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One day after Nikki Garcia And Brie Garcia announced that they would drop the name “Bella” and go by the “Garcia twins”, they dropped the first “new chapter” episode of their renamed podcast, The Nikki & Brie show. The ladies kicked off the episode by talking about the name change and explaining why they aren’t using their husbands’ last names (Chigvintsev for Nikki and Danielson for Brie) now that they’ve gotten rid of “Bella.” “There’s a reason we didn’t want to move on to our next chapter with our names married,” Nikki shared. “We love our husbands and they will always have that, especially on our driving licenses and everything legal. But we sat down and had this conversation and a lot of people were like, ‘You know, I still don’t think you pronounce Artem’s last name correctly!’ It’s really difficult!
She added that choosing to be called “Garcia” was also a nice tribute to their father, who they reconnected with in recent years. “Our dad, right now, is doing somersaults,” Nikki said. “He is very happy. Why not go back to our roots? We love our Mexican culture, so back to Garcia and how everyone knew us.”
Nikki and Brie started using the name Bella when they signed with WWE in 2007. The nickname was inspired by their grandfather, who always called them “[my] Bellas. Their name change follows their decision to part ways with WWE, which they announced on March 14. “Brie and I are almost 40, we’re going to be 40 in November,” Nikki shared. “We are mothers, we are entrepreneurs, we are executive producers, we play now, we host shows. So when our WWE contracts came around, mutually, we all knew that… we just needed to head into that next chapter.
The twins were mainstays of the wrestling community from 2007 to 2019. In 2019, Brie announced she had retired, while Nikki was sidelined with a career-ending injury. They were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020. Although the ladies returned to the ring for the 2022 Royal Rumble, their wrestling days are clearly behind them and they have many more adventures to look forward to!
In addition to their podcast, Nikki and Brie also have a wine collection and a lifestyle brand. Nikki is also a host of the USA Network show Barmageddon. In their March 15 podcast, the sisters also teased a potential move into reality TV, as they admitted they’ve missed sharing their lives with fans. They previously performed on the E! show Total divas And Total Bellas.
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