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After seemingly retiring from in-ring competition, WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella returned to action, mostly in what seems to be an effort to elevate newer stars she hadn’t previously worked with. That includes Judgment Day’s Roxanne Perez, whom Nikki battled in a “Monday Night Raw” match that caught many people’s attention. Nikki’s match occurred earlier this week, with Roxanne’s ally, Raquel Rodriguez, at ringside to offer assistance and potential interference. During one part of the match, Raquel caused a distraction, and Roxanne attempted to gain the advantage, pinning Nikki with her feet on the ropes. However, the referee refused to give the three-count after seeing Roxanne breaking the rules. A bit later, she managed to get the victory after delivering her finisher, Pop Rox, to pin Nikki. Post-match, Roxanne and Raquel attempted to attack Nikki, but Stephane Vaquer ran to her rescue in the ring, setting up a potential tag team clash. The Nikki vs. Roxanne match included several rough spots, during which the Hall of Fame superstar nearly injured her younger opponent. Stevie Richards, a multi-time Hardcore Champion in WWE, recently called out Nikki’s mistakes in a review of what went wrong during the match. Read more: WWE Hall of Famer Has Surprising CM Punk Prediction for SNME NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 22: WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia participates on the panel titled, “From the Locker Room to the Boardroom” during the Deep Blue Business of Women’s Sport Summit at Chelsea Factory on April 22, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) Before getting into his analysis of the brutal issues in the match, Richards issued a bold statement in his YouTube video, saying, “This might have been the best match I’ve ever seen Nikki Bella work.” Richards went on to call out her slapping Roxanne rather hard, causing her to stumble and the referee to seemingly throw up the “X sign,” used to signal a significant injury in professional wrestling. However, it also appears that the ref quickly waved it off, and the match continued. Another spot that Richards addressed was a stiff dropkick that Nikki landed on Roxanne, calling it “a hell of a dropkick” or a “flying Stevie kick.” Fans in the YouTube comments pointed out Nikki’s poor performance in matches, including the recent Raw match. “What went wrong? Nikki sucks, easy answer,” a fan commented on YouTube. “oh man thats a reckless dropkick though,” another fan commented on Richards’ video. Another fan commented, “why is nikki bella even on the roster?” Others echoed those sentiments, asking why Nikki and Brie Bella are in the WWE Hall of Fame. Richards said the spots that Nikki and Roxanne were attempting on Raw, including a Fireman’s carry into an armbar, featured the two wrestlers in bad positions for them. “This Roxanne Perez girl has ups and downs like Lyra [Valkyria]; she’s had some spots that have been pretty rough on her,” Richards said. He also indicated that Nikki should have practiced in a ring for a while before working matches, suggesting she made her dropkick look real since it was a solid connection between boot and face. In slowing down the match footage and pausing it, he mentioned Roxanne was trying to get her hands up to block it, but Nikki’s boot connected to her face, really selling it. Nikki returned earlier this year as a surprise entrant in the Women’s Royal Rumble. A later championship match at WWE Clash in Paris involved Nikki fighting Becky Lynch and also drew criticism from fans for some brutal spots. Earlier this week, Nikki spoke on the “Nikki and Brie” podcast about working on some things in the ring to make changes ahead of her next matches. She also indicated she’d receive feedback from her sister, Brie “Bella” Danielson, and Brie’s husband, wrestling star Bryan Danielson. WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event Championship Match Gets Major Stipulation AEW Star Chris Jericho Reunites With Popular WWE Star Former WWE Champion Makes Bold Statement About Charlotte Flair For more WWE and professional wrestling, visit Newsweek Sports.
