Bellas talk about Cena & Bryan's influence on their career, their feud, more

The Bellas made for great mascots at the Super Bowl

During the Super Bowl 49 weekend, The Bella twins spoke with the International Business Times in Phoenix. Below are some highlights:

How would you compare you careers in WWE now to before the start of “Total Divas”?

Nikki Bella: Our careers are the best they’ve ever been. I’m really enjoying the title reign I have right now. I hope it continues for a very long time and I hope I can do things in the Divas division that will always be remembered. “Total Divas” has given all the divas a different platform to let the world know who we really are and all the hard work we put in, not only into being a diva, but how we actually put hard work into our personal lives because we travel so much. And it’s just nice to take the WWE divas more mainstream. I definitely have to say I’m grateful for my career right now.

John (Cena) has also helped me take it to the next level. He has shown me the strength that I had inside me that I never knew. When I got into weightlifting I always was the girl (thinking) “weightlifting’s going to make me big and fat.” It gave me the strength that I’ve never seen and I took that to the ring. John has really helped me, not only with my psychology in the ring and telling better stories, but just showing off my strength and the strength that I’ve always had inside me and never showcased.

Brie Bella: In the last two years, Nikki and I have definitely seen our careers really step up, compared to the past, and I do give a lot of credit to “Total Divas.” I think the thing with “Total Divas” is that everyone truly got to see how different we were, which helped showcase singles careers in WWE, which is something we always wanted. 2014 was a really big year for me because I was able to go into a storyline with Stephanie McMahon, and the WWE Divas championship wasn’t part of that, but for me it was the biggest story I’ve ever been a part of in my whole entire career. I’ve just had a lot of really high moments, so right now we’re really enjoying our time with WWE, trying to stay on top and hoping we’re going to keep killing it.

Did your feud with each other go the way in which you wanted it?

Nikki: I really enjoyed where the story started. There was nothing better than having that turning moment on Brie at SummerSlam against Stephanie McMahon. Brie and her had such a great buildup, they had such a great story and I loved the start of our story. I feel like we didn’t get a chance to end our story. Unfortunately, we didn’t end it, and I wanted to go so much longer with it and I felt like we could do so much more. I truly enjoyed my pay-per-view match against Brie. We have a bond that you just can’t create. We’re born with it and we had this magic in the ring. We had great chemistry, and I wish we could’ve done a lot more. I was really enjoying our feud and the people were. It was hard for some people to watch because it’s like “Nikki’s so mean.” It was just fun and I think why it was hard for people too is because it’s (like) real life. People get interested in moments with their siblings. I wish we went longer, and I wish we could’ve finished the story. I think Brie needed to do something to me because I was just so mean to her.

Brie: It was a lot of fun to be working with my sister and to go from Stephanie McMahon to my own sister was great. And the nice thing is we all have a really good friendship with Stephanie. I have onewith my sister, and I think you go out and there and you make magic. And after we’d be done in the ring we’d go backstage and whether you’re crying or hugging, you just let it all out and we’re like “OK I didn’t mean that.” So that’s the great thing about having your sister in the story with you.

How have John Cena and Daniel Bryan helped you improve in the ring?

Brie: I give a lot of credit to my husband. When we first started dating a little over four years ago, we would go to the ring early and it would be one on one. He’d be like “I know you can do this, do that,” and he was never easy on me. It was like “No Brie, do it 100 times.” And he watches all my matches and when I come back he’s like “You need to work on this, this and this.”

I love watching Japanese wrestling, and then Bryan will be like “Watch this” or “See this.” He’s taken me higher than the next level. He’s taken me 10 levels up and in such an enjoyable way, and I just learned so much. And the thing is my husband wants the best for me and he knows all my strengths. So he really showcases that. And I feel like the same for Nikki.

Nikki: I used to love wrestling Beth Phoenix, and I loved everything Beth Phoenix did in the ringbecause it was like, “Goodness. That beautiful woman is so strong.” And I feel like we kind of missed out on that. We don’t have any of our powerhouses, so I when was starting to squat more and more and really realize my strength, I was like “I want to be that strong girl in the ring.” I’ll never be what Beth Phoenix was. She has strength that is just unheard of and I can’t compete with her strength. I just couldn’t, but I’m almost there. So John and I would talk and he would say “You have to bring that strength to the ring. Be that powerhouse. Start thinking of moves.” And I just started watching all this footage and (thinking) “What are the powerhouse things I could start doing to the girls and what can I start practicing?”

So he totally inspired me and motivated me, and then when I was enjoying the stuff and the reactions, it made me want to do more and more powerhouse things. It’s unfortunate because right now I have a strained hamstring, and when you try to do powerhouse stuff with a strained hamstring you just can’t, and I had to keep my arsenal very basic at the (Royal Rumble) PPV because I can’t squat. I can’t lift anyone up. So that’s when it sucks when you know powerhouse stuff and you’re injured. But I totally took his weightlifting and brought that into the ring.