Nikki Bella is one of the most recognizable female athletes in WWE right now and has been in WWE for more than a decade with both stints added together.

She is a former two-time Divas Champion and is dating Face of the Company: John Cena. She is also the face of Total Divas and Total Bellas and has shown signs of improvement to her in-ring work in recent months.

Nikki and her sister Brie have become the faces of the Women's Division over the past few years and Nikki has managed to recover from career-threatening neck surgery over the past year to now be one of the most popular Superstars on the SmackDown roster.

Like every other wrestler, Nikki has a past. She has many things that have happened in her career that she is not proud of and many things that WWE do not want to remember about her. Here are some of the biggest things that WWE want the WWE Universe to forget about the former Bella Twin.

15 15. The Truth Behind Nikki's Longest Reigning Divas Championship Run

via bellatwins.org

Nikki is the longest reigning Divas Champion in WWE History. That is something no one can ever take away from the Total Divas star, especially now that the championship has officially been retired.

Nikki Bella didn't get this record reign because of her improving in-ring style, though. Instead it seems that WWE still held a grudge after AJ Lee left the company back in 2015 and decided that they wanted to remove her name from the history books. Basically, Nikki was just a small part of an even bigger story, one that WWE doesn't want the fans to ever get their hands on. A story that shows just how petty the world's biggest wrestling promotion can really be when it comes to superstars deciding to retire from the company prematurely.

14 14. "I Wish You Died In The Womb"

via wwe.com

Nikki and Brie Bella were part of a feud back in 2014 that was somewhat embarrassing and completely unneeded. Nikki turned on her sister at SummerSlam as part of the feud between Brie and Stephanie McMahon and this then led to a lengthy personal rivalry.

As part of the rivalry, Nikki shared stories about Brie in a segment called 'Growing Up Bella' and talked about her life growing up as Brie's twin sister. There was then even a WWE version of the Jerry Springer show where Brie and Nikki along with their brother JayJay were forced to talk to each other under mediation. It was part of this segment Nikki uttered the words 'I wish you died in the womb.' Perhaps the most shocking phrase that has ever spoken in a WWE ring.

13 13. Face/Heel Turns

via pinterest.com

Nikki Bella is currently a face Superstar on the SmackDown roster. The problem is, it hasn't always been this straight forward for the former Bella Twin. Nikki turned heel on her sister at SummerSlam in 2014, as part of the feud between Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella. This then led to a feud with Brie where she remained a heel. But then Brie turned heel to partner her when she kissed AJ Lee and helped her sister win the Divas Championship in record time.

The Bellas were then heels for a while until Naomi turned heel and suddenly without warning, The Bellas were face again. No one knew if Team Bella were face or heel as part of the Diva's Revolution, which just adds more confusion to the entire thing.

12 12. Wardrobe Malfunctions

via wrestling-online.com

There isn't a person in the WWE Universe at this point that haven't seen Nikki or Brie's body parts, accidentally. Both Nikki and Brie have been the subject of nip slips on WWE TV, with them both happening on live shows. So the company couldn't do anything to cover it up.

Nikki's chest fell out of her top following her Four-on-One Handicap match on Monday Night Raw back in 2014. WWE have managed to blank this out on many of the YouTube uploads of the incident, but eagle-eyed WWE fans managed to take a video or photo from the live show and share it all online before WWE could stop them. Her sister had already flashed her chest at the WWE Universe when she was part of a sit-down interview back in 2013 when the original cast members were promoting Total Divas first episode.

11 11. The Worst Feud Of 2014

via wrestlingforum.com

WWE decided back in 2014 that they wanted to push Nikki and Brie Bella into a feud against one another in what was set to be a personal feud between the two twin sisters. This didn't go to plan. The feud was full of bad acting, bad wrestling ,and soap opera style promos. And it was all a little bit to awkward to watch.

The WWE Universe weren't the only ones who thought this though, as The Wrestling Observer Newsletter actually awarded Nikki and Brie the honour of being the Worst Feud in Professional Wrestling for the whole of 2014. The feud just didn't work alongside Total Divas and it seems that WWE has learnt their lesson when it comes to this feud. That's not an award that you would place proudly on your mantlepiece.

10 10. John Cena Squashed Charlotte's Push

via wwe.com

As already mentioned, Nikki had some help when it came to her becoming the longest reigning Divas Champion of all time. At first, WWE didn't think she was working as champion and when Charlotte was promoted to the main roster, the company wanted her to take the title and go on a lengthy run.

John Cena didn't like the idea of his girlfriend losing her championship, so he headed backstage and talked to the executives in WWE, making them change their mind and halt Charlotte's push until Night of Champions in 2015. This allowed Nikki to break the record and still look strong coming out of her title reign, which was exactly what Nikki wanted all along. So now she goes down in history thanks to her boyfriend pulling strings for her.

9 9. Documented Dating History

via nicole-garcia-zozo.weebly.com

Nikki Bella has become a huge star in WWE over the past few years because she is dating John Cena. But it hasn't always been that way. Nikki has quite the dating history herself even before she met and began dating Cena.

It was well documented that Nikki used to be in a relationship with Dolph Ziggler, and the couple were together for much of Nikki's first run in WWE. The talented duo then broke up after Nikki left the company back in 2012 and she moved on to John Cena. It was also revealed on an episode of Total Divas that Nikki has been married before. She married her high school sweetheart when she was 20 years old and the couple were together for three years before they decided to have the marriage annulled.

8 8. Nikki Never Actually Wanted To Be A Wrestler

via forum.bodybuilding.com

This is one of the main problems that the WWE Universe has with The Bella Twins. They were models when they came into WWE and they never actually wanted to be wrestlers. They auditioned foe the WWE Diva Search and didn't actually make the cut, but the company decided to hire them because they thought twins would be an incredible storyline.

The problem is, in a company like WWE right now there are wrestlers like Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch who have been fighting for this opportunity their entire lives. They have always wanted to be wrestlers and always wanted to work for WWE. There was never a plan B and it seems that The Bella Twins were just handed that opportunity based solely on what they look like.

7 7. Nikki Stopped Maryse And Maria returning To WWE

via wwe.com

Nikki probably wasn't solely to blame for this, maybe her sister was also involved. But it seems that when Nikki and Brie were re-signed to WWE back in 2012, when WWE was hoping to launch them as the main members of the Divas Division, they wanted to bring back other women as well.

Nikki and Brie were signed first and Maryse recently explained that The Bellas told her to reject WWE's offer and hold out for more, which she did and the company then didn't want her back because The Bella's had talked them out of it. Maria was another female wrestler that The Bella's stopped returning to the company, because Nikki and Maria never actually got along. So Nikki used all the powers that she had to change WWE's mind about bringing her back as well.

6 6. Nikki Decided To Leave The Company In 2012

via cattieswomenswrestling.wordpress.com

That's right, much like Maryse back in 2011, both Nikki and Brie made the conscious decision to walk away from WWE in 2012 after their contract expired. The former models explained that they were exhausted. They had spent six years on the road with WWE at this point and they both decided that it was time to branch out and find work outside of the company.

The Bellas wanted to go back into modelling or acting and come up with something different after so many years of working 300 days a year. It was completely their decision to walk away, and in essence, they decided to quit rather than continue with their careers the way they were going, even though it was merely days after Nikki Bella dropped her Divas Championship to Beth Phoenix.

5 5. Many Of The WWE Universe See Nikki As A Throwback

via cattieswomenswrestling.files.wordpress.com

This has already been stated above. The WWE Universe see Nikki Bella as a throwback to a Women's Division that was made up of women who were hired based on the way that they looked. The Bellas and Maryse all came from the Diva Search and that reminds fans that WWE once didn't care about their female product.

No matter how much Nikki improves in the ring, or how many titles she wins with WWE, the Universe will not accept her as a wrestler in the same breath as Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch, because she hasn't fought for the opportunity she has been given. Nikki and her sister were hired based solely on their looks and the fact that WWE wanted to run a twin angle, which wasn't even all that interesting.

4 4. Nikki's First Title Reign Was 6 Days

via wwe.com

When Nikki and Brie were first added to the Divas Division, they were considered a joke. They weren't properly trained wrestlers, and their acting was awful, so WWE wasn't ready to take a gamble on them.

The company had already given Brie a Divas Championship reign at this point and it was decided that Nikki would go on to defeat Beth Phoenix on an episode of Monday Night Raw to win her first title. That reign would go wrong for the twins though as Nikki defended her title six days later at Extreme Rules and twin magic went horribly wrong, leaving Brie to be pinned so Nikki lost her title. A six-day title reign was the best that WWE could give Nikki back in 2012. The Bella Twins competed in one more WWE match before they quit the company.

3 3. WWE Cancelled Nikki's WrestleMania Match

via damien-sandow.com

WrestleMania XXIX is one of the only WrestleMania events to not have included any female wrestlers. Not that he Divas Division was horrendous back in 2013 and Total Divas was enjoying its first season so WWE decided to allow the cast to be included in the event.

It was advertised as Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow teaming with The Bella Twins against Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls. The problem was that the match between CM Punk and The Undertaker overran and the company were forced to make the decision to pull the plug on the planned Eight-Person Tag Team match. Something that The Bellas, Naomi ,and Cameron were shown backstage crying about as part of the first season of Total Divas. WWE allowed the match to take place the next night on Raw instead.

2 2. The Bella's Turned Down WWE's First Job Offer

via ewrestlingnews.com

So, not only were Nikki and Brie given the dream opportunity in WWE when they were offered a contract following their participation in the WWE Diva Search, but the Twins actually turned down WWE's job offer because they wanted to remain as models and then perhaps branch out into acting. Obviously, the twins did accept the contract afterwards and began training to wrestle.

As already stated, The Bellas never wanted to be wrestlers. This is why when WWE came knocking, they weren't interested. They were happy with their life outside of the company and it apparently took some convincing to have them sign. After seeing Total Divas, I can speak for everyone when I say I'm glad that they didn't try to make it in the acting world. That would have been painful.

1 1. The Horrific Storyline With Kharma

via cagesideseats.com

Not only was this storyline unclassy and basically turned into two skinny high school girls bullying an outcast, but it set such a bad example to the younger generation. Nikki and Brie decided to target Kharma after she announced that she was leaving WWE because she was pregnant.

The Twins laughed about the fact that they thought she was 'just fat' and left Kharma feeling quite upset with herself. This was supposed to set up a feud for Kharma when she returned. But tragically, Kharma was pregnant in real-life and actually lost her baby, which makes this so much worse. Kharma never returned, the feud never happened, and WWE has tried to brush their attempt at bullying under the carpet. They would prefer that fans completely forget about it as Nikki attempts to become a popular babyface.