It’s been going on since the rumor hit last week that WWE would induct Brie & Nikki Bella into their Hall of Fame. With the official announcement last night (Feb. 22) on SmackDown, the debate about the twins is in full force.
From my vantage point, I’ve seen three main points being argued. They’ll probably continue to be argued, since they’re all correct.
The WWE Hall of Fame is just a kayfabe reward; Vince McMahon’s ultimate brass ring, achieved by earning McMahon’s friendship, respect and/or making him a lot of money
This is pretty much the trump card. We have no documented standard for a WWE Hall of Famer, not even the kind of vague statements about “impact” or “character” we get from similar entities. One person decides, for reasons he doesn’t have to share. Sometimes it’s a no brainer. Sometimes we’re left scratching our heads.
We’ll get a narrative from the company about why an inductee is deserving, and a company-selected friend, family member or colleague will support that narrative with a company-approved speech. In most cases, the list of achievements used in debating Hall-worthiness are things McMahon himself scripted.
It’s Vince’s personal club, and pretending it’s anything else is nothing but a bad reason to raise your blood pressure.
But okay, let’s look at the other arguments...
Chyna, Molly Holly, Mickie James, Sarah Amato or [fill in the blank here] should go in first
This is probably true, based on when those women wrestled if nothing else. If we were voting on this, we’d kick around their resumes, consider who they influenced, and how the business & art form changed after their heydays. Chronologically, the four names I listed - and plenty more besides - would have been discussed and almost certainly enshrined before we got to Nikki & Brie.
But, that’s not how this works. And even if it did, by the time their names came up in that hypothetical process an objective analysis would conclude...
The Bella Twins are Hall of Famers
Because of when they were signed and how they were used throughout their first run with the company, Nikki & Brie will forever be associated with an era when WWE used women’s wrestling primarily to titillate their audience. Because they to this day are more well-known for the reality empire they created with WWE’s help, there will always be questions about how much their fame is due to wrestling.
None of that matters, though. The goal of pro wrestling is to make people care about you, enough that they’re willing to part with their money in order to watch you win, lose, or just perform. The Bellas did that, and for a time did it better than any other women in WWE. Sometimes it was as heels. Sometimes as babyfaces. For some, the draw was seeing if AJ Lee or Paige could kick Nikki’s ass. For some, it was to see if Brie could outsmart Stephanie McMahon and help her husband overcome The Authority. Still others just thought it was fun when they bickered and made up on E!’s Total Divas or Total Bellas and wanted to see what they did on Raw or SmackDown.
We’ve got more than a list of high-profile storylines and kayfabe accomplishments, though. There’s a greater awareness of women’s wrestling and interest among women in wrestling now than there was fifteen years ago. Is that all due to Nikki & Brie? Of course not. But it would be equally ridiculous to say they had nothing to do with it.
The Bellas were the constants during a decade when WWE transitioned from women fighting in mud to main eventing at WrestleMania. Maybe you can’t absolutely prove it wouldn’t have happened without them. But you likewise can’t prove the opposite.
Refusing to acknowledge their role in the evolution could be due to a number of things:
- Maybe you can’t think of them as anything but the arm candy they became during their first stint in WWE. That’s only looking a part of the picture.
- Perhaps you didn’t like their ring work, or promo ability. That’s subjective, but we’ve got lots of evidence they worked hard to become the best they could in both areas.
- Could be you don’t want to acknowledge the influence of non-traditional promotional work like reality television or social media influence. That’s your prerogative, but it’s akin to sticking your head in the sand and wishing the modern world was something it’s not.
But however you arrive at it, there’s only one incorrect take on the Bellas induction in the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2020 class. And that’s saying Vince shouldn’t put them in his club. To those people, we’ll offer some advice from another person getting this nebulous honor on Thurs., April 2 in Tampa...