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WWE News: ‘Total Divas’ Recap — Nikki Bella Idolizes Maria Shriver

By Dustin Murrell
Published on: 04:46 PST, Feb 10, 2016

On this week’s episode of Total Divas (Season 5, Episode 4), Nikki Bella wants to start empowering women like Maria Shriver after Nikki and Brie meet the former Mrs. Schwarzenegger at a fundraising event for the Best Buddies program. Meanwhile, Paige and Rosa Mendes help Alicia Fox decide what to do when a background check reveals that her boyfriend has been lying to her — and when they encounter a snake in Foxy’s backyard! Finally, the relationship between Eva Marie and Mandy suffers its first rough patch as the former Tough Enough competitor learns about life as the newest member of the WWE Divas family.

[Because this show is taped several months in advance, there is no mention of the recent announcement of Brie Bella’s husband Daniel Bryan’s retirement from WWE or the recent Nikki Bella injury. The latest on her injury, courtesy of a recent interview given by sister Brie, is that Nikki will return to in-ring competition but that it “won’t be anytime soon.”]

Eva Marie and Mandy

The drama that Eva Marie first brought up two weeks ago on Total Divas with her peers from the main roster seems to be a thing of the past. As the new girl, however, Mandy wants to make sure she’s not aligning herself with someone who will automatically make her an enemy of the rest of the Divas. Mandy talks to Natalya (who barely shows up in this episode) and learns that Eva Marie once tried to form a “Red & Gold” team with Summer Rae, which never came to fruition due to drama between the two.

However, after Mandy gets a chance to watch Eva Marie perform at Full Sail University, she can tell that she’s been working hard and decides she is fine befriending Eva. Later, when Mandy confesses that she had asked around about the drama, Eva Marie was hurt. But after talking it over with her boyfriend, Michael, Mandy apologized to Eva Marie, and they were friends when the episode ended.

Nikki and Brie Bella meet with Maria Shriver

The Bella Twins attend a fundraiser for the Best Buddies program, where they run into Maria Shriver, who plays a major role in this charity (and many others). The Bellas (especially Nikki) are impressed with the way Shriver is empowering women through her speaking engagements.

When Nikki tells Brie that she wants to start booking her own speaking engagements for women’s groups, Brie tells her that she doesn’t think it’s a great role for her given the way she flaunts her body and uses hair extensions. To their mother, Brie says that Nikki looks like a stripper.

“I just want to make sure that I’m taken seriously. So I took Brie’s advice and I got a new wardrobe.”

Although hurt by her sister’s words, Nikki pursues her goal of becoming more like Maria Shriver. She gets some more “elegant” clothes that don’t show off her cleavage. But when she meets with Brie and some friends for dinner, Brie puts her on the spot and asks her to speak in front of them right then and there. Nikki can’t do it, and she leaves.

“I just get so nervous. I don’t know big, fancy words.”

She proceeds to book a small speaking engagement anyway. She says she’s “been asked many times.” Boyfriend John Cena accompanies Nikki to the speaking gig. Brie’s hurtful actions are still making Nikki upset.

“I already have this insecurity that I feel like I don’t speak intelligent enough for people.”

Luckily, just before she speaks, Brie calls her to apologize and say that she’s proud of Nikki. This calms her down, and she goes on to deliver her speech without incident.

Alicia Fox’s boyfriend is a liar — Paige and Rosa Mendes are there for her

While driving around with Paige and Rosa, Foxy mentions that her boyfriend still lives with his ex-girlfriend, but that there’s nothing going on between them. The other Divas don’t like the sound of that, and they convince her to pay for an online background check. It turns out her boyfriend has been lying about his age (he’s actually 50, but claims to be 45), and Alicia hates liars. She confronts him about the lie face-to-face, and when he admits to lying, she rips off her microphone and drives away without any cameras.

While a lot has been made of Paige’s romantic relationship since the season premiere of Total Divas, very little of it is mentioned here (until she hints at a possible break-up at the end of the episode). Instead, Paige and pregnant Rosa (who is worried about her boyfriend and baby daddy being an atheist while her and her mother are “serious Christians”) plan a girls weekend to help Alicia get over Darryl. At her house, as she asks them to help her plant some bushes, they encounter both an armadillo and snake, sending them all back indoors quickly.

By the end of the episode, Darryl sends Foxy a huge bouquet of flowers. She says she understands why someone who is 50-years-old would lie about his age if he’s hitting on a 29-year-old. Much to the chagrin of Rosa, once Darryl promises he’ll never lie again, Alicia decides to give him another chance.

Where To Watch

E! airs Total Divas every Tuesday at 9/8c. Highlights of this episode (Talk of the Town) can be seen at E! Online‘s official Total Divas page. Full episodes of Total Divas can be streamed on-demand the following day with a Hulu Plus subscription. Seasons 1-4 of Total Divas are available to stream on-demand through the WWE Network.

[Image credit Mark Davis / Getty Images]

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