Nikki Bella getting engaged to John Cena is a big event in the world of WWE this year. Cena finally popped the question to his now-fiancée in the middle of the ring in front of the audience. After winning their tag team match against The Miz and Maryse, the 39-year-old wrestler took the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend, saying that he has been waiting to ask her the question for so long. So how long have Cena and Bella been dating?
Nikki and John have been together since 2012. At that time, Cena was fresh from his divorce from Elizabeth Huberdeau, to whom he was married to in 2009. Nikki, on the other hand, wasn’t with WWE at that time because she left after her loss against Layla during the Diva’s Championship.
It was that time when the Bella twins, Nikki and Brie, were “fired” from WWE, but as reported by Bleacher Report, it was just a part of the storyline . In actuality, the twins’ contracts had expired and they decided to go on a break. In 2013, WWE brought back the twins when it was found out that both are dating WWE superstars. When Nikki made her comeback, she and John had already been dating for a few months, according to reports.
The newly-engaged couple’s relationship has been public since 2012 but it became even more publicized during their appearance on Total Divas and Total Bellas. The couple started out as friends before they took things to the next level. In 2014, Nikki got candid with her relationship to Cena during an interview with Diva Dirt. She shared how they started their romance and revealed that he first asked her out to dinner.
“The first opening line was, ‘Hey, do you want to go to dinner with me?’ And I was kind of like, ‘What? With me?!’”
But even having started out as friends, Nikki was nervous when it was time for them to go romantic.
“It just kind of started out like a dinner date and I have to admit we were friends for so many year. But then when you make it romantic, I couldn’t even say a word to him.”
Bella and Cena’s relationship has since been filled with ups and downs. A year into their relationship, she moved in with him but he made her sign a cohabitation agreement . This meant that Nikki had to follow the rules in Cena’s home. This was made public during an episode on Total Bellas. Nikki was shocked and walked out on John but he later explained that it had something to do with how things ended with his ex-wife. Nikki understood Cena’s situation so she agreed and signed.
Nikki had also been accused that she’s only dating Cena to get to the top, with some people telling her she can get away with anything because he is her boyfriend. But the 33-year-old shared to Digital Spy in October 2016 that dating John has even made things difficult for her career.
John had also said before that he is not interested in getting married and having kids. But apparently, things have changed as he already proposed. Cena gushed about Nikki in 2016, telling Us Weekly that she is the love of his life. He said Nikki knows that he’ll marry her eventually, and he’s just looking for the right time to move to the engaged status.
Now that John and Nikki are officially engaged, it will only be a matter of time when the wedding details will be revealed. The couple joins the rest of the wrestling couples in the Bella family. Brie is married to Daniel Bryan and the twins’ mother, Kathy, is married to John Laurinaitis.
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