The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella) were back in action at the WWE Royal Rumble, marking their first matches since 2018.
Brie Bella was not only in Brie Mode as she hit the ring, but she brought a piece of her husband, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan in WWE) with her as the crowd began chanting "Yes!" as Brie threw her strikes. Brie encouraged the crowd, leading the chants in the middle of the ring.
Speaking on the Bellas Podcast, Nikki & Brie discussed why the chants were so important in that moment.
"Everyone got chills in Gorilla," said Nikki. "The camera pulled back and they got this epic shot of you in the stadium and everyone doing it. Everyone got really emotional when you were doing that."
Bryan made the "Yes!" chants famous during his time in WWE and even though he's now with AEW, Brie felt him in that moment.
"When I started to hear people say 'Yes!'...I ran in and I think I nailed Natalya and Michelle McCool. I started to hear the fans chanting 'Yes!' and in my head, I'm like, 'I'm going to go with this.' I was going to go into my Brie Mode me, but I'm like, 'No, I'm gonna with the Yes chant.' The one thing about my husband, he has a huge presence, and when I hear the 'Yes!' chant, I immediately thing of him. It made me feel him in that moment. When I do the 'Yes!' chant, I don't do it for myself. I do it because I feel my husband in that moment. My husband, to me, is more than just Daniel Bryan or Bryan Danielson, he's a soulmate. Feeling that energy of the crowd, it makes me get teary-eyed and emotional when I do that because it's like he's right next to me," said Brie.
Nikki explained why the chants meant so much on a grander scale.
"That's what I love about what we do is because we can blend those moments of real life and characters. That's the beauty of WWE; real life and characters that come together and that's the 'Yes!' chant. It's the representation of Daniel Bryan that was in WWE forever and also, Daniel Bryan that married Brie Bella and had this whole iconic, beautiful love story on Total Divas and Total Bellas, but also comes to the ring and is real. The fans started chanting 'Yes!' because it means something to them too. If you didn't join in on that, you're just killing the moment of them and why they paid for a ticket and came," she said.
Brie scored multiple eliminations in the match, including taking out her sister. Brie was ultimately eliminated by Ronda Rousey.
After leaving WWE for AEW, Bryan commented on why he wouldn't be taking the "Yes!" chant with him. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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