After returning to WWE in March, The Bella Twins resumed their manipulative and malicious characters until just recently, as Brie has been portraying a smiling babyface character (with Nikki following her lead) in her battle against Divas Champion AJ Lee—which was then solidified due to her relationship with top babyface wrestler Daniel Bryan being acknowledged. However, on WWE programming, no clear indication was given as to what led to the twin duo’s sudden change of heart after portraying “mean girls” for months.
According to PWInsider.com, the twin duo technically turned babyface as a result of Lee’s scathing “#PipeBombshell” toward them and their Total Divas co-stars on the Aug. 27 episode of Raw. The WWE creative department’s idea was that since Lee portrays a Total Divas loathing villain, The Bella Twins and the other stars of the E! reality show are therefore de facto babyfaces.
It would appear that Brie and Nikki, as well as sidekick Eva Marie, didn’t receive a memo on the switch as their characters continued to appear in the same arrogant manner through the Sept. 16 episode of Raw-near the conclusion of the show, Brie was shown embracing Bryan backstage as he went out to the arena to face Roman Reigns. Brie began smiling after scoring the pinfall victory in the 10-Diva Tag Team Match on the Sept. 23 Raw, as she and her Total Divas peers celebrated the win together. Following the match, however, Nikki and Eva Marie labeled themselves as well as Brie as “Mean Girls” on Instagram, but haven’t against since.
To turn The Bella Twins babyface, Lee said the following: “Do you want to know what I see when I look in that ring? Honestly? Cheap, interchangeable, expendable, useless women. Women who have turned to reality television because they just weren’t gifted enough to be actresses. And they just weren’t talented enough to be champion.
“I have done more in one year than all of you have done in your entire collected careers…I have shattered glass ceilings and broken down doors. Why? So a bunch of stiff, ungrateful plastic mannequins can waltz on through without even as much as a thank you?…I gave my life to this and you were just handed fifteen minutes of fame…you’re all worthless excuses for women and you will never be able to touch me.”
