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Things Are Not Looking Good For Nikki Bella Ahead Of WWE WrestleMania 42

By Sridhar Krishnan • Published Apr 16, 2026 11:59 EDT
nikki bella wwe
Nikki Bella at the 2025 Clash in Paris - Source: WWE.com

A dark cloud hovers over Nikki Bella’s WrestleMania 42 appearance.

The former WWE Divas Champion is scheduled to team up with her twin sister, Brie Bella, to challenge for the Women’s Tag Team Championship, currently held by Nia Jax and Lash Legend.

The tag titles will be contested in a 4-way match with the teams of Charlotte Flair/Alexa Bliss and Bayley/Lyra Valkyria also in with a chance to become the champions.

During the March 27 taping of SmackDown, The Bella Twins faced Flair and Bliss in a tag match. The bout witnessed an outside interference from the champions, leading to Brie pinning Alexa because of the distraction.

After the match, a brawl ensued between the participants, during which Nikki Bella sustained a leg injury and was seen limping before Jax threw her out of the ring. She was not seen for the duration of the brawl due to the ringside doctor checking on her.

During one of her podcasts, Nikki claimed that her injury was minor and was wearing orthopedic boots and that she would regain full fitness ahead of WrestleMania. The women’s tag titles match is scheduled on Night 1 of The Show of Shows on April 18.

Nikki Bella Pictured In Walking Boots Ahead Of WrestleMania

Only two days remain until WrestleMania 42, with 13 matches on the card across two nights.

Meanwhile, a photo of Nikki Bella with a fan recently surfaced online, which showed her still wearing walking boots. It poses as a legitimate concern for the WWE Hall of Fame siblings, putting their appearance in jeopardy.

Media outlets that had been monitoring her progress recently revealed that WWE has a Plan B in place in case Nikki did not attain match fitness before April 18.

A report by WrestleVotes during a Q&A session revealed that the company might replace The Bella with two other female wrestlers, who could either be the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) or The Judgment Day (Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez).

On the latest episode of Raw, commentator Michael Cole provided another update, claiming that the 42-year-old was still rehabilitating, highly hoping to be ready for the match.

Elsewhere, Danhausen jokingly offered to replace Nikki in her tag title match.