That was the headline on PWInsider.com's Divas feed. Right there on the main page the night after winning the first match Nikki Bella had participated in since the Royal Rumble. She knew better than to Google herself. It made her extremely self concious, and if she was being honest her self esteem wasn't exactly the best anyway. But Nikki couldn't help but be just slightly narcissistic. That was what had led her to Google her name on this particular Saturday night. Not like she had much of a social life anyway. It wasn't just that headline though. It was worse, much worse. Nikki found herself sucked into the black hole that was tumblr, and that was a world in and of itself. A plethora of interesting things could be found there.
Of course there were photos where she was looked "the bomb".
There were more photos where she and Brie looked even more perfect.
There was some SUPER interesting fanfic that involved her and Brie and Dean Ambrose.
And her and Brie and Roman Reigns.
And her and Brie and John Cena.
And her and Brie and Trish and Sasha and Brooke and Summer and Velvet and Torrie and John Cena.
She read that one all the way through. It was well written.
Of course there was a little her and Brie and Wes Ikeda action, hilarious, though its author was not a master of prose.
Nikki Bella: Ugh, always with the twin threesomes! Pervs.
It was another article headline that really caught her eye. An OpEd more than anything, but still, the title was brutal.
"Brie is Better: The Nikki Bella Sob Story"
It went on in pretty great detail to describe how Nikki had been underutilized (read: not used at all) in EBWF while her sister Brie had been pushed just short of the moon. Brie had been nipping at the heels of every EBWF Diva almost since the very beginning. Nikki had an ankle injury right out of the gate, and according to creative Brie had picked up such a "head of steam" as a solo act that there was just nothing for Nikki at the moment. They'd said they would include her soon, but soon had yet to come. Of course, lack of television time and matches didn't exclude Nikki from being included with her sister as the "token hot twins" for promotional use. They were even on one of the trucks. They had there own Warfare 15-second hype clip that aired on A&E. It felt like they were on everything.
Except the Wrestlemania Poster. Brie got to be on that by herself.
Nikki wasn't bitter. She was proud of her sister. She wasn't sure why they kept letting Brie get so close to the Women's Championshp, but not win it. That didn't seem fair. Especially since the whole locker room knew that Brie was a much better promo artist than Sasha Banks. But now it felt like things were getting really weird. When Nikki had found out that she was beating Michelle McCool, she'd been surprised. She hadn't seen that coming, and now she was destined to go into the next round against Brooke Adams. She found herself on the same side of the bracket with her sister, who had managed to beat Torrie Wilson during the same show, advancing to face Alexa Bliss in the next round. Nikki thought she might be able to see where this was going. She and Brie were just one win each away from having to face one another in the tournament. Not only did Nikki feel that was poorly booked, but poorly prepared for as well. Nikki knew there was always a possibility she may have to face her sister in the ring, but she had hoped there would be a grander story around it. They had been in a game of friendly competition since the womb. They could do a whole lot if given the opportunity.
It felt good to be home in San Diego for the weekend, but she missed her sister. Her sister, who was on the EBWF Tour for the weekend. Nikki had been sent home after her match because she was what they called "non essential talent for the weekend house shows". Take out "for the weekend house shows" and that was precisely how she felt. Brie would be home sometime Monday morning because she wasn't scheduled for Warfare. Nikki didn't expect an immediate response from her sister when she sent a text message.
Nikki
I'm missing you. Want to go to Local Habit and have some coffee with me Tuesday?
Yes!!!!!!!!!! Miss you too!
Came the enthusiastic reply not ten minutes later. It made Nikki smile. She let her finger slide across the touchpad to navigate the tumblr page again. She saw another headline that read, "Why Brie will ALWAYS be better than Nikki." She didn't read anymore. Nikki closed the display lid on her MacBook Pro and decided to do a little yoga. She had been compared to her sister her whole life, but comparisons were for the weak and the lazy. She'd been given an opportunity. EBWF had provided her with the chance to prove that she deserved a more active role in the EBWF Diva's division. She had to jump on it. And fast.
Nikki much prefered the sun of California to the dire, farmscape that was Topeka, Kansas. She was hoping EBWF would get back to some more, um, metroplitan sort of areas soon? At the moment she was backstage at the Kansas Expocentre, already dressed for her matchup and evaluating that tinge of jealousy she felt while watching Warfare on Monday Night.
It had been weird for her.
She had been all alone, sipping on her one allotted glass of wine, a brisk and fruity Chablis, when Trish Stratus one her match agaisnt Velvet Sky. The bell rang. Trish's arm was raised in victory. And Nikki felt that pang. The one that was completely misplaced but hard to quell. She didn't like Trish Stratus. She didn't know why.
Three years ago, Nikki would have given anything for just one conversation with the woman who had pioneered the current incantation of the diva's division. Now, she just felt this sense of ickiness. She didn't rejoice when Trish won. She went the other way when Trish was around. She wondered if it had something to do with Nick. Nikki had been in a low profile, but very serious relationship with Dolph Ziggler. They'd dated for two years, and had split almost five years ago. It wasn't mean spirited, or bitter, or any of those things. But Nikki couldn't help but feel like she was exactly where she'd been in 2010, and Dolph was now World Champion, and with Trish Stratus, who looked poised to make the Queen of the Ring finals. Though, that of course was depending on who you asked. Summer Rae was a new pet of the EBWF creative team, so there was no telling.
Then there was Brooke Adams, Nikki's opponent for tonight. Coffee at Local Habit had actually turned into coffee and breakfast and together the sisters had come up with some interesting theories. Brooke Adams had been in the EBWF before and had a storied history with a couple of EBWF's top stars. At that time she had been known as Brooke Tessmacher, but now the name change had made it obvious that EBWF was trying to rebrand her and distance her from that past. This made Nikki's job very difficult, because it was hard to know what she should and shouldn't say. She didn't want to sabatoge the poor girl's fresh start. Though Nicole Orton might have done that anyway when she reinvigorated a hash tag about #HorseFaceSelfies and how it related to Brooke.
Brie suggested that the best thing Nikki could do was roll back the tape of her interview from Friday night and see what her new attiude was all about. Nikki did that first thing when she arrived to the arena and Of course, the very first thing that happened was that Michael Cole introduced her as "Brooke Tessmacher". So now Nikki was all kinds of confused. She left the diva's locker room in search of any backstage crew member, and eventually found one of the production assistance. He was a wiry looking, brunette man in his late 40s with wire rim glasses. He looked at her chest when she approached. She rolled her eyes.
Nikki Bella: Hey, could you look at the prod sheet and tell me how my opponent is listed?
Production Assistant: Um, sure. Uh... which one are you?
Nikki rolled her eyes again, muttering an inaudible "Typical" before she answered.
Nikki Bella: Nikki.
Production Assistant: Oh, right! Yeah, Nikki. Of course, the one with the uh.. the uh, um... lighter hair. Right.
He stammered. She narrowed her eyes.
Production Assistant: Brooke.
Nikki Bella: Just Brooke? That's it. Well... that's no help!
Nikki huffed and walked away from the clueless man. What in the hell was this woman calling herself?! She was stalking back toward her room when it occurred to her that maybe the production crew was just as confused as she was. It was at that point Nikki made up her mind to not care about any sort of rebranding that Brooke Adams-Tessmacher was trying to engage in. She would destroy her with her own special blend of Bella sass. Nikki returned to the Diva's locker room to put the finishing touches on her ring gear, which included lacing up her shoes and putting on a backwards snapback. Then she was headed to the set where interviews were being conducted throughout the day. They had something fun planned, so when Nikki stepped in front of the camera, she made sure to turn on the very best of her promoing ability.
Renee Young: Hello EBWF Universe, I'm Renee Young and with me now, competing tonight in the Queen of the Ring tournament, Nikki Bella. Hello, Nikki...
Nikki Bella: Yeah, hello. Um, I'm sorry, but who told you that you could interview me?
Renee Young: Well, I was assigned to this interview, so...
Nikki mocked her mercilessly.
Nikki Bella: I was assignnnnnneeeeeedddd.... DO I LOOK. LIKE I CARE? No. Get away from me. I need someone else. Some one better. This is ridiculous. There is no woman fit to stand next to me except the beautiful mirror image that is my sister. Out... YOU!
Renee was scampering away, and a forlorn, portly man with a headset was now the subject of Nikki's ire.
Nikki Bella: You go find someone else to interview me now. I'll wait.
Wait she did. Nikki stood there waiting, picking at her nails, bouncing on her toes, pretending to check a watch that wasn't on her wrist, when suddenly the man returned.
Stage Hand: What about this guy?
Nikki's eyes lit up at the sight of Corey Graves.
Nikki Bella: Yes! Thank you! Hi handsome, when did you get here?
Corey gave a bemused little smirk, and cleared his throat.
Corey Graves: I've had the opportunity to interview a few EBWF Superstars these last few months.
Nikki Bella: None as amazing as me of course.
Nikki had to try not to frown when Graves didn't agree with her and instead jumped head long into the interview.
Corey Graves: After that interruption, now that we're settled in, Nikki tonight you compete in the second round of the Queen of the Ring tournament against a returning Brooke. I'm wondering how you feel going into this match?
Nikki Bella: Honestly I feel great. It was an amazing feeling to beat a former Women's champion in Michelle McCool. I think I surprised the EBWF Universe, and that was exactly what I set out to do. Now I have to go up against Brooke, who is returning to EBWF on quite the high since she was able to beat a washed up, has been like Angelina Love. I guess that makes her feel like a big deal or something. Let me tell you something about Brooke that I don't think you know, Corey. She is a cold sore on the face of the EBWF Diva's Division. She's trashy. She's awful. And when the boys backstage talk about her, it's only because they're playing a game of Bang, Marry, Kill and any guy who chooses bang still says he'd put a bag over her head. Brooke had very little to say going into her match with Angelina, so I'm not entirely sure what he mindset is coming into our match. If she's anything like she used to be, I'm positive she has an over inflated sense of self importance and thinks that just because she beat that hag Angelina, that I'm going to be a walk in the park.
I know that I've not had an opportunity to shine here in EBWF. I know my sister has really taken the ball and run at everything this company has to offer, and I've been nothing but happy for her. But it seems like all these fake bitches around here want to count the Bellas out. Brooke, Sasha, all of them think that because they're some Regina George wannabes they can walk over whoever they want here in EBWF. Brie and I don't have to put on fake attitudes to bring the goods. Brie and I can show you, with very little effort, what a couple of mean girls look like. It's more than running your mouth. It's about being vicious. It's about taking what you want, when you want, because you can. Brie and I have had the luxury of doing that our entire lives. See when we came to EBWF, we tried, really tried, to be polite and fit in. We were judged right from the start. We were told we couldn't wrestle. That we were bad at interviews. That we were only here to be on the cover of magazines and increase the EBWF brand, NOT compete in the ring. We rejected that. Brie really rejected that. Now, historically, Brie has always been the late bloomer and I've been a little more extroverted. This time, Brie beat me to the punch. However, I proved last week that I have what it takes to hang with the best of the best in the women's division, JUST like my sister. If I can beat Michelle McCool, I can sure as hell beat a no talent hack like Brooke. That's all I hate to say Corey. But you? You can interview me anytime.
Nikki gave Corey a little smile, and then walked out of the camera's frame. Corey Graves did an outro into the camera before the scene faded. Nikki had been happy with that performance, and she was sure she'd be just as happy with her performance tonight in the ring. She went back toward the diva's locker room to find her sister, excited that they both had the opportunity to head to the semi finals.
(Sorry Tony! jk he knows)
