WWE legends Bella Twins "pass the torch" to Cavinder Twins: The TikTok sensations & NIL earners unite with wrestling Hall of Famers on social media

The Cavinder Twins, Hanna and Hailey, were riding high with an Elite Eight appearance for the Miami Hurricanes when they made a shocking pivot: From college basketball to the ring with WWE.

Last week, the duo got the blessings of former star turns, the Garcia (Bella) Twins, Brie and Nikki, who formally passed the torch to the new twins on the block.

The Cavinder Twins posted a video on their popular shared TikTok channel with the caption, “When the Bella Twins passed the torch to us,” using the name the Garcia Twins competed under in the WWE.

The video shows the Garcia Twins appearing alongside the Cavinders and dancing together. The TikTok video was taken during the recent ESPY Awards in Los Angeles.

The Cavinder Twins signed a NIL deal with the WWE in December 2021 while still being Fresno State athletes, which put them on a different career path from basketball.

Writing for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer floated the idea that the Cavinders had been tapped up as Bella Twins' replacements years ago.

"Both were being looked at as recruits by WWE prior to the NIL program with the idea of the success of the Bella Twins. They are currently juniors at the school. Both are 5-foot-6, and you can see that looks are part of it, but they are real top tier athletes," Meltzer wrote.

Hanna and Hailey started inviting the comparisons with the Bella Twins early in May when they appeared in Jake Paul's podcast "Bs w/ Jake Paul" and proclaimed, “the next Bella Twins, for sure.”

They made their first appearance at WWE NXT when they carried around the Women's title winner, Thea Hail.

View on TikTok

While the Cavinders have not appeared in any matches just yet, they have been in training at WWE's Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

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The era of the Cavinder Twins

The NIL era has opened up a multitude of avenues for student-athletes, and the Cavinder Twins have carved out their own path.

Hanna and Hailey Cavinder's decision to forego their extra year of eligibility in favor of branching out to other avenues was widely criticized at the time. It turns out that they had a well-defined plan all along.

Aside from their NIL deal with the WWE, the Cavinder Twins have signed several lucrative deals with famous brands. Some of their brand partnerships include Raising Cane's, Venmo, GoPuff, Crocs and Champs Sports.

They have taken advantage of their immense popularity on social media, where they have 4.2 million TikTok followers, to become some of the highest-earning student-athletes.