Here’s What You Never Noticed About Nikki Bella & John Cena Before Their Breakup
Nikki Bella and John Cena have thrown the internet for a loop with their relationship over the last couple of months. The couple broke off their engagement in April after being together for six years, and just weeks before their wedding day. Cena said the breakup took him completely by surprise, but what other surprising moments went down during their relationship over those six years? If you didn't follow their relationship until recently, there are definitely some things you never noticed about Nikki Bella and John Cena.
Before we dive into the couple's past, this update on their relationship will give you some hope for their future. A source recently told Entertainment Tonight that Bella and Cena are actively working toward reconciliation. "Nikki Bella and John Cena are working on their relationship and taking it day by day," the source said. "They appreciate all of their fans and their continued support." Is your heart fluttering? 'Cause mine is! These two are adorable and have shown time and again that they genuinely love each other, so it's heartwarming to see them slowly but surely getting back together after watching all of the heartache that was their breakup.
Here's what you may have missed if you're just now joining the John Cena and Nikki Bella train, though:
They had their first date in 2012 after being friends for years.
They met through WWE (obviously). According to E! News, Bella detailed their first dates in a 2014 interview with WWE and she seemed absolutely smitten.
She said,
On my best first date, there was a very big, handsome man with an amazing smile and dimples. He came to my hotel and picked me up as if we were in the same city and took me to a nice steakhouse. We just talked and chatted for hours … That first one went into the second one where we just had an amazing dance in the middle of the restaurant.
They moved in together in 2013, but Cena made her sign a 75-page agreement beforehand. You know, as one does...
The agreement was a plot point in a 2016 episode of Total Bellas. In the episode, Cena told Bella's brother, J.J. Garcia, “It is like buying a handgun for home defense. It gives you a sense of security and it gives you a fail-safe in case something happens," adding, "And those who buy a handgun for self-defense pray, pray they never have to use it. Without it, it’s a dogfight. With it, it is very easy.”
Cena talked about this agreement in an interview on the Today Show in March of 2018. "I was very abrasive and stern and she had to sign this huge, crazy agreement just to come in the front door," he said, saying its original intention was “just some sort of thing where I would be protected in case of a disaster.” OK, dude. Cena said that Bella signed it immediately and it made him realize that it was an intense request of him to make. She signed it “totally without question," he said. "And it made me feel super bad," he continued, "which it should have, but it also made me realize, like, this is one young woman I should not let get out of my life because she says, ‘I’m with you because I love you, here’s proof I would still like to be here.’”
He then said that, had their wedding actually happened, he would've made Bella sign a pre-nup as well in order to protect her own success. "She is an independent woman and she has made her own money and she is proud of that and she stands for that," he said.
Throughout the next couple of years, their relationship stayed strong, but before Cena was adamant about not wanting kids, he was just as adamant about not wanting to get married. Bella pretty much had to give up the idea of getting married and having a family of her own if she wanted to be with Cena.
Then, after five years together, Cena proposed to Bella after they won a duo match at Wrestlemania 33.
Cena said, “I have been waiting so long to ask you this. Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace, will you marry me?" She said yes immediately.
Once he put a ring on it, one of the two biggest relationship struggles in their relationship was solved. They were getting married after Cena said for years that he wouldn't, but there was still no improvement on the baby front.
In the season premiere of Total Bellas on Sunday, May 20, Brie Bella called Nikki Bella out for making such massive sacrifices for Cena just because she was happy he finally proposed.
Bella said to her sister that she made so many huge sacrifices in order to be with Cena (giving up her dream of being a mother), but Cena barely made any sacrifices equal to hers. And she wasn't wrong.
Nikki Bella told Us Weekly in 2017 that she did “a lot of therapy” in order to come to terms with the fact that being with Cena meant not being a mom. She thought she had successfully come to terms with it, but then Brie Bella had a daughter, Birdie, and everything changed.
In the Total Bellas episode documenting the moment Bella and Cena decided to call off their wedding, Bella said through tears that the upcoming wedding date made everything too real.
She said in the episode,
For some reason, since Birdie's been born and I've spent a lot of time with Birdie, it's just brought up these feelings of really wanting to be a mom and I thought I could really sacrifice that and I just can't.
She said she had been pushing her reservations to the side, and Cena said he didn't want her to have to do that. That's when they called the whole thing off.
In an appearance on the Today Show on May 14, Cena took back everything he said about not wanting kids and said he wants to be the father of Bella's children.
He said,
I had my heart broken out of nowhere … or for me it was out of nowhere. Anyone who has experienced that knows it comes with a series of bad feelings … I love her. I want to be with her. I want to make her my wife. I want to be the father of her children. I just want us to work.
In an exclusive interview with Elite Daily not long after Cena revealed his newfound desire to have kids, Bella said the revelation hadn't "sunken in" yet. "It still hasn't sunken in," she said. "I think it's because I've still been in New York, so it's more of a numb feeling." Well, it has definitely sunken in now, seeing as Cena is all about having kids and Bella is all about working on getting back together with him.
In an interview with TMZ on June 3, Cena said he realized his workaholic attitude made him miss out on a lot of life and he's now had a change of heart and wants to be a parent. He said,
I would love to be a dad. I realize very much that I have been steadfast in saying that I don’t want children. But I’m a little bit older now, a bit wiser. At age 18, we say things different at age 25, at 35. I would love it only because I dedicated my life to my work and now I’m realizing that there is life and life exists and it’s beautiful and I think part of that is being a parent, so we’ll see.
As of right now, Nikki Bella and John Cena are reportedly back together, but no wedding is in sight just yet. What a drama this has been.
