlemania 7? Or how about “she was mine before she was yours” between Flair and Macho at Wrestlemania? Elizabeth meant more to the Wrestlemania than any other female and doing so by simply standing there.
What bothers WWE marks online… Excuse me, let me rephrase that… What bothers WWE MARKS online is that the Bellas have drawn serious money for the WWE by doing much less than the rest of the NXT call-ups from Triple H’s developmental land. Simply by being twins, beautiful, having personality, and being actually talented, both have made WWE serious money by doing LESS in-ring stuff than others who are putting tons of blood, sweat, and tears in that ring. Bellas can make money by simply sitting in a house with cameras all around and that makes the Internet Wrestling Community sick to their stomachs!
My columns have always been Pro-Bella because I understood the context of how POORLY the Women’s division was booked before all of the NXT call-ups appeared through 2015 but I also understood the intangibles. They were beautiful ladies who could get a reaction simply by acting or saying something on the mic. They didn’t need to be great inside the ring, yet they actually were. All things considered, they were decent workers. Where they as good as Paige, AJ Lee, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Bayley, or even Asuka as workers? Of course not… BUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO BE.
What the Internet Wrestling Community needs to realize is that Pro Wrestling is probably about 75% outside of the ring versus what happens inside of it (25%). The personality, mic skills, and the charisma that captivates an audience and makes them willing to depart their time, attention, and money is what truly draws in pro wrestling. The matches are secondary and only mean anything for major Pay Per Views (or Premium Live Events). If you look at RAW, Smackdown, or Dynamite’s numbers, their viewership GOES UP during talking segments, particularly from their Main Event players. Nobody is tuning in for the matches anymore, as the numbers show.
All Nikki and Brie needed to do was show Twin Magic or roast someone on the microphone. It gave them heat…
I have yet to even get into how the Bella Twins actually sold merchandise, especially when Nikki Bella was on a role as a top babyface. She sold a ton of those “fearless” shirts to FEMALE wrestling fans. Yeah, that’s right… They were a draw with female wrestling fans, which is lacking lately in the WWE. For all of those NXT call-ups, they aren’t drawing like the Bella Twins did with the female demographic.
Stop it with the Bella Twins hatred and take the “L” on this one, Internet Wrestling Community. Bellas are among the ALL TIME GREATS for female wrestling and contributed greatly to the WWE’s television product and revenue streams.
If you divide the revenues generated by the Bella Twins in half, you still couldn’t find many female performers that generated as much WWE revenue as one of those twins.
Bella Twins were GREAT, they are DESERVING of being in the WWE Hall of Fame, and will be missed as major contributors to the WWE.
Garcia Twins will succeed outside of the WWE, as Nikki Garcia has already proven on NBC on various shows. Brie Garcia is happy being a mom and supporting her husband in his endeavors, but will likely resurface to get into the wrestling or entertainment game again. Both are good, quality ladies and have built an audience of followers who will continue to support the Garcia Twins for anywhere they go.
“You can look but you can’t touch”. Exactly, IWC, that is why you hate them.
Bellas/Garcias were GREAT and will continue to be GREAT in whatever else they try. Deal with it and start giving them credit for carrying a Women’s division (oops, I mean DIVAS division) that WWE disrespected repeatedly in WWE Creative until things changed later in 2015 after the “Give Divas a Chance” movement took shape and helped to influence things.
THANK YOU for all of the years of entertainment, Nikki and Brie. I appreciated it and will enjoy where you take your careers next. Forever a fan of the Garcia Twins!
And as usual to the Internet Wrestling Community who are total haters… How do you like them apples?
So just chill… till the next episode!