Nikki Bella is setting the record straight about her recent injury, and shutting down speculation involving Nia Jax.
The WWE Hall of Famer addressed the situation following the ankle injury she suffered during the March 27, 2026 episode of WWE SmackDown, where she teamed with Brie Bella against Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair.
Despite being hurt early in the match, Nikki pushed through and finished the bout.
In the aftermath, some fans online speculated that Nia Jax may have been responsible for the injury after tossing Bella from the ring during the closing moments.
According to Nikki, that narrative couldn’t be further from the truth.
“What I want to clear up, because at first, Nia had gotten a lot of heat online and she actually helped me,” Nikki began while speaking on The Nikki & Brie Show. “Is when it came to the end of the match and the girls had to take us out, I knew at that point like I couldn’t even put weight on my foot at that point and I was in so much pain where I knew I was like, “Oh gosh, this is really bad,” and I knew what was about to happen, so when she came to take me out, I looked at her and I go, “Please no, my foot hurts so bad,” and she goes, “Wait, what?” And I’m like, “I can’t get thrown out. I need to step out,” so she helped me step out, but people made it like she injured me and I was like, “No, Nia actually really helped me in that moment,” because I don’t know what, I would have belly flopped on the ground if I got thrown because I knew I couldn’t put my feet down.”
That’s a very different picture than what was being assumed online.
Bella went on to share more details about the severity of the injury and how quickly things escalated once she sought medical attention.
“The next morning before Brie and I go do media and then fly out,,” she continued. “I go get an MRI, Brie and I do our media, and then we’re sitting, we get an aperol spritz, a nice little lunch before we have to catch our flight, and then I get the call.”
The call, as it turned out, delivered serious news.
Bella continued, “Which sometimes calls aren’t that quick after an MRI, so when I saw one of our doctors calling, I was like, “Oh gosh,” so I answer and they’re like, “Don’t know how you managed to do all of it,” and then just broke it down to me that I tore, sprained and fractured my ankle and they’re like, “You’re just gonna have to go straight to Birmingham, you can’t go home, and we’re gonna get you in surgery ASAP.”
As seen at WrestleMania 42, Nikki wasn’t cleared in time for an in-ring return, and was instead replaced by Paige, who would go on to win the women’s tag team titles with Brie Bella.
