Nikki Bella

Nikki Bella
Garcia in 2018
Born
Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace

(1983-11-21) November 21, 1983 (age 40)
San Diego, California, U.S.
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materGrossmont College
Occupations
  • Professional wrestler
  • TV personality
Spouse
​
(m. 2022)​
Children1
FamilyBrie Bella (twin sister)
John Laurinaitis (stepfather)
Bryan Danielson (brother-in-law)
Ring name(s)
  • Nicole Bella
  • Nikki Bella
Billed height5 ft 6 in (168 cm)[1]
Billed weight125 lb (57 kg)[2]
Billed fromSan Diego, California[1]
Trained byTom Prichard[3]
Natalya Neidhart[4]
WWE Performance Center[5]
DebutSeptember 15, 2007[6]
RetiredJanuary 29, 2022

Stephanie Nicole Chigvintsev[7] (née Garcia-Colace; born November 21, 1983), known professionally as Nikki Garcia, is an American television personality and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in WWE from 2007 to 2022, in which she performed under the ring name Nikki Bella alongside her twin sister, Brie, as The Bella Twins. She is currently the host of the game show, Barmageddon.

In 2007, Garcia signed with WWE and was assigned to the developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling alongside her twin sister Brie, forming the duo The Bella Twins. She made her debut for the SmackDown brand in 2008.[8] She is a two-time WWE Divas Champion with her second reign of 301 days being the longest reign for the now defunct title. She and Brie were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as The Bella Twins. Also during her time in WWE, she starred in the reality TV series, Total Divas, and she and Brie got their own spin-off, Total Bellas. In her last few years in WWE, she only made sporadic appearances, but acted as an ambassador for the company. After her contract with WWE expired in 2023, she and Brie announced that they would be retiring the "Bella" surname and would be returning to their legal maiden name of "Garcia" professionally, and reintroduced themselves as The Garcia Twins.

Garcia ranked No. 1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Female 50 in November 2015,[9] and was named Diva of the Year by Rolling Stone in December 2015.[10] She also won the award for Choice Female Athlete alongside her sister at the Teen Choice Awards in 2016.

  1. ^ a b "Nikki Bella Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  2. ^ "The Bella Twins". canoe.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  3. ^ Kamchen, Richard. "The Bella Twins Biography". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  4. ^ "Natalya learns she won't have a WrestleMania match: Total Divas, July 28, 2013". WWE. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jason was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Michaels, Matthew (September 17, 2007). "FCW House Show Results – September 15, 2007". InsidePulse. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  7. ^ Bluestone, Gabrielle (July 20, 2020). "'Total Bellas' Refuse to Be Knocked Out by Quarantine". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  8. ^ McNamara, Andy (November 7, 2008). "Smackdown: Hardy goes Extreme!". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "Nikki Bella Tops PWI Female 50". Diva-Dirt. November 4, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  10. ^ "WWE Wrestler(s) of the Year". Rolling Stone. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on December 15, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.