The Bella Twins deserve their 2020 WWE Hall of Fame spot

As announced this past Friday on SmackDown during the Moment of Bliss segment, Brie and Nikki Bella – better known as the Bella Twins – will be inducted into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame.

While they have a Bella Army of fans who rejoice at the very thought of them taking this spot, there are a slew within the WWE Universe that feel they don’t deserve the spot.

I’m not a huge fan of The Bella Twins; this statement certainly is not mean to denounce any of their past accomplishments or future successes they may reach. I don’t consider myself part of their Bella Army; however, a hater I am not.

I’m an unbiased wrestling fan (journalist to boot) who may have other favorites, but I can respect the contributions Brie and Nikki have made in this business and women’s wrestling. With that said, I can honestly argue the fact that they do deserve a WWE Hall of Fame induction.

Yes, there may be other women out there who could have been recognized this year in lieu of them, but to say their wrestling accomplishments do not warrant a Hall of Fame induction is ridiculous.

They have both held the Divas Championship (the title of circulation during their time within the women’s division), with Nikki a two-time holder of this championship and the longest-reigning champ (of this title) of all time.

But, before I further dive into how they helped change the game, let’s rewind a bit.

More from Daily DDT

• It’s time for Adam Cole and MJF to drop the ROH tag team titles
• Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
• Eddie Kingston stands to gain the most from the AEW Continental Classic
• Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
• Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline

Sure, I’d love to see Chyna inducted in the WWE HOF as a singles competitor; Miss Elizabeth or Molly Holly – just to name a few. But, if we look at HOF classes of the past, it wasn’t really until 2013 that a female superstar was consistently inducted into the HOF on an annual basis.

Before that, females would be inducted here and there, but not every year as it has been since 2013. That means there were a ton of gaps as it relates to female representation for the HOF; a ton of missed opportunities. Hopefully, as the years progress, some of those missing gaps will be filled with some legendary female talent.

This year, the decision was made from the powers that be to induct the Bella Twins. As stated earlier, they are both championship holders – something that can’t be said about HOFers Sunny and Torrie Wilson (although I’m not implying these women shouldn’t be in the HOF, just stating a fact).

Plus, one could even point that some males who have been inducted in WWE’s HOF haven’t held any WWE gold, unlike both Nikki and Brie.

More than just titles, the Bellas were a part of the Women’s Revolution, whether people want to believe it or not. They were also wrestling during a time where females had wished there was a revolution, but were never given that kind of opportunity.

While they may have been all fluff at the beginning of their run, they did work hard to hone their in-ring skills, mic work, and character development over the years. They created a wrestling brand in the Bella Army, and thanks to their work on Total Divas, they introduced an entirely new demographic of wrestling fans to the WWE.

This last point is a huge point. I’ve been watching wrestling for over four decades now, and to be frank, I didn’t ever really have “girlfriends” who were interested in the WWE, until Total Divas came out; I was a lone wolf who either dragged my husband/boyfriend out to WWE events with me, went with guy friends, or simply attended alone.

Total Divas really changed the game on all this, and I finally had some friends who were interested in the WWE; fellow females I could chat about storylines with.

What about #GiveDivasAChance? The Twitter hashtag really had WWE upper management rethinking how they position their female superstars within the company and how they were featured on television.

While AJ Lee challenging Stephanie McMahon on Twitter can also be attributed to the above hashtag trending on the social media platform, the 30-second match that took place on the Feb. 23 edition of Monday Night RAW (circa 2015) had the Bellas vs. Paige and Emma. Interestingly enough, according to Nikki, it was all their idea.

We will never know what “could have been” if that match didn’t take place; if that hashtag never trended; however, it’s undeniable that both Nikki and Brie had a hand in the next step towards evolving women’s wrestling.

Moreover, Nikki and Brie have taken their proverbial ball and have ran with it. The Bella Twins are a multi-media brand at this point, with wine, clothing lines, and a podcast. I personally cannot think of many former female WWE superstars who are as well known as the Bella Twins, and this is all thanks to the years they put into the wrestling business.

Do they deserve a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame? Absolutely! It may be coming a little sooner than some have expected, there may be others that undeniably warrant that spot before the twins; however, Brie and Nikki have more than paid their wrestling dues, and more than deserve the recognition around all their hard work, sacrifices, and wrestling milestones achieved.