Exclusive: Nikki Bella talks injury return, turning heel and retirement

Nikki Bella returned to the WWE with clear objectives in mind.

The 42-year-old has done it all, including being a two-time Divas Champion -- including a reign as the longest-tenured champion -- and being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

After initially retiring in 2019, Bella made her return at the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble. Bella has been engaged in some notable feuds, including facing Stephanie Vaquer for the Women's World Championship at the 2025 Survivor Series.

She was slated to team up with her sister, Brie Bella, for the WWE's Women Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 42, but an ankle injury sidelined her for the biggest wrestling event of the year.

Brie and a returning Paige -- she filled in for Nikki -- ended up winning the tag titles.

Nikki has been sidelined since March 27, but she's hoping she can return in June after undergoing more tests. She said she has barely lost any strength in her ankle, saying she's only 4% away from her full strength. Patients with a severe fractured ankle typically lose 40% of their strength.

Bella, though, does not have a target return date yet.

"TBD," Bella told Casino Guru News in an exclusive interview. "Until we get a look inside again through X-rays and MRIs, you just don't know. I'm hoping in June at some point, and that's why I'm working really hard on getting my strength back."

Upon her return, Bella said she would like to have a "meaningful story" in WWE through the end of her contract, which concludes in January of 2028.

"If it's a year and a half, I want my wrestling to be better and be at top tier," Bella said. "Now I don't have that, and I know I can get it there. I want a meaningful story. I'd love to be a heel. I just want to have that type of creative, that story that we used to have. I need that."

Bella hammers home wanting to wring emotion out of the audience.

"I don't want to show up every week and not know what's going on, and let's just get through TV," Bella said. "I want passion there, and I want something creatively that's like, 'Oh s***, she's back.' I really want to push myself outside the box. I would love to win a championship. It would be great to win a championship if it matches the story. Amazing. But for me, most importantly, it's to have an epic story on my way out."

Bella: I want to face Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, Blake Monroe

When asked about opponents she'd like to match up and feud against in her current WWE run, she mentioned the likes of Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley -- the two current champions -- along with Blake Monroe.

"I definitely think I have to do something with Liv before I'm done, because it's there," Bella said. "You see that even when we went at each other on social media last week, because when I was watching, I was like, 'Excuse me.' You naturally saw the engagement immediately, so you could tell there's unfinished business there.

"And honestly, I would love my last story to be with Rhea Ripley. I would love to have that with her, and I hope I get to be mixed in with some of the new girls too on my way out. Like Blake Monroe would be another one. Between Blake and Rhea on my way out."

Bella detailed why she would love to match up against Monroe, a 27-year-old up and comer who made her debut in WWE last year after spending a couple of years in AEW.

Monroe is a former NXT Women's American Champion and she made her debut on Smackdown in April.

"With Blake, I love when I look at people to get in good stories with," Bella said. "I look at what can I use personally to bring up, and with all those girls, there's past stuff that we get to bring into it. Even with Blake Monroe. And that's when stuff is gold. When I saw the girls' promo last week, Judgment Day, and Brie and Paige, I'm like, 'Yes, this is what I'm talking about.'

"Even though I was like, "Ow, you guys are so mean,’ that's the stuff I love. Get personal. We're not here to not hurt feelings. This is wrestling. Go hurt feelings. I'm sorry, but this is what sells. To get the emotion, it's what gets people invested and connected. Because I think of real life for people. People deal with bosses, employees, neighbors that they get issues with, and friends they have falling outs with. So we can't be nice. We have to make people feel like, 'Oh, that's like my neighbor. I hate him and now I'm gonna boo him.’"

When the recent CM Punk-Roman Reigns feud leading into WrestleMania is brought up as a perfect example of getting the emotions out of people with the personal jabs at one another, Bella agrees and brings up the recent Jade Cargill-Rhipley feud as another example.

"Look at how invested we were in it," Bella said. "They did such a great job, and even Jade and Rhea. I was sitting back with popcorn every week, like, ‘Oh, s***.’ We all were hanging on social media. I couldn't wait to hear what was next.

"Tiffany (Stratton) and Charlotte (Flair) the year before. I love them both, but I was like, 'I could not wait for that match.' I was like, 'Oh, I'm ready for this one.' You know what I mean? That stuff, it worked with AJ (Lee) and I like it. People were like, 'Oh man.' It's what sells."

Bella: Retirement will "depend on my body"

It's been said that the Bella twins will retire from in-ring competition after their current contracts expire in 2028. However, Nikki didn’t shut down the idea of staying in the ring beyond her current contract.

"Never say never," Bella said. "Honestly, it's all going to depend on my body, how I feel I look in the ring compared to others. I'm the most aware person ever, and I don't ever want to take spots from people. I am there to elevate, bring equity, and if I feel like I can't hang, guess what? I'm not going to go hang. I'm not going to go pretend I can. We'll see how I am at that point in life."

Bella said a move to GM interests her.

"WWE will always be my home, so I always hope to be a part of it in some way," Bella said. "Maybe transition to GM, because I feel like we need some Stephanie McMahon vibes back in there. There's nothing like a bitchy woman who's in control, so you never know.

"If I feel like the body is like, 'Okay, we're good, but suit me up and let me run the show,' I'd do that. Or if there was some other position in the way of helping the women, I would do that as well. But I just think we'll have to wait till we get there."

Bella talks brand partnership

Bella is busy rehabbing her ankle injury, but she's also investing in her first tequila brand -- which is a pretty big deal because she's a big tequila drinker.

The WWE Hall of Famer is investing in Madam Paleta, a female-founded, flavor-infused brand.

"A lot of brands have come to me and it just has not been the right fit," Bella said. "My palette likes a certain taste, has to be very clean. Madam Paleta came around and I was like, ‘This is amazing.’ 100% blue agave, never thought I would be into blanco tequila that has a fruit flavor to it and natural. I was just blown away by this brand ran by women. So you know me with my women empowerment, everything lined up.

"And not only that, I just haven't really gotten to focus a lot on my Mexican side. I've done that in the wrestling world, but to really be able to put my roots in somewhere with my father and my stepmom and my half-siblings living in Mexico, I thought this was just perfect. Like a match made in heaven, and I finally found a company that I was like, ‘’This is where I want to put my platform, my equity behind.’ It is definitely a wide space, and a space that I'd love to take over. And we will take over."