Nikki Bella Interview: AJ Lee Comments, 30-Second Match

With “Monday Night Raw” on its way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for March 9, Divas Champion Nikki Bella was interviewed by Mark Madden of 105.9 The X, a radio station in the “Steel City.” During her interview with the former WCW announcer, much of the discussion was about WWE coming under fire for alleged mistreatment of its women performers, Divas.

Nikki revealed an interesting backstory to the 30-second match on the Feb. 23 “Monday Night Raw,” which sparked the “#GiveDivasAChance” social media campaign:

“What’s funny about that is we were given about three minutes. Three-to-four minutes. And us four girls who were in the match, we put our heads together and said, ‘look we can either give them a two minute match, or we can give them nothing and get Brie and I so much heat and tell a great story.’ We’re not going to give people three minutes of BS, and it ended up being a big story. It ended up turning into #GiveDivasAChance trending worldwide for two days. We could have gone out there; done a few moves and called it a day, but we were like, ‘How can we tell a great story?’ And at the end of the day, that’s what we did. Brie and I got good heat at the end of it. We got trended for two days straight, and it was like, ‘whoa. we’re storytelling now.’ And that’s what puts the Divas on the next level. Instead of just going out there and doing moves, let’s storytell. Because that’s what the boys do, and that’s what we need to do.”

Madden asked Nikki about AJ Lee’s recent comments towards Stephanie McMahon, which alleged that Divas are not given proper pay and compensation for merchandise sales:

“We’re all here because we’re living our dreams. Whether it’s two minutes or 20 minutes on TV, I’m beyond grateful for that. Because there are millions of people that wish they could get two minutes in that ring, and they can’t. So, I’m not going to be one to bitch about it. But, do I think Divas should definitely have more time on TV? 100 percent. But, do I think pay is different? No.”

Continuing, Nikki discussed Divas potentially not having the power to draw as much money as top-tier WWE Superstars like Brock Lesnar and John Cena:

“Let me put it this way: if a Diva was to headline a show, would those seats sell out like it does when John Cena’s headlining? When Roman Reigns? When Brock Lesnar? Absolutely not. We’re not there yet. We’re trying to get there, but we’re not there yet. As far as merch goes, we all get the same percentage, so I don’t know why anyone is crying about it. We all make the exact same percentage, so it’s like, sell more merch if you want to be like the guys. At the end of the day, we’re in a man’s world. More people show up to watch men wrestle, and they look at us as the ‘pretty things on the side’, but I think slowly, we’re changing people’s minds about that. It’s not going to happen overnight, but eventually we’re going to get there. We just need patience and time.”

You can listen to the entire interview between Mark Madden and Nikki Bella here. Other topics that come up include “Total Divas,” John Cena, and WrestleMania 31.