Nikki Bella has addressed fan comparisons between her submission move, the Fearless Lock and John Cena’s iconic STF.
On WWE RAW, Nikki Bella applied the Fearless Lock on Raquel Rodriguez during their match. The move visual looks similarity to John Cena’s STF, the fans in the arena crowd broke into loud “Thank You Cena” chants, prompting a fiery reaction from Bella saying, “No! Thank me.”
Nikki Bella opened up about the moment on The Nikki & Brie Show, where she clarified that the Fearless Lock is not derived from Cena’s move and instead came from a very different place. She said, ““I think people forgot, not everyone, but I used to do the Fearless Lock. Yes, it was during a period of time when John [Cena] and I were together, but the Fearless Lock is different from his submission, it really is. He lays on top of people and grabbing the front face.”
She then revealed that the Fearless Lock was taught to her by Shayna Baszler and is a legitimate submission. “The Fearless Lock is a legit submission Shayna (Baszler) gave me. We named it the Fearless Lock because of Fearless Nikki, and coming back from my broken neck, I was training a lot with Nattie [Natalya], Shayna, and Bayley at the PC. I went to an MMA place with Shayna, and she was teaching me legitimate moves.”
Nikki Bella shared why the fans’ John Cena chants didn’t bother her
Addressing the fans’ reaction on WWE RAW, Nikki Bella admitted she didn’t expect Cena’s name to come up at all. She said, “I said, ‘I want to come back from this broken neck with a submission.’ She showed me this, and she’s like, ‘It’s not at all what John’s is.’ I get the step in makes people think that, but I’m on the side, and how I lock in, you see it. You’re yanking the person back.”
She said, “Raquel [Rodriguez] was the first person I did it on over six feet tall, and it looks a lot different. It felt different. I wasn’t expecting anything with John, so when they started chanting, ‘Thank you Cena,’ the old Nikki came alive, ‘Thank me!’ I loved it.” [H/T: f4wonline]
Read More: Nikki Bella Reacts to John Cena ‘Tribute’ on WWE RAW on Netflix
