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Total Divas Star Nikki Bella Dishes on Being the New WWE Divas Champ: "It Felt Different Waking Up Today"

By Kamala Kirk Nov 24, 2014 11:57 PMTags
Nikki BellaE!

Finally, there's a new WWE Divas Champion!

That's right—for those of you that didn't know, Nikki Bella is now the official Divas Champ after knocking reigning Divas Champ AJ Lee out of her highly-coveted spot! We got the chance to catch up with the Total Divas star and get the scoop on life as a Champ, what it's like to be loved by WWE Superstar John Cena, and so much more.

"It felt different waking up today," Nikki exclaimed. "It honestly feels amazing. I hate to compare this but I'm going to—you know when you have Olympic athletes who fight for something for years, and they finally get that goal—get that medal, it's just such an amazing feeling. It honestly is weird because you feel so many different emotions in that moment. Like your body doesn't know whether to cry, you're in shock, you don't know what to feel, people keep coming up to you and congratulating you; people are cheering and it's weird. You kind of get in this weird emotion but it feels so good and it makes all the hard work and the traveling and missing all the family events and weddings and friends' pregnancies, worth it. In that moment when you win that championship it makes it all okay. It's crazy but it feels beyond amazing to be the champion now."

Despite stealing the spotlight and the title from AJ, however, Nikki insists that there is no bad blood between the two Divas. "We all are professionals here and AJ and i have been working with each other for a while," she explained. "And when you start to work with certain girls, you get excited for them when they win. She and I wanted to have this long old match last night and it's still gonna be a lot of fun with her. I enjoy working with her in the ring and this just put another layer into our story. We're gonna keep coming up with magic."

When asked for her secret in defeating AJ, Nikki shared a tip from her bag of Diva tricks. "You watch someone and you see how they are and sometimes you can use that against them," she pointed out. "She did that kiss of death to Brie's husband Bryan at Wrestlemania and she made history;  we made new history last night—we did it even quicker. You know when someone thinks they're good at something, you can use it against them and that's what we did. We did the kiss of death."

Despite all wanting a shot at the Divas Championship, all of the other Divas support Nikki's big win. "I think everyone's in shock," she explained. "They were waiting outside when I came out and gave me hugs and kisses, and Nattie wrote me a nice, super long text. They've all been waiting for a change and they've seen how hard I've been working and I think they are very happy for me; they felt it was very deserving."

As for twin sister Brie Bella and boyfriend John Cena? They're Nikki's biggest supporters, along with the rest of her family. "Brie was just beyond happy," Nikki exclaimed. "And nothing was better than John opening up a big bottle of champagne and he gave me a big old kiss because he knows how Nikki Bella loves to celebrate."

Despite accomplishing one of her major life goals, this isn't anywhere near the end for Nikki. "I definitely want to accomplish so much more," she admitted. "This Divas Championship I hold so close to my heart and I love the Divas division and WWE, and we've seen what the power of Total Divas does for our Divas, I want to make this title so much, I want to make every Diva mean something, I want to have a long title run; I know AJ had an insanely long title run and i want to beat it. My first goal is to hold onto this for as long as I can; I want to be challenged every week ; I want to know that my title is on the line and I have to fight to keep it. Those are definitely my new goals with this and just to be the best Nikki Bella that I can be."

And in true Nikki Bella style, the Total Divas star never manages to forget the glam factor. "I'm really excited to get my Herve Leger, my Louboutins, and to be rocking the red carpet," she said. "I don't know if Hollywood can handle it, but I'm ready to bring it."

All-new episodes of Total Divas return Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 10pm ET, before returning to its regular time slot at 9pm beginning January 11.