WWE News: Nikki Bella claims Total Divas started the Women's Revolution

What's the story?

In a recent interview with PWInsider, former WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella spoke about the Total Divas reality show and its influence on modern wrestling. Bella said that the show deserved more respect than it got, and was instrumental in starting the women's revolution in the company.

In case you didn't know...

Nikki Bella is a former two-time WWE Divas Champion in her second stint with the company. Bella is currently on a hiatus from action inside the squared circle, as she focuses on projects away from the ring and her impending marriage to John Cena.

Nikki is also one of the stars of the Total Divas and Total Bellas reality shows. The former premiered in July 2013 and centred around the female competitors in WWE and their everyday lives.

This led to a spinoff called Total Bellas, which focused solely on Nikki and Brie Bella and their relationships with John Cena and Daniel Bryan.

The heart of the matter

During the interview, Nikki stated that she feels Total Divas does not get enough credit from critics and fans alike, for the role it played in bringing a new demographic to WWE. She went on to state that Total Divas helped start the women's revolution, especially the drama surrounding the feud between Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon.

"I think [Total Divas] helped start the women's revolution. Total Divas led to more women coming to our show [saying] 'I gotta check this out'"

Nikki went on to contend that it was the first time that WWE's females had an hour of TV all to themselves, to show who they were and what they were about. She also said that when the show was released, other women were getting more TV time than the Total Divas but fans weren't interested in them.

"...there would be women wrestlers who weren't on the show and were getting more TV time than us and the fans wouldn't care about them. They would be 'I want those Total Divas girls. Can you bring them back?'"

What's next?

Filming is currently underway for the seventh season of Total Divas, with a number of cast changes expected for the season. The women's revolution continues to move forward in WWE, with the strength in depth of the roster as strong as it has ever been.

Author's take

One must take Nikki Bella's comments with a large, large grain of salt. As executive producer of Total Divas, she simply must say such hyperbolic comments about her show, regardless of how much truth there is to them.

The general feeling at the time was that the women's revolution began as a reaction to the culture around Total Divas, as WWE moved from models who could wrestle to wrestlers who could wrestle first and foremost.

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