"Yeah, I went on a date with her" - 39-year-old star on fans asking him about Nikki Bella and Total Divas' popularity (Exclusive)

Brie and Nikki Bella were amongst the female WWE stars who received mainstream recognition via Total Divas. During this week's episode of The Wrestling Outlaws, which revolved around the reality TV series, EC3 spoke about the show's popularity and the time he went on a date with Nikki Bella.

It's been a few years since Total Divas was discontinued, but has been back in the news recently due to Nikki Bella's controversial statements in which she talked about the lack of support from the wrestling industry.

Several fans still question the decision to stop Total Divas, as there was a phase when the Bella Twins-led show was very popular with fans outside the wrestling bubble.

EC3 agreed with the notion and claimed that several non-wrestling fans often approached him and inquired about the Total Divas stars, such as Nikki Bella, Natalya, and Naomi.

Here's what the four-time 24/7 champion revealed on Sportskeeda's YouTube channel regarding Total Divas' popularity:

"I do remember when it (Total Divas) was during its heyday, too, you know, meeting people and civilians on the street. 'Oh, you're a wrestler? Do you know Nikki Bella?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I went on a date with her and her sister once.' 'Do you know Nattie? I'm like, 'Yeah, I know her very well; I was at her house last week when they had a nice little soiree.' Do you know Naomi? Yeah, she is sweet as hell! They had a lot of popularity with people that wouldn't necessarily watch wrestling." [4:10 - 4:43]

EC3 also opened up about an angle involving The Bella Twins and Daniel Bryan back when he was known as Derrick Bateman on the fourth season of NXT in 2010.

Bryan, who was Carter's mentor for the entire season, was embroiled in a storyline where Brie and Nikki Bella tried to woo him on RAW.

WWE booked a rare backstage segment on NXT where the four superstars went out on a double date, and Ethan Carter revealed that from a creative standpoint, he enjoyed being a part of it early in his career.

What's even more interesting is that Bryan Danielson and Brie Bella were not a real-life couple back, as Carter added below:

"Daniel Bryan and I and The Bellas were doing their thing on RAW, having their little angle. They (Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella) were not dating. It was definitely storyline based, so we thought it would be a good idea he is on this horrible show they don't watch called NXT season 4, and like, what if we went on a double date? That was the first time NXT had like a long-form multi-segment vignette skit sort of deal. It was very much a writer on hand and us throwing ideas and then action and us improving our lines to each other." [5:40 - 6:36]

EC3 on what he was told before his WWE NXT segment with Nikki Bella

EC3 was a highly entertaining character who sadly didn't make it to the main roster during the early 2010s. The backstage angle with the Bellas and Daniel Bryan perfectly illustrated Carter's on-screen charisma as he gained plaudits for his energetic performance.

The plan going into the segment was for Bateman to ruin the double date after the Bellas dropped some wine on his pants. EC3 revealed that he was only told about the drink-spilling moment, and everything else was improvised on the spot.

As it was an NXT segment, there weren't strict rules to follow creatively, and all the stars involved made the most of it.

"I knew I had to keep a couple of zingers on me like a bag of change; I had Michael Hayes' fanny pack. I knew I was going to hit Brie with the goat cheese line. I knew I was going to freak out if something got spilled on my American flag pants. That was the only thing I think we had called was, they are going to knock a glass over so they can get on your pants, and then you're going to ruin the date." [6:38 - 7:20]

In case you missed it, EC3 also recently accused a popular star of concussing him multiple times, and you can read all about it here.