The Real Origin Of Nikki Bella’s Fearless Lock Revealed; Not John Cena
Nikki Bella reveals the origin of her Fearless Lock.
On the December 29 edition of Monday Night RAW, Nikki Bella faced Raquel Rodriguez and Stephanie Vaquer in a triple threat match with the WWE World Women’s Championship on the line. Vaquer won the bout to retain her belt.
At one point in the match, Nikki Bella performed a submission move, which looked a lot like STF (her ex-boyfriend John Cena’s submission maneuver). This led the fans to chant Cena’s name during the match.
Shayna Baszler “Gave” Nikki Bella The Fearless Lock
On the latest episode of the Nikki and Brie podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer clarified that the move she pulled out of her arsenal wasn’t an STF; instead, it was Fearless Lock, which she learned from Shayna Baszler.
She said:
“I think people forgot, not everyone, but I used to do the Fearless Lock. Yes, it was during a period of time when John and I were together, but the Fearless Lock is different from his submission, it really is.
He lays on top of people and grabbing the front face. The Fearless Lock is a legit submission Shayna (Baszler) gave me. We named it the Fearless Lock because of Fearless Nikki and coming back from my broken neck, I was training a lot with Nattie, Shayna, and Bayley at the PC.
I went to an MMA place with Shayna, and she was teaching me legitimate moves. I said, ‘I want to come back from this broken neck with a submission.’ She showed me this and she’s like, ‘Its not at all what John’s is.’ I get the step in makes peole think that, but I’m on the side and how I lock in, you see it.
You’re yanking the person back. Raquel was the first person I did it on over six feet tall and it looks a lot different. It felt different. I wasn’t expecting anything with John so when they start chanting, ‘Thank you Cena,’ the old Nikki came alive, ‘Thank me!’ I loved it.