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Nikki and Brie Bella Officially Leave WWE, Change Their Names

Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

Nikki and Brie Bella are officially leaving WWE and ditching the “Bella Twins” moniker along with the exit.

The WWE Hall of Fame duo shared this news via their podcast, as transcribed by E! News. Nikki and Brie are now going by their birth surname Garcia and will be known as “The Garcia Twins.”

Both Nikki and Brie expressed their appreciation for their time as the Bella Twins in WWE. They signed with the wrestling entertainment giant in 2007 and made their first “main roster” appearance on SmackDown in 2008.

“When our contract came up with WWE, mutually, we all knew we just needed to head into this new chapter,” said Nikki. Brie added, “I am so excited to close that chapter on Brie Bella, put that book to the side and open up a new one—and see what Brie Garcia is gonna do next.”

Nikki and Brie each held the WWE Diva Championship. Brie won the title once, and Nikki won it twice, including a 301-day reign, the longest in the title’s history. Nikki and Brie were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2020 class.

Royal Rumble: 5 Surprising Statistics You May Not Know

The 2023 Royal Rumble is tomorrow (January 28), and it marks the official kickoff of WrestleMania season aka: “The Road to WrestleMania.”

There’s ample speculation abound for the men’s and women’s Rumble matches, from who’s going to win to surprise appearances. However, the Royal Rumble card has other attractions. For example, Kevin Owens will take on Roman Reigns in a match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Bianca Beliar will defend the Raw Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss. We’ll also find out what exactly a “Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match” is when Bray Wyatt and LA Knight face off.

With this in mind, we’re looking at the history of the match/event. Thanks to research from Wrestling-World.com, here are some surprising statistics about the Royal Rumble you may not know.

  • The Most Viewed Royal Rumble Match on YouTube

    WWE’s YouTube channel is full of videos about current events in the promotion as well as archival matches. Several Royal Rumble matches are available to watch in their entirety. So, which Royal Rumble match has the most views? It’s the men’s match from 2017, which has over 128 million views and was won by Randy Orton.

  • The Wrestler with the Most Appearances in the Royal Rumble

    The Royal Rumble match has existed since 1988, meaning many past and present WWE superstars have made multiple appearances. But which wrestler has been in the Royal Rumble the most? That’s gotta be Kane…and Isaac Yankem…and Fake Diesel! Glenn Jacobs, the current Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, was best known as Kane in WWE, but before he became the Big Red Machine, he was the creepy dentist Isaac Yankem DDS and the infamous Fake Diesel. Between all three personas, Jacobs has appeared in 20 Royal Rumble matches.

  • The Wrestler with the Most Royal Rumble Victories

    Eight wrestlers have won the Royal Rumble twice: Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, Batista, John Cena, Randy Orton and Edge. However, there is only one wrestler that has won the Rumble three times making him the wrestler with the most victories. If you knew that wrestler was “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, give us a “Hell Yeah!”

    Austin won the Royal Rumble in 1997, 1998 and 2001. The entire 1997 Rumble match is below in its entirety.

  • Which Wrestler Has the Longest Cumulative Time Spent in the Royal Rumble?

    Sure, winning the Royal Rumble is impressive, but so is managing to stay in the match for long periods of time. In the three+ decades of its existence, Chris Jericho has logged a cumulative time of 4 hours, 59 minutes and 33 seconds in the Royal Rumble match. With Jericho now with AEW, he’s certainly not going to be adding more time to that total any time soon. (If he did, that would truly be one of the most shocking appearances in Rumble history.)

    Just behind Jericho is Randy Orton with a cumulative time of 4 hours, 34 minutes and 33 seconds in the Royal Rumble match. Orton has been out with a back injury since May 2022, but there are no signs of him returning. Then again, anything can happen during WrestleMania season.

  • Which Wrestler Has the Most Career Eliminations in the Royal Rumble?

    Considering he’s been in the most Royal Rumble matches, Glenn Jacobs (Kane/Isaac Yankem DDS/Fake Diesel) has the most over-the-top-rope eliminations in the match with 46. In the 2001 Royal Rumble alone, Kane eliminated 11 entrants. It was a record that stood for 13 years until Roman Reigns broke it in 2014 with 12 eliminations. Braun Strowman went on to eliminate 13 entrants in the special “Greatest Royal Rumble” event in Saudi Arabia in 2018, which featured 50 instead of 30 entrants. Brock Lesnar is the current recognized single-match elimination record holder. He eliminated 13 entrants in the 2020 Royal Rumble.

Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights

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Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter
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