Nikki Garcia is working on “getting strong” amid her ankle injury, but won’t be fit for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.
Nikki Garcia has an ankle injury
The 42-year-old wrestler, who is also known as Nikki Bella, was forced to sit out WrestleMania 42 because of her injury, prompting twin sister Brie Garcia to partner with Paige instead, and she’s revealed she is still trying to get back to full fitness, though she won’t know the extent of her recovery until some time next month.
She told E! News: “I’m working on getting strong. I just can’t go side to side yet or run.
“But I’m straight, standing tall. Getting there.
“I’m getting my X-rays in a few weeks—mid-June. So, then we’ll see the growth.”
Brie and Paige will defend their Tag Team crown this weekend, and have pledged to “work really, really hard” to keep their belts during Nikki’s lay-off.
Brie said: “Paige and I are gonna work really, really hard to keep those titles until Nikki comes back.”
Nikki replied: “That’s right.”
The wrestler suffered the painful injury during the 27 March broadcast of SmackDown, and recently shared a look at her foot.
She captioned a video shared to X last month: “Fractured, tore and sprained my ankle. It’s been a painful two weeks.”
Although the problem sidelined her from taking part at WrestleMania, Nikki did make an appearance to introduce Paige as her sister’s temporary new partner.
She said at the time: “I tried really to overcome this injury and unfortunately, I couldn’t get medically cleared today.
“I wasn’t going to ruin Brie’s WrestleMania moment. So, to take my place, I called an old friend.”
Meanwhile, Nikki recently revealed she was invited to audition for the Baywatch reboot – but withdrew because she didn’t feel “comfortable” wearing a swimsuit on screen.
Nikki said on The Nikki and Brie Show podcast: “I had an audition for Baywatch.
“I ended up not doing it. Because I knew that I would not be comfortable wearing—if I was to get it—I would not be comfortable wearing a red swimsuit 24/7.”
Nikki – who has Matteo, five, with ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev – admitted that body insecurities prompted her to withdraw from the process.
Nikki said: “I am not confident yet in a swimsuit, so I didn’t do it. What I’ve learned is I have to put myself in positions of, like, where I feel most confident.”
Nikki still feels most confident when she is in her wrestling gear, heading to the ring.
She said: “When I’m walking down that ramp, and I’m in my Nikki Bella gear, I am so confident.”
