The surprise return of Paige at WWE WrestleMania 42 quickly became one of the weekend’s most talked-about moments, as the former Divas Champion teamed with Brie Bella to capture the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Now, Nikki Bella has opened up about how the last-minute decision came together following her injury.
Speaking on the Battleground podcast, Nikki detailed the conversations she had with WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque while traveling to Birmingham for surgery. According to Nikki, Triple H personally gave her the choice on whether Paige should step into her spot for the high-profile WrestleMania match.
“Right before I literally landed in Birmingham to get surgery—Paul [Triple H], he was texting me in there and he goes, ‘Hey, I really need to talk to you.’
And I was like, ‘Oh, well, I don’t land…’ I had just taken off from Newark to, like, head to Birmingham. I’m like, ‘I think I’m in air for like 3 hours.’
And I remember him texting me again like, ‘Have you landed yet?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, he has something important to say.’
But Brie and Paige had been communicating more, like that she was already in Birmingham.
And then he called me and he’s like, ‘So let me know how you feel.’ Like, he totally gave me the option of like, ‘Paige is available to take your place.’
He really teed it up, and I agreed that would be the one person that would make it so meaningful and blah blah blah and all the things, which—agreed.
He’s like, ‘If you want to say no, I mean that’s up to you.’
And I was like, ‘No, that is the one person, actually, that would make the moment feel super iconic. She’s like our sister.’
We have incredible chemistry, and Paige is a massive superstar. Like, massive superstar.
So, it was perfect.”
Paige’s appearance marked her first WWE in-ring showing in years and generated a massive reaction from fans inside the stadium and across social media. The moment was further elevated by her reunion with the Bella Twins, with Nikki making it clear she fully supported the decision despite being sidelined with an injury.
The WrestleMania 42 moment instantly became one of the standout surprises of the weekend and added another memorable chapter to Paige’s WWE legacy.
