What you loved:
- Improvement - This would be the word of the day for Nikki. She was able to solidify her current heel gimmick, and made some solid strides in the ring. For those who don't agree, pow!
- Gimmick - Finally, there is some separation between the twins! Nikki has become a powerhouse alpha mean girl, and plays the role almost too well.
- Finisher - The Rack Attack; great name, great finisher for Nikki.
- Semi-Hoss - Not quite on Natalya or Beth Phoenix level of hoss-ness, but she's very close.
- Best Year - Considering all her pros and cons, 2014 was the year of Nikki.
Best comment comes via Outsider4Life:
"I must say that a lot of my friends that do not watch wrestling love her on Total Divas. They buy her shirts and ask me to show them her matches and story lines. When I went to meet Dean Ambrose, a couple of my friends came with me just to meet the Bellas. (Crazy, right?!) She’s very engaging and a complete person on her show and that would never be shown on RAW, SmackDown, etc."
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What you loathed:
- Mic - With slight improvements, she's still rough on the mic. The way she talks is just strange with awkward voice inflections.
- "Died in the womb" - Yikes, what a horrible thing to say to their sibling.
- Bella Feud - This could have gone better, but honestly Brie brought this feud down quite a bit with her acting skills. The Jerry Springer segment was terrible, and they never had a proper conclusion. Brie ended up just going back to being okay with Nikki after being her personal assistant, what?!
- Average Skills - Even with her improvements, she still is below most of the women in NXT. Possibly has reached her ceiling.
- Mean Girl - The downside of her gimmick are the childish antics she employs; use of hair spray and stealing clothes from her opponents.
Best comment comes via Vidence:
"Being one the best female workers on the main roster is not the highest level of praise, she’s still leagues behind the Big Four from NXT. Her "high school mean girl" character is unfortunately one of the only speeds WWE knows with their women’s division. It’s a shame too, because in a functional women’s division with lots of ladies with different characters, it wouldn’t be bad, because the Bellas actually fit that trope well, rather than just being forced into it by circumstances. Her heeling still needs a bit of work. She’s improving, but it’s still largely artifice, in the sense that she’s learning how to do heelish things in ring, but not yet fully understanding when and why to do them to build heat for the matches. She’s getting there, but still needs some work."
On to the poll! With 445 votes, Nikki Bella's average score is 3.3, last year she received a 2.6
Thanks, Cagesiders! Tomorrow's pick is better at not being a champion.
Until then!