Nikki Bella (née Garcia) and John Cena split back in 2018, but wrestling fans certainly haven’t forgotten about the former couple’s high-profile relationship.
The pair crossed paths on Monday night while appearing on WWE Raw, making it the second time in almost eight years that they’ve been around each other.
While both Garcia and Cena have moved on since their brutal breakup, they both coincidentally returned to WWE this year.
And on this week’s episode of Netflix’s Raw, Garcia received a blast from the past when she was heckled by the audience over her ex.
The 41-year-old was leaving the ring after Stephanie Vaquer defended her WWE Women’s Championship against Raquel Rodriguez when the crowd started chanting, ‘Cena left you!’
Nikki Bella was mocked with chants of ‘Cena left you!’ on Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, which her ex-fiance John Cena also appeared on
The brunette bombshell didn’t let it get her down, confidently flipping her hair as she strutted back to the stage and made her exit.
The backlash shocked a lot of wrestling fans on social media, with one prominent fan account posting to X, ‘This crowd is diabolical!’
Other wrestling fans pointed out that it was actually Nikki who left Cena.
‘Well Nikki left Cena and he was asking for her back in live TV but whatever narrative helps them sleep I guess,’ commented one.
‘This is kind of weird because she literally broke up with him on camera and he wanted her back and she broke up with him twice… How is he gonna leave somebody that left him first?’ wrote a second.
A third added, ‘She was the one that broke things off due to John not wanting to be a dad or have kids.’
Garcia and Cena started dating in 2012 and got engaged in 2017, with plans to marry the following year.
However, Garcia called things off a month before the wedding, leaving Cena devastated.
Garcia and Cena started dating in 2012 and got engaged in 2017, with plans to marry the following year, but Garcia ended up calling off the wedding
Their split was documented on Garcia’s E! reality series Total Bellas.
Shortly after the split, Cena went on the Today show with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb and professed his love for Garcia.
‘I love her,’ he said. ‘I want to be with her. I want to make her my wife. I want to be the father of her children. I just want us to work.’
His public admission of wanting to have children with Garcia was a surprise, as his dedication to not becoming a father was one of the key reasons that the couple split in the first place.
Back in June, Garcia recalled reuniting with her ex-fiance for the first time since calling off their engagement.
The former couple had crossed paths at the 2025 Royal Rumble in early February ‘seven [or] eight years’ after they had last seen each other.
‘It was very quick,’ Garcia expressed on the Honestly Cavallari podcast, adding that it had been so out of ‘respect’ since the fellow pro wrestler, 48, is a ‘married man’ now.
Cena tied the knot with Iranian engineer Shay Shariatzadeh in 2020.
Nikki moved on with her Dancing with the Stars partner Artem Chigvintsev, but the couple later split in September, 2024
The 41-year-old welcomed a child with Artem after her split with Cena, who famously did not want to have children with her
‘I was in a circle talking to people. He came to [shake] everyone’s hand. He shook my hand,’ Nikki said.
Host Kristin Cavallari told Garcia that she was surprised they did not hug which prompted the TV personality to affirm that it had only been a handshake.
‘We just said, “Hello, good to see you. I think last time we were engaged. I don’t know. It’s been a while,”‘ Garcia remembered.
‘But the thing was, when he walked away, all the girls were like, “Oh my gosh.” I’m like, “Shh, shh, He’s married, be respectful.” And that was it.’
While the interaction was brief, Nikki expressed that it had been ‘nice’ and added, ‘It was great because breaking the ice and you know, we just both happened to be back at the same time. It’s a good feeling.’
Nikki and John first began dating in 2012 but it later emerged that Cena had made her sign an alleged 75-page contract before they moved in together.
Some of the bizarre demands included her ‘being a “guest” in his home’ and that they both have the ‘same morning and evening routine.’
Cena tied the knot with Iranian engineer Shay Shariatzadeh in 2020
Five years into their relationship, John got down on one knee and popped the big question to Garcia – during WrestleMania 33 in 2017.
At the time, he had announced in front of the crowd: ‘I have been waiting so long to ask you this. Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace, will you marry me?’
She said yes to the proposal, which resulted in the audience in the venue to let out excited cheers.
However the following year, the pair split and ended their engagement. Their wedding had already been scheduled for May 2018 which was canceled.
In a joint statement at the time, per Us Weekly, Nikki and John expressed: ‘While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another. We ask that you respect our privacy during this time in our lives.’
Not long after the split, the two stars reunited but officially ended the relationship in July 2018.
‘After I called off the engagement, we tried to work on our relationship to get back to where it was in order to move forward with our wedding,’ she told Us Weekly.
‘After much time and soul-searching alone, and together, we have decided to officially part ways. I had a beautiful and loving six-year relationship with a wonderful man. I have the utmost respect for John, but I know this is what’s best for me.’
Garcia and Cena are pictured in March, 2018, shortly before calling off their wedding
In her 2020 memoir, Incomparable, she got candid about their separation and wrote they both she and Cena had ‘struggled to align.’
‘Rather than turn and face that, I pushed it under the carpet and figured I could pretend like it wasn’t there. Because I was terrified of losing my love, I stuffed my desire for marriage and kids as deep as I could.’
In regards to children, she added, ‘He had made it clear that they weren’t on the menu for him.
‘That’s tough, though, because if you’re inclined that way, then the more you grow to love someone, the more you want it all.’
Garcia went on to welcome her son Matteo, four, with ex Artem Chigvintsev in July 2020.
The pair first crossed paths when he was her partner on Dancing With The Stars – and they later tied the knot in 2022.
However, after just two years of marriage, the two went through a public divorce which took place not long after he had been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in Napa County. No charges were filed.
