WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella recently appeared on an episode of the Nikki & Brie Show, where she talked about various topics. She mentioned feeling nervous before her match against Chelsea Green on RAW and shared that she received advice to postpone her return by a week.
Bella said, “The one thing is, is when you can’t help when you get the full cottonmouth. You can be so hydrated, but when that happens, which is always right in the beginning, it’s as if you didn’t have water for two weeks. Nerves and I haven’t had a (singles) match in seven years. I was so blown up inside. A lot of people were complimenting me backstage. When I was getting my butt kicked at the end, you know me, I had no more breath.”
“I couldn’t even catch my breath if I wanted to.”
She continued, “My age, that was my ninth day being on the road, I hadn’t been sleeping. All the things that can go up against you. No excuses, by the way. It’s been seven years, that’s all I need to say. I couldn’t even catch my breath if I wanted to. I said, ‘F yeah, let’s do it,’ for sure. My mindset has always been, if you’re getting an opportunity to have a match on Raw, you don’t deny that, you take it. I’m also in this era where I’m here to prove something to myself. When I’ve been training at the dungeon and gone to the PC, it’s training, but deep down I’m like, ‘Where am I match-wise?’ It’s different, and we don’t do live events. In the past, if you came back from injury or it’s been a long time, you go do live events and you know where you’re at match-wise so you know what to work on and your condition.
The Time Is Now
Bella added, “Even training, we weren’t doing matches, I don’t know where I’m at. I was curious about that, even though it was live on Raw, to know where I’m at. I have to start somewhere. Can’t keep doing battle royals and Royal Rumbles. Someone said to me, ‘I think you should say no and you should have that week to build up to it at the PC or dungeon.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m going to do it.’ Now, I know where I’m at.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
