Nikki Garcia Calls WWE’s Barmageddon Snub ‘Sad’ and ‘Disappointing’

Nikki Garcia, who wrestled for WWE under the ring name Nikki Bella, is responding to the company’s omission of her name on TV.

On the Nov. 13 edition of Raw, announcer Michael Cole referenced Blake Shelton but left out Garcia’s name during an air-promo for Barmageddon’s Season 2 premiere, prompting many to call out WWE on X (formerly Twitter).

Garcia — who hosts the game show with Shelton and Carson Daly — opened up about the snub in a recent interview with NBC Chicago, calling it “sad.”

“I think more than anything, it’s disappointing,” she explained. “I worked there for 16 years and I helped paved the way for them. Not only that, they’ve always been family to me.”

The former Divas Champion, along with her twin sister Brie, dropped the Bella name professionally in March when their WWE contract expired. Garcia last wrestled in the 2022 Royal Rumble.

“Walking away, for me, it wasn’t malicious,” she noted. “I wanted to do things without hearing the word no, and it was just strictly business. And maybe there was some personal things that had happened over the years that also pushed me towards that.”

The Barmageddon presenter added that it’s “disappointing because I don’t see it happen with the men. And for some reason with the women who are outspoken, and we’ve seen this with the women in the past, they just want to ban us.”

“It’s sad because we all look at it as family. OK, they don’t want to say my name. That’s fine. But hey, Barmageddon got a shout out! So did Blake Shelton, so that makes me happy,” she continues. “So many people at the WWE will always be family to me and I communicate with so many of them. And the WWE Universe will always be family to me, as well as my Bella Army, so I’m just so appreciative for all of you and all of us that can still live the memories.”

Garcia is a two-time Divas Champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020 alongside her sister Brie as The Bella Twins.

Currently, they co-host the reality dating show Twin Love, which premiered last Friday, Nov. 17 on Prime Video.