WWE: The Bella Twins would deserve a chance at the Women’s Tag Titles one day
The Bella Twins managed to accomplish a lot in their decade plus in WWE and have just as much of a stake in the Women’s Evolution as their counterparts with independent backgrounds. However, the timing of their retirement means that there’s one prize that will be missing: the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
A couple of months ago, a tweet from Twitter user Bill Doughty caught my eye in the midst of a conversation prompted by Tights and Fights Podcast about the build to KofiMania. “Some title reigns are Lifetime Achievement Awards and that’s okay.”
It’s a sentiment that I definitely agree with, but another set of wrestlers came to mind after some thought: Nikki and Brie Bella.
The Bella Twins’ impact in WWE is something that is often taken for granted. Despite being two of the many models-turned-wrestlers thrown in the deep end with minimal training during the Divas era, Nikki and Brie managed to rise to the top of the division with tenacity and Twin Magic.
As the stars of Total Divas, they helped bring more women into the world of wrestling that had never considered watching it before. Between the two of them, there are three separate reigns with the Divas Championship with Nikki holding the record for the longest reign at 301 days.
On paper, it just makes sense that The Bella Twins should at least be in line for a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match, let alone a title reign. They were one of the most dominant women’s tag teams in the division after all.
Unfortunately, timing would not match up with that sentiment.
Brie and Nikki decided to step away from the ring after Evolution last year, but it wasn’t made public until those episodes of Total Bellas aired earlier this month. Their reasons are more than legitimate, with Nikki’s health concerns with her neck, Brie wanting to have a second kid, and the two wanting to focus on their various businesses, including their new podcast. However, it feels particularly ironic that WWE would introduce the Women’s Tag Team Championship after the most prolific tag team in that division if not the whole company decided to retire.
Of course, wrestling is wrestling and retirements don’t always stick. On the first episode of their new podcast, the Bellas broached the newly minted tag titles with Brie admitting they had pushed for those titles to be introduced for years.
"“We actually never thought that could truly be a reality. The fact that it is now, makes it extremely tempting for us to go back and fight for them because we’re really the longest reigning, most authentic tag team.”"
Does this mean that The Bella Twins will come back for one last match? Not necessarily. Being tempted and actually making a comeback are two different things.
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However, I can’t imagine a more fitting end to the career of two of the vanguards of the modern women’s division that to make one last run for the titles they were born to hold. And if they win and then fully retire, that’s okay too, because at least history will show that they were Women’s Tag Team Champions.