Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace, better known by her ring name Nikki Bella or simply Nikki Garcia, stands as a multifaceted icon in professional wrestling, television, and entrepreneurship.
Born on November 21, 1983, in San Diego, California, and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, she grew up on a family farm tending to animals alongside her identical twin sister Brie and younger brother JJ.
Of Mexican and Italian descent, Nikki’s path pivoted toward modeling and acting after college, landing her a spot on the reality show Meet My Folks and subsequent commercial gigs that highlighted her striking physique and charisma.
Her entry into wrestling came in 2007 when she and Brie signed with WWE, debuting as The Bella Twins and captivating audiences with their synchronized athleticism and signature “Twin Magic” switches.
Beyond the squared circle, Nikki has navigated high-profile romances, including an engagement to John Cena that captivated fans worldwide and a marriage to dancer Artem Chigvintsev from 2022 to 2024, with whom she shares a son, Matteo, born in 2020.
Today, at 41, Nikki balances motherhood, her wine label Belle Radici, and a triumphant WWE return in 2025, where she reclaimed the Bella moniker at Royal Rumble.
Siblings
Nikki has an identical twin sister, Brianna Monique Garcia-Colace, known professionally as Brie Bella or Brie Garcia, and their younger brother Jonathan Garcia Jr., affectionately called JJ.
Born just 16 minutes apart on November 21, 1983, Nikki and Brie shared a childhood steeped in farm life in Scottsdale, Arizona, where they navigated the turbulence of their parents Jon and Kathy’s acrimonious divorce.
The sisters’ synchronicity extended far beyond the ring, co-authoring the 2020 memoir Incomparable to unpack their hardships, from Brie’s heartbreaking loss of her teenage boyfriend to their collective triumphs in motherhood—both welcoming sons within days of each other in 2020 and 2021.
JJ, the grounded younger sibling who has largely stayed out of the spotlight, resides in Phoenix with his wife Lola and their children, occasionally appearing on Total Bellas to offer familial levity amid the glamour.
Yet, shadows linger from revelations of Jon’s infidelity and a second family in Mexico, including half-siblings Alexia and Ezequiel, whom Nikki and Brie have distanced themselves from publicly.
Career
Bella’s odyssey in professional wrestling ignited in June 2007 when she and twin sister Brie inked developmental contracts with WWE, landing in Florida Championship Wrestling where they honed their craft through bikini contests and battles against talents like Katie Lea Burchill, debuting on SmackDown in August 2008 with Brie’s surprise victory over Victoria that unveiled their revolutionary “Twin Magic” ploy of mid-match switches.
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As The Bella Twins, they dazzled in tag team skirmishes against duos like Victoria and Natalya, evolving from valets to in-ring forces amid storylines laced with romance and rivalry, including flirtations with The Miz and John Morrison that sparked intergender chaos and a heel turn for Nikki in 2009.
Drafted to Raw in April 2009, the duo managed Daniel Bryan—Brie’s future husband—before pursuing solo paths, with Nikki capturing her first WWE Divas Championship on April 23, 2012, in a surprise cash-in on then-champion Brie, igniting a sibling feud that peaked at Hell in a Cell 2014.
Her pinnacle arrived at Survivor Series 2014, dethroning AJ Lee to embark on a record-shattering 301-day reign as the longest-reigning Divas Champion, defending against Paige, Naomi, and others while headlining the 2015 all-women’s main event on Raw alongside Team PCB against Team B.A.D. and Paige.
Health hurdles mounted, a fractured tibia in 2013, neck surgery in 2016, and a brain cyst forcing her 2019 retirement, but Nikki’s ambassador role kept her woven into WWE fabric, culminating in sporadic returns like confronting Ronda Rousey at Evolution 2018 and a 2021 WrestleMania tag team triumph with Brie.
Transitioning to television, she executive-produced and starred in Total Divas from 2013 and its 2016 spin-off Total Bellas, blending wrestling drama with personal milestones like her WrestleMania 33 proposal from Cena.
Post-2023 contract expiration, the sisters rebranded as The Garcia Twins, but Nikki’s 2025 Royal Rumble comeback under the Bella name reignited her fire, competing at Monday Night Raw and Evolution while hosting Barmageddon and voicing roles in animations like The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown, her entrepreneurial flair shining through wine launches and YouTube channels that amassed over a million subscribers.
Accolades
Bella’s legacy gleams with a pantheon of honors that chronicle her ascent from developmental prospect to women’s wrestling vanguard, headlined by her status as a two-time WWE Divas Champion with the distinction of the title’s longest reign at 301 days from 2014 to 2015, a feat that etched her name in history books and earned her the inaugural top spot in Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Female 50 in November 2015.
Her in-ring prowess garnered two Slammy Awards for Diva of the Year, first shared with Brie in 2013 and then solo in 2015, while Rolling Stone crowned her Diva of the Year in December 2015, affirming her as the era’s preeminent female performer.
The Teen Choice Awards bestowed Choice Female Athlete upon the twins in 2016, capping a banner year that included nominations in 2015 and spotlighted their crossover stardom.
Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020 alongside Brie as The Bella Twins, Nikki’s influence extended to judging the 2013 Miss USA pageant and presenting at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards, while her digital footprint hit a milestone with the YouTube Gold Creator Award in 2018 for surpassing one million subscribers on their channel.
Nominated for the Queen of Swag at the 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards, she joined luminaries like Serena Williams, and her executive producing on Total Divas and Total Bellas not only sustained high ratings but amplified women’s narratives in entertainment.
Business triumphs include launching Belle Radici wines in 2017, and her 2025 WWE resurgence at Royal Rumble reinforced her timeless impact.
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