Nikki Bella says she almost thought about joining AEW earlier this year.
The former WWE Divas Champion, now going by “Nikki Garcia”, retired from wrestling in 2019 due to neck injuries cutting her career short. She returned for brief Royal Rumble appearances since then, but her full-time career is over.
However, she did consider returning to the ring and signing for AEW earlier this year.
Speaking on the Nikki & Brie Show (via Fightful), Nikki Bella revealed that she almost returned to wrestling after seeing Mercedes Moné debut in AEW.
The former WWE star was inspired by the former Sasha Banks’ AEW debut. She claimed that she almost called Tony Khan about joining AEW after watching it. However, she decided not to, noting that she opted to continue having a bigger role in raising her son instead.
“Since we’ve been lifting so much, we always say, we always start to get that wrestling mindset, ‘We’re going to go back and do this story and cut this promo.’ You get it, but how serious I got where I was like, ‘Okay, I think I can do maybe a year at AEW and I can do it every week.’ When I saw Mercedes [Mone] debut and cut her promo, that line stuck with me, ‘Here, we’re going to make the evolution worldwide.'”
“I was like, ‘They do.’ It goes into many leagues, is what she means, it doesn’t have to be at one place. It can be at all these places where all these women are wrestling at. I go, ‘Brie, I think I can do it for a year. I can do it here to here and go every week.’. Then, I thought of Matteo. I had a good week of like, ‘This is it. I’m going to call Tony Khan. I’m your girl. I will commit.’ Then, I was like, ‘I can’t do that to my son right now. He needs me.'”
Read More: Nikki Garcia (Nikki Bella) On Mercedes Moné’s AEW Debut: Love This, Congrats
