With five weeks remaining for WWE Evolution 2025, Nikki Bella returned on the June 9 episode of WWE Raw in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, at the PHX Arena. She first appeared on the show in a backstage segment, where she met Natalya Neidhart, Maxxine Dupri, and Women’s World Champion IYO SKY.
Moving on, Nikki Bella appeared in front of the WWE Raw fans, stepping inside the ring in a thunderous reaction from them, with the social media buzzing about her return to kick off a storyline for the all-women PLE scheduled in July. As such, this comeback occurred almost a decade after she entered a partial retirement phase due to a neck injury, and it has been special for several reasons.
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WWE Raw: Nikki Bella shared a special moment with hometown fans
Despite her return ending on a bitter note, Nikki Bella was thrilled to be back on WWE Raw, explaining that she was impressed with WWE’s backstage environment. As expected, the two-time Divas Champion was proud to come back to her home in the WWE in a special moment that she could share with her hometown audience in Phoenix, making it a full-circle moment.
“They were just incredible, they were on fire.” Nikki Bella recalled her experience from WWE Raw on The Nikki & Brie Show podcast.
“It was a full circle moment … there was just already so much love and then I have to say Brie, like that backstage is so awesome — it’s really fun, it’s peaceful, it’s just really nice, it just feels calm … everyone is just super happy, what it is, it’s a positive environment. Everyone’s really uplifting of each other, everyone really supports and motivates each other and I don’t think it always was that way.” (quotes courtesy Wrestling INC)
Upon arriving in the ring on WWE Raw, the elder Bella praised the bright young talents on the roster alongside the veteran ones, but missed Liv Morgan’s name. This led the reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team to take issue with it as she came out and dropped Bella with an Ob-Liv-Ion finisher. This segment will likely set up a big match at the 2025 edition of WWE Evolution PLE.