— Nikki Bella recently shared her personal Mount Rushmore of women’s wrestling in an interview with SportBible. Her picks were Mae Young, Trish Stratus, Rhea Ripley, and Natalya Neidhart. Bella also emphasized that every generation of women’s wrestling is worthy of having its own Mount Rushmore.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On how each generation of women’s wrestling deserves its own Mt. Rushmore: “So my Mount Rushmore of female wrestlers are- now this is tough for me because I feel you could actually do a Mount Rushmore in every era of female wrestling. I feel like when you look at all the different eras of from when women’s wrestling started, there’s always an iconic four that have helped build a division or have taken the division to the next evolution of the division growing. So this one’s very hard for me to do, and there’s so many people I want to put on this.”
On her actual four: “First, so I’m going to try to pick maybe some from different generations. So let’s put on Mae Young for what she did for women’s wrestling and let’s… do Trish Stratus for what she’s done for women’s wrestling. So it’s like another generation, another era. If we’re gonna talk present right now, let’s put up Rhea Ripley for what she’s doing for women’s wrestling.”
“The fourth one I’m going to put on for myself, it would be Nattie Neidhart because to put on someone who comes from a wrestling family, I think how being the only female from the Hart family to do what she’s done, to come from the dungeon, she doesn’t get enough credit for what she’s done for women’s wrestling, but just how she’s carried on legacy and the pressure of that. So I think that definitely deserves a spot on my Mount Rushmore.”
— AJ Lee made her highly-anticipated return to WWE on last week’s episode of SmackDown and kept the momentum going with an appearance on last night’s RAW. There, she delivered a passionate promo that set the stage for a blockbuster mixed tag team match – AJ Lee and CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch at WWE Wrestlepalooza on September 20th, marking WWE’s debut on the new ESPN app.
During her promo, Lee opened up about stepping away from the spotlight to focus on her mental health, crediting therapy for helping her heal. In response, fans showered her with “therapy” chants, showing their support for her journey.
Following the segment, former WWE star CJ Perry reacted on Twitter, writing:
“Monday night raw chanting THERAPY has me SCREAMING.”
Monday night raw chanting THERAPY has me SCREAMING
— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) September 9, 2025
— On a recent episode of “The Pat McAfee Show,” WWE Chief Creative Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque weighed in on the long-awaited return of AJ Lee.
After ten years away, Lee made her shocking comeback on last week’s SmackDown, joining her husband CM Punk to confront Becky Lynch.
Triple H praised her return, saying, “When you have four performers who are that talented, and AJ just coming back, it’s been ten years, and she hasn’t missed a beat. Just right in there and as charismatic as ever. Fans are loving it.”
Lee has officially signed a new WWE contract and will team with Punk in a Mixed Tag Team Match against Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins at WWE Wrestlepalooza on September 20.
The conversation also shifted to WWE’s partnership with Saudi Arabia, which began in 2018. Early events faced restrictions on women’s and LGBTQ participation, but over time, women’s roles have grown. McAfee credited WWE and Triple H for helping push that progress.
Triple H explained, “That’s been their goal since the beginning, to change their perception, to change how they are, to open up that umbrella for women and with the country. It takes time. You can’t just do that stuff all at once, or you alienate all the people that are in front of it and have a long-standing belief. You have to do it over time. I truly believe that to initiate change, you have to be a part of it. You can’t just sit back on the sidelines and say, ‘We’re not going to participate in that and these people don’t do things right.’ You need to be there and be part of that change. We’ve been part of that change since the beginning.”
(h/t – Fightful)
