Since coming back to World Wrestling Entertainment, Nikki Bella has had quite a lot of interactions with Stephanie Vaquer. She originally mispronounced her name when putting Vaquer over as one of the top talents on the roster these days, and was eventually paired up with her on several occasions, with a friendship brewing over having each other's backs.
In typical WWE fashion, the moment Bella told Vaquer that having the Women's World Championship would paint a target on Vaquer's back, the clock was ticking for the eventual heel turn when Bella would take her shot at the champion and try to position herself in that spot again.
That inevitable turn took place on tonight's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw (November 10, 2025—click here for full results of this episode).
In recent weeks, Vaquer and Bella have been at odds with The Judgment Day. Bella apologized recently for losing a tag team match which ultimately awarded Raquel Rodriguez a shot at the title, which was tonight's focal point.
Vaquer retained the title over Rodriguez and was immediately jumped from behind by Roxanne Perez, who was then swiftly dealt with by both Vaquer and Bella.
Then, Bella grabbed the Women's World Championship title belt and hit Vaquer from behind, posing over her now former friend to make a statement that she's clearly coming for the title.
The last time Nikki Bella held gold in WWE was September 20, 2015, when she lost the WWE Divas Championship to Charlotte Flair at WWE Night of Champions. Bella had set a new record with 301 days as champion. Flair would retire that Divas Championship at WrestleMania, when it returned to the WWE Women's Championship. Since then, several other women have held title reigns longer (such as Bayley's 380 days with the SmackDown Women's Championship, Bianca Belair's 420 days as Raw women's champion, and Asuka's 510 days as NXT women's champion).
A little over 10 years after losing her title, Bella clearly wants to get back on top of the totem pole.
Author's POV:
This was something I figured was pending. Overall, it's the right call. Bella is still popular, and there aren't a lot of options WWE is willing to push right now, for whatever reason. A one-off match between these two where Vaquer wins will do more for her than if they would have continued teaming, and Bella getting a title shot keeps her relevant when others could be passing her by.