Can Brie Bella convince brother JJ Garcia to reconnect with his roots?
In this clip from Thursday's all-new Total Bellas, Birdie Joe Danielson's mom tries to get her brother interested in their Mexican heritage. This excitement for their heritage stems from Brie and Nikki Bella's trip to Mexicali, where they reconnected with their estranged father Jon Garcia.
"You look so much like dad, by the way," Brie informs her sibling. "He does, everyone tells me it. They're like, 'Holy wow, your brother is your dad.'"
While JJ seems disinterested in this topic, Brie continues on about the reunion, touting that she "had an amazing time in Mexicali." Furthermore, as the trip reminded her of things from their childhood, she encourages JJ to "revisit all that."
"Revisit it? Well, I'm glad you're reconnecting, but that doesn't mean you have to push reconnecting on us," JJ snaps in response.
"It just felt good, so I thought you'd want to feel the same," Daniel Bryan's wife responds.
Without missing a beat, Brie suggests that JJ join her outing with Nikki to a tamale cooking class.
"I get what Brie's doing, you know, it's coming from a good place," the Bella Twins' brother expresses to the Total Bellas' camera. "Those are things I would love to pass onto my kids. You know, know where they came from, know where their family came from. But she needs to slow down a little bit and respect me and my journey."
Eventually, Brie acknowledges JJ's boundaries, but suggests the outing would bring him "peace of mind."
"He just doesn't want to talk about his dad," JJ's wife Lauren chimes in.
"And that, you don't bring me up to him," he adds.
In a confessional, Brie speculates that JJ has "pushed his Latin roots aside" due to his estrangement with Jon. Regardless, Brie thinks embracing their heritage is important for their children.
Will JJ get on board with Brie's idea? For that answer, be sure to watch Thursday's all-new episode!