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I'm sure some grown men will be shedding a few tears tonight, as everyone's favourite set of WWE twins, Brie and Nikki Bella, look set to be leaving the company very soon. Rumours of their impending departure started swirling last night when Dave Meltzer reported that they had agreed to appear at a non-WWE autograph signing convention next month and were being billed as former WWE stars:
Brianna & Nicole Garcia, the Bella Twins in WWE, are doing an autograph show on 5/19 at Frank & Sons in the City of Industry, CA. They are being advertised as "Brianna and Nichole, formerly The Bella Twins in WWE." We also got word of a convention in New Jersey that has them booked although is not advertising it yet and WWE talent is not allowed at their events.
The timing is odd, as the twins recently became a favourite act of Vince McMahon's and had urged his creative team to give them more television time and make them more of a priority. Indeed, just last week Nikki beat WWE Divas champion Beth Phoenix in a non-title match thanks to a distraction from Kelly Kelly, so this decision likely came as something of a shock to WWE management.
Meltzer later updated his original story to confirm that the Bellas' contracts are about to expire and it looks unlikely that they'll sign a new deal:
According to someone with familiarity with the story, The Bella Twins' contract expires in a few weeks and they are choosing not to sign a new deal. They have not been released, but as of right now have not signed a new deal.
Personally I don't think it will be a great loss to the promotion if they left. Although they are undoubtedly pretty, the twins gimmick had run its course and neither of them are good in ring workers or charismatic speakers. There are plenty of other women who could easily fill their current spot as eye candy in backstage vignettes.