TLDR
Nikki Bella’s Las Vegas WrestleMania tag-team reunion with sister Brie collapsed after a devastating ankle injury and surgery, opening the door for Paige to step in and for Nikki to reset her personal life off camera.
The match was built to be a Bella Twins moment. At 42, Nikki Bella was expected to step back into a WWE ring alongside Brie for a Fatal Four-Way Women’s Tag Team Championship showcase at “WrestleMania” in Las Vegas. Instead, she arrived in town in a protective boot, her ankle fractured, torn, and sprained, and her spot in the ring gone.
Nikki revealed the brutal injury on social media, sharing footage of her swollen, cut foot and explaining that what fans thought was a routine setback had quietly turned into surgery and weeks of pain. “Fractured, torn, and sprained my ankle. It has been a painful two weeks,” she told followers, pulling back the curtain on why her name was missing from the match graphic.
Behind the scenes, the injury forced a scramble that turned into one of the weekend’s most emotional pivots. In a WrestleMania press conference, Nikki explained that she had surgery two weeks earlier and then flew to Birmingham for treatment. That is where fate, and a familiar face, walked in.
“So I actually got surgery two weeks ago,” she said. “So I managed to break, sprain, and tear my ankle. So, listen, how crazy this is: when I’m heading to Birmingham to get surgery, guess who is in Birmingham?”
On the phone with Brie, reality and responsibility collided. “And Brie and I are literally on the phone, and I’m like, “Brie, there is no way I’m going to make WrestleMania, but like, you still have to have your moment” and both at the same time are like “The only person that will still make it feel special is Saraya, Paige”,” Nikki recalled.
That call cleared a path for Saraya-Jade Bevis, known to WWE fans as Paige, to make a surprise return in Nikki’s place. For a woman who has spent years protecting her legacy after neck injuries, retirements, and comebacks, handing her spot to another beloved figure was a calculated, heartfelt choice. “There is no one else, and I truly mean this, no other WWE Superstar in the past or now that I would want to take my spot other than Paige,” she said.
Nikki still walked the WrestleMania red carpet, boot on, smile fixed, the consummate pro managing the optics of an absence she could not control. The timeline for her in-ring future remains unclear, but the message was unmistakable. She will wait for the right moment, not just any moment.
Off the mat, Nikki’s personal life is going through its own reset. After headlines linked her to Philadelphia Eagles standout Cooper DeJean when she was spotted at his NFL games in the 2025 season, she recently drew a clear line. Earlier in April, she confirmed she is single and centering life around her five-year-old son, Mateo, whom she shares with ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev.
“I love being single,” she said. “I love my space. I love how I do my routines. I love the aesthetic of my home now, like, it’s my son and me.”
For a generation that watched the Bella Twins grow from reality stars on “Total Divas” to Hall of Fame fixtures, this twist lands differently. WrestleMania was supposed to be a nostalgic full-circle spotlight. Instead, Nikki is nursing an ankle, sharing a ring slot with Paige, and building a quieter, more controlled chapter centered on motherhood, business, and the long game of legacy.
Whether she wrestles again or not, Las Vegas may be remembered less as the night Nikki Bella missed WrestleMania and more as the moment she chose how her story, and her family’s story, will be told.
