It was a big week for the Bella twins!
At the start of Sunday's Total Bellas, Brie Bella was emotionally torn up in the aftermath of her and Nikki Bella's most recent WWE appearance. For those who missed it, last week's episode ended on an especially sour note. In a heated tag team match for Monday Night RAW, Nikki and Brie took on the Riott Squad, a group of the twins' professional rivals and real-life friends.
Fellow WWE star Liv Morgan stole the spotlight at first, but had to take a serious breather after suffering a series of gnarly kicks to the face—real ones. For the first time in her 12-year wrestling career, Brie had accidentally injured a fellow athlete in the ring. Backstage after the match, she called her husband Daniel Bryan in tears.
"I'm so upset," she told him, before explaining that the mistake was already making her question whether she belongs in the WWE ring at all anymore. When she returned home to San Diego the next morning, Brie admitted she'd reached a breaking point.
"I'm so overwhelmed right now, Bryan. I wanted to make a comeback because I thought it would be really empowering and it would be a part of me that I feel like I would get back. But I'm spreading myself so thin," said Brie. "I don't know how I can keep going like this."
Hoping to take her mind off things, she redirected her energy over to Nikki.
"I feel like you should be open to dating," Brie suggested during lunch the following day. Her sister, who ended a six-year relationship with John Cena last July, really wasn't into the idea.
"If I set you up on a blind date, would you do it?" Brie tried again.
Nikki reminded her twin that she's already been subjected to a surprise set-up at the hands of various relatives—Brie included—and that it didn't go over so well. (Everybody remember Andre, the 23-year-old model Kathy Colace picked up at a bar in New York and later invited to family dinner?) Even so, she tentatively agreed to keep an open mind this time.
"I'm just sick of people asking me about dating," Nikki said in a confessional. "So, I feel like if I go on a date, it's gonna shut everyone up."
Brie turned out to be quite the matchmaker. In the midst of a family-wide hangout not long after, she rattled off the names of her sister's prospective suitors. The first already had Kathy's stamp of approval.
"Mom will love this one: Peter from the Bachelor," Brie announced. "And then also, Taye Diggs."
Naturally, there were lots of competing opinions about which potential admirer Nikki should actually meet up with. Like Brie anticipated, Kathy's vote went to former Bachelorette contestant Peter Kraus, while Lauren Garcia's went to Taye Diggs. Meanwhile, Kathy's husband John Laurinaitis said Nikki shouldn't "go out with any of 'em," and J.J. Garcia agreed.
J.J.'s two-year-old daughter Vivienne finally tipped the scales when she happily shouted "Peter!" after just a little bit of prompting from her aunt Nikki.
"Go ahead and…whatever. Peter," said Nikki reluctantly.
"Yay! Peter it is," her twin cheered.
Much as Brie appreciated the distraction, she eventually took a break from interfering with her sister's personal life to make some important decisions about her own. At lunch with J.J. and former Total Divas co-star Paige (whose real-life story inspired Dwayne Johnson's new film Fighting with My Family) later that week, she explained that committing to storylines on both RAW and SmackDown just didn't seem realistic anymore.
"I can't keep doing both," she told them. "I've realized it's worn me down."
That makes sense, considering Brie is the only WWE star to date who's ever worked on both brands at the same time. With two companies to manage, a toddler at home and a husband she'd like to see in person every now and again, keeping up with such a demanding work schedule was—in Brie's words—just "way too much." And even though she loved wrestling with her hubby, the Bella twin revealed she'd be stepping out of the SmackDown ring, at least for the foreseeable future.
"You know, being a part of the women's division now in WWE and working our way to Evolution…that's where I need to be," Brie said. "And so, I'm gonna pick RAW. Goodbye, SmackDown."
Heading into her date with Peter, Nikki was a bundle of nerves. But when the Wisconsin-based personal trainer showed up to Brie's house with a bouquet of flowers and a natural charm that won over half of Nikki's extended family, her anxiety eased up. And once Peter unveiled his plans to steal her heart with a romantic gondola ride for two, the recently single Bella twin was definitely impressed.
"For six years, I haven't been on a date," Nikki told the confessional camera. "I have these nerves, but I'm excited. I'm just like giggling and flirting…It's a brand new experience for me."
See how Nikki's date with Peter panned out in the full recap video above!