The Nikki Bella Vs. Carmella Feud From 2016 Is Incredibly Underrated

Nikki Bella and Carmella are two female superstars from vastly different eras of WWE, but there was a crossover point when the pair were on the same brand and show. In 2016, Bella and Carmella came to blows in a feud which should be looked back on with much more respect than it does, with their rivalry being a very underrated part of Smackdown post-brand split in 2016, with a personal, physical, and entertaining storyline between the pair.

WWE Doesn’t Often Have Non-Title Women’s Feuds

For far too long, WWE’s women’s division was in a poor state. Branded as “Divas”, feuds between women were rarely featured, and if they were then it was usually just a Divas Championship rivalry, rather than anything more creative. Matches were incredibly short, with just a few moves and quick outcomes, with everything becoming very repetitive. In 2015, the “Women’s Revolution” began, which looked to be a move towards something better for the women of WWE.

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Nikki Bella was a big player in the transition between the Divas Era and the New Era for women in WWE, with her being a hugely popular name and a great champion. By the time the brand split had come around in 2016, Bella was winding down her time in the ring, with her appearing less and less regularly due to injuries and outside ventures. Bella had recently returned at Summerslam as a surprise member of a face team of Smackdown women, and she helped defeat the heel team, which included Carmella.

This led to Carmella truly cementing herself as a heel by ambushing Bella from behind on an episode of Smackdown. By this stage, Carmella was mostly an unknown entity amongst the main roster audience, so targeting one of the most popular women on the show was a good way to try and establish a new name recently called up from NXT. This kick-started a rivalry between the pair which was an odd case of a non-title women’s feud, something that should be the norm, but still isn’t in today’s WWE.

WWE Waited Until PPVs To Book Nikki Bella Vs Carmella

After battling each other along with other superstars in a fatal-five way to determine the inaugural Smackdown Women’s Champion, Bella and Carmella targeted each other much more, with ambushes and brawls week to week. Carmella played the role of a cocky and young rising star looking to take out one of the biggest names of the last few years to try and take her spot. It was a simple enough story, but the pair did their best to make it mean much more.

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They first faced off at No Mercy, in which Bella picked up the victory in a decent match. WWE waiting until the PPV to give fans this match was a perfect example of allowing a story to build, and not oversaturating the fans with rematches week after week, which makes the audience not want to see the match anymore. Tensions built as Carmella would attack Bella on Talking Smack, backstage, and after matches, ramping up animosity between the pair in a rivalry that wasn’t about titles, it was about protecting a spot, and taking a spot.

The Rivalry Between Bella & Carmella Was Built Over Months

No Mercy wasn’t the end of the feud, it was just another chapter. The pair remained at odds through Survivor Series, where they were scheduled to both be on Team Smackdown. Before the match, Bella was attacked and ruled out of the match. Due to their differences, Bella accused Carmella of being the one who attacked her, but even with Carmella’s protests, she kept her sights set on taking out her adversary regardless.

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Their bad blood heated up and the next step for them was a No Disqualification match at the Tables, Ladders, & Chairs PPV. Having a natural progression such as this, going from a singles match to a stipulation is how most feuds should be built. In addition, the personal animosity began to increase too, with each taking shots at the other, with Carmella notably bringing up Bella’s partner at the time, John Cena, on multiple occasions.

It was such a different move by WWE to have a long-term non-title women’s feud, with their blow-off match being full of physicality, and a real-fight feel to it, in a match that managed to hide the greenness that Carmella still had in the ring at that point. In hindsight, a downside to the feud was that Nikki Bella emerged victorious once again, but the entire program had done well in making fans familiar with Carmella, which would set her up for future success. Looking at how poorly WWE as a whole is being booked right now, with the women’s division in a mess, the Bella vs Carmella feud was much better than some of the content on WWE TV today.