One day after Nikki Garcia and Brie Garcia announced that they’d be dropping the “Bella” name and going by the “Garcia twins,” they dropped the first “new chapter” episode of their re-branded podcast, The Nikki & Brie Show. The ladies kicked off the episode by opening up about the name change, and explained why they aren’t using their husbands’ last names (Chigvintsev for Nikki and Danielson for Brie) now that they’ve gotten rid of ‘Bella.’ “There’s a reason why we didn’t want to move in our next chapter with our married names,” Nikki explained. “We love our husbands and they will always have that, especially on our driver’s licenses and everything legal. But we sat and had this conversation and a lot of people were like, ‘You know, I still don’t think you say Artem’s last name right!’ That’s a real tough one!”
She added that choosing to go by “Garcia” also felt like a nice tribute to their father, who they’ve reconnected with in recent years. “Our dad, right now, is doing back flips,” Nikki gushed. “He’s super happy. Why not go back to our roots? We love our Mexican culture, so let’s go back to Garcia and how everyone knew us.”
Nikki and Brie started using the Bella name when they signed with the WWE in 2007. The moniker was inspired by their grandfather, who always called them “[my] Bellas.” Their name change comes following their decision to part ways with the WWE, which they announced on March 14. “Brie and I are almost 40, we’re going to be 40 in November,” Nikki explained. “We’re mothers, we’re entrepreneurs, we’re executive producers, we’re starring now, we’re hosting shows. So when our contracts with the WWE came up, mutually, we all knew like…we just needed to head into this next chapter.”
The twins were mainstays in the wrestling community from 2007 until 2019. In 2019, Brie announced she had retired, while Nikki was sidelined with a career-ending injury. They were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020. Although the ladies returned to the ring for the 2022 Royal Rumble, they’re wrestling days are clearly behind them, and they have plenty of other ventures to look forward to!
In addition to their podcast, Nikki and Brie also have a wine collection and lifestyle brand. Nikki is also host of the USA Network show Barmageddon. In their March 15 podcast, the sisters also teased a potential turn to reality television, as they admitted they missed sharing their lives with fans. They previously starred on the E! shows Total Divas and Total Bellas.