Nikki Bella thanked her ex-fiancé John Cena in her WWE Hall of Fame speech.
John Cena and Nikki Bella in 2018
The 37-year-old wrestler and her twin sister Brie Bella were both inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 31 in a ceremony which aired on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock on Tuesday (06.04.21).
And during her speech, Nikki sent her thanks to fellow wrestler John Cena – whom she dated from 2012 until 2018, when she ended their engagement just weeks before they were due to marry – for helping her “find [her] fearless side”.
The speech began with Brie thanking the pair's fellow female wrestlers that "fought alongside us and helped revolutionize the women's division," before Nikki – who is now engaged to Artem Chigvintsev, with whom she has eight-month-old son Matteo – also thanked the male wrestlers that "have been on this journey with us too”.
She then added: "And to John, thank you for teaching me a lot about this business and truly helping me find my fearless side.”
Following her split from John in 2018, Nikki revealed they had clashed over their differing stances on starting a family together, with John being against the idea of having children.
And although John eventually agreed to have his vasectomy reversed in order to start a family with Nikki, she ended the relationship so he wouldn't regret having children.
She said: "Overall, we did have such an incredible relationship, it was just two people that wanted two different lives. We were trying so hard to make it one.
“Even in the end when he was willing to give me kids, I could just tell, it's not what we wanted. And that's really, like, you know, what pushed me in the end, was like, if I'm going to force someone to be a father … what if he looks at you down the road and just regrets everything, and then you have this child and you've built this life. Is that what you want? And I remember thinking: it's not what I want."
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