15 Times Nikki Bella Stole Brie's Thunder

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Nikki and Brie Bella have long been darlings of World Wrestling Entertainment. They have been conniving heels for years, while still being the sexy faces of the business. Of course currently neither of them are in the ring. That's thanks to Brie wanting a family, and Nikki getting married to the most hated man in WWE, John Cena.

Even though Brie was the first to officially debut in the WWE, and come up from the little leagues, Nikki seems to have out done her sister time and again. And in a variety of ways. Of course family teams have to end up feuding at some point, but at almost every turn, Nikki has been the one in the lead (even though she's 16 minutes younger than her sister).

From ending up with Daniel Bryan, to when she gave birth to her son, Nikki seems to take credit for it all. And beyond that, She's been given far more accolades. She was the longest reigning Diva's champ, the hottest WWE diva (which is actually just false), and she even got the Slammy Award for Diva of the Year. There's almost nothing Brie has done, without Nikki stealing her thunder.

Diva Debut

When Brie and Nikki first debuted with the WWE, it was really just Brie standing in the spotlight. Why? Because Nikki hadn't truly had an official debut. As far as anyone could tell, Brie was the only Bella to actually get in the ring. However, there was a little bit of deception there. Whenever Brie would roll out of the ring and disappear underneath, seemingly needing a breather from battle, she would emerge totally fresh, and proceed to kick ass. That's because, Nikki would come out instead and finish the match. Once the twins were found out, it was Nikki who took the spotlight. Almost immediately, and simply for being the one who would relieve Brie and win. Imagine just finally officially admitting that your sister was helping you with your matches, and then losing all of your popularity because fans just seem to like her more...

#1 Hottest Wrestler

Ok, so first off, this is just wrong. A.J. Lee was the hottest wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment the year this issue was published, without a doubt. But it's also pretty ridiculous to think that, of the two identical twins, Nikki won out as number one. I'll say that again: identical twins. Sure if you pay attention, you can tell them apart. Especially now that Nikki has added a bit of size to her bust. But otherwise there is not all that much difference. And it should be pointed out that Brie did not even score second in the list of 50 hottest wrestlers in Pro Wrestling Illustrated. So not only did Nikki score number one...but Brie wasn't even given a narrow second as her identical twin. Their whole debut revolved around them looking the exact same, but still Brie was underplayed when it came to sex appeal.

Fighting Over Daniel Bryan

Not many people may know this (in fact likely only the hardcore fans might), but Brie and Nikki once fought each other for Daniel Bryan's affections. And sure, you could argue that Brie ended up winning that one because she is now married to Daniel Bryan, and they have a child together. But the fact remains that Nikki saw something that Brie was playing with, and like a spoiled child decided she wanted it instead. And she went for it. For a time not even Daniel knew which twin he was going to go for. I mean, when they both started to fight over him after a match win, he had them hug it out. Surely that wasn't for the benefit of their relationship. That was him testing the waters, while giving WWE fans a little something more to cheer about.

Twin Magic

When these ladies debuted, they would swap out for each other, from under the ring. This saved them many matches. This little shtick was called "Twin Magic". Even though it was originally for the benefit of Brie Bella, Nikki ended up costing her sister some pretty important matches. Including losing Brie's title! But when it came time for Nikki to finally snag the Diva Championship title, who was there to defend it? Brie was perhaps the biggest reason Nikki managed to break the title-holding record, lasting over 300 days. Just beating A.J. Lee. Effectively, Brie stole her own thunder in this instance. Allowing Nikki to reign supreme for such a long time. And in the end, it wasn't even Brie who would be the betrayer between the two sisters. Talk about dedication.

Nikki Betrays Brie!

So it turns out that Nikki was tired of Brie being in the spotlight...which is hilarious considering that Nikki was already the more popular of the two, just by her showing up. So she did what any normal WWE story line would have her do. She stabbed her sister in the back (figuratively). And then of course she had to get in the ring and rant about all of the ways their childhood was awful. It was always Brie first. Of course, Nikki does say that Brie didn't turn out the way that she wanted her to...so ultimately it's Nikki selfishness that leads to the betrayal. And from this one heel turn, Nikki's ratings skyrocketed. This effectively left Brie in the dust, with really nothing to do but trail behind the majesty of Nikki's popularity. It seems it's actually always about Nikki.

The Bella Twins Feud

Because of course they feud. Nikki and Brie had several mediated discussion in the ring that typically resulted in Nikki kicking the crap out of her sister. She did nothing but berate Brie. She even harped on about how awful Brie was for taking a leave from WWE in order to have a family. Once Brie left, Nikki was punished with handicap matches that may have resulted in her losing, but ultimately made her far more popular. Brie's quitting gave Nikki a huge boost. And when Nikki faced Brie in the ring, she destroyed her sister. If Brie had any thunder, Nikki certainly stole it away as soon as she entered the ring. I'm fairly certain that Brie never got the chance to beat her sister in the ring. All Nikki did was abuse Brie in order to better her standing in the company. And it worked.

Diva Champion Record

The Bella twins have both held the Diva Championship title, but the length of their title reigns are very different. Brie was the first of the two to score the title, but she had it for less than two months. And that was the only time she would ever hold the belt. Nikki, on the other hand, won it, then lost it due to some "Twin Magic". But shortly after she won it again. And she held on to the belt (with great help from Brie) for 301 days, making her the longest reigning Diva champion at that time. And given that the Diva's Division Championship doesn't exist anymore, she will forever be the longest reigning. There is seemingly no accolade in World Wrestling Entertainment that Brie could achieve that Nikki would not do better in.

Diva Of The Year Slammy Award

Even though the damn near psychotic A.J. Lee should have been the diva to win that year, Nikki Bella came out on top. And why? Basically for no other reason than beating the ever-living crap out of her sister. Essentially, by constantly dropping Brie to the mat, Nikki overcame her sister to become the Diva of the Year. The very same reason that Nikki was chosen as the hottest wrestler of the same year (in spite of her identical sister). And it certainly didn't hurt matters that Nikki got breast implants. If there was ever a reason for the higher ups in World Wresting Entertainment to pick a hotter wrestler, it would be the size of their "puppies" (as Jerry Lawler would say) It's interesting to think that, if the Slammy award was a race to the finish, Nikki would beat Brie by only a couple of pricey inches.

WrestleMania Proposal

Alright, so Brie Bella has been married to Daniel Bryan for a while now, and they just recently had their first kid. That's wonderful for them, sure. But when it comes to which sister made the biggest hullabaloo when time came to announce engagements and all that gushy stuff...Nikki definitely takes the cake. Daniel Bryan proposed to Brie on an episode of Total Divas. They took a nice mountain hike, and peered out over the ocean. And Daniel Bryan was all cutesy and romantic. John Cena proposed to Nikki at this past WrestleMania. That was in front of a crowd of 55,000 people. Not to mention the millions of people paying to watch the pay-per-view. Now sure, this is not a decision of either of the girls (so far as we know), but it cannot be avoided that Nikki really stole away any thunder Brie had, as soon as Cena got down on one knee at WrestleMania 33!

Hell In A Cell!

One of the many times that Nikki pummelled Brie during their several feuds occurred in a cage match. And not just any cage match. The dreaded "Hell In A Cell". And there was an interesting incentive for each girl to win. The loser would become the victor's personal assistant for 30 days. And we of course know who must have lost the match, given the theme of this article. It was an alright match, but of course Nikki came out victorious. And therefore, Brie was contractually obligated to be Nikki's personal assistant. And she did a mighty good job, all things considered. As usual, the number of times that Brie saved her sister from getting her ass kicked was pretty significant. And beyond that, after being Nikki's personal b*tch, Brie ended the feud, and they were all better. All Brie had to do was live in her sister's shadow.

Brie's Last Match

It seems a little tacky maybe to outshine your sister's very last WWE match, doesn't it? Well that's exactly what Nikki did. By this point in time, Nikki was certainly the more popular of the two Bella twins, but she was out due to a neck injury. So fans had to make due with the underrated and (I think) hotter sister. Brie was gearing up to take a leave from the business in order to start her family with Daniel Bryan. So she was given a 10-women tag team match at WrestleMania 32. And she won it by submission! She was on top of the world. Her last match to date with the WWE, and she was shining. But of course Nikki decided to show up and congratulate her sister. We all know which one got the greater applause. And even with her neck brace on, you may notice who is standing in the centre of the victorious women...

Baby Waiting For Nikki

On both Total Divas, and Total Bellas, Nikki went out of her way to claim her stake on Brie's (at that point) unborn child. Nikki claimed that the kid was waiting to be born so that Nikki could be there when it happened. And while Nikki wasn't entirely wrong about when the birth would happen...it's still pretty egotistical to think that the baby is waiting for her favourite aunt to be there before coming out to play. As it turns out, the birth of the child was overshadowed by Nikki's ridiculous proclamations. There was more media coverage of what Nikki thought was going to happen and why, than what actually happened. That's the power that Nikki Bella has in this sister dynamic. It doesn't really matter what happens in Brie's life. Just so long as Nikki is there for it.

Nikki And Nattie

Natalya Neidhart is perhaps one of the most royal of the female wrestlers in the WWE. Stealing her theme song from the famed Bret 'The Hitman' Hart, and ex-related to him, she comes from a fairly sizeable dynasty of wrestlers. And who should she choose to befriend of the two sisters? Nikki, of course! I don't think there was ever really a time that Nattie gave Brie the time of day. Excepting the 10-women tag match that was Brie's final fight in the WWE. Otherwise, Natalya spent her time befriending Nikki, and then betraying her because of all the fame that Nikki was getting. It's pretty sad that even a famed wrestler like Nattie feels that Nikki is just too far up there in the ranks of women's wrestling. Of course she'd say that's all because of John Cena.

Happy WrestleMania

Leading up to WrestleMania 32 there was a little bit of tension between Nikki and Brie. Surprisingly this wasn't during any sort of feud that they had going. So far as anyone knew, they were doing fairly well as sisters. Of course that couldn't last very long. Nikki's neck injury had put her out of commission, and put Brie back into the spotlight...at least somewhat. Not to be outdone, Nikki decided to make Brie's last match all about her. Total Divas featured an epic fight where Nikki did nothing but talk about how she should be at WrestleMania. And how she didn't care that it was Brie's last match. She even left Brie crying after saying "Happy WrestleMania b*tch." Of course, the ramp up to WrestleMania wasn't all she stole. She even stole the victory from Brie, showing up to make her presence known after Brie made the win.

How Do You Like Them Apples...In The Face!

It's interesting to note that Nikki has constantly harped about how Brie always had her way as a kid. And that Brie ever had anything bad happen to her. So maybe it's a bit understandable that Nikki might get some pleasure watching her sister being humiliated. But that still makes her an ass...and it's still Nikki stealing some more thunder. There was a segment, before the two sisters started feuding, where Carlito and Primo made Nikki belly laugh, hard. How? By spitting apples in Brie's face! They were aiming for The Miz and Morrison, but that didn't stop Nikki from laughing. And it certainly didn't stop the ensuing fight between the two sisters. This was perhaps the first step into their feud. And all of the thunder belonged to Nikki...as it has since she first made her official debut in the ring.