Original WrestleMania 42 Plans For The Bella Twins Revealed

TLDR

WWE originally planned for The Bella Twins to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 42, with Brie Bella's return earlier this year specifically designed to build toward this nostalgic championship moment. However, Nikki Bella suffered a serious ankle injury during the March 27 episode of SmackDown that included a sprain, fracture, and tear, forcing WWE to pivot to Paige as Brie's partner instead. According to Dave Meltzer, WWE held out hope until as late as Tuesday before the event that Nikki would be cleared to compete, but ultimately had to proceed with their contingency plan of using Paige.