The fact that John Cena and Nikki Bella called off their engagement just a few weeks before their May 5th wedding was not really that surprising. What was surprising was the fact that Cena even proposed. Cena was always very straight with Nikki Bella: he loved her, he was happy with her, he wanted their relationship to be on his terms, and he wasn’t interested in getting married or having children. Nikki tried to convince him to change his mind for years, but he never seemed likely to change his mind. Until he proposed last year. Which might have just been for the sake of his brand, or for their brand together. Whatever he reasoning, he got cold feet. And now Nikki wonders why he even proposed.
Nikki Bella is “heartbroken” and “devastated” by her split from John Cena just weeks before they were set to tie the knot.
Although Cena, 40, admitted in the past that he didn’t want to get married again — he was previously married to Elizabeth Huberdeau from 2009 until 2012 — he got down on one knee and proposed to Bella in April 2017. However, a source tells PEOPLE that he started getting cold feet as the wedding date drew near.
“She never gave him an ultimatum. He talked a really good game about having changed, about having his priorities straight, about knowing what’s important, and that it was her. But as the day got closer, it was like he just went back to who he’s always been — which is someone who puts himself first, always,” the insider says. “He’s an incredibly dedicated, driven, ambitious guy. And for the longest time he said he didn’t think he had room in his life for a spouse or kids. It seems like in the end that was still the truth.” The source continues, “But in that case, he never should’ve proposed, let alone in front of millions of people. Now she’s heartbroken.”
Bella is “devastated,” the source says, adding, “This was supposed to be the happiest time of her life. He ruined it and blew everything up.”
The professional wrestlers’ wedding was set for May 5 in Mexico, where Bella was excited to celebrate her heritage with family and friends.
“It wasn’t going to be some showy Hollywood, over-the-top glitzy thing,” the source tells PEOPLE.
The insider says Bella, 34, will be “fine,” but Cena has shown his real self.
“In wrestling there are two archetypes: faces and heels,” the source explains. “A face is a good guy, a hero, who you root for. A heel is a villain, who sometimes can seem like a good guy but then turns around and shows his true, evil colors. John Cena just revealed himself as the ultimate heel.”
I don’t know… I feel sorry for both of them, actually. Nikki is genuinely devastated because she thought she was going to marry the man she loved in just a few weeks and now she’s got no husband, no boyfriend, and probably no home too (they were living together at his place, I’m pretty sure). I feel sorry for Cena because I think he loved Nikki and he was really happy with her… as his girlfriend. She DID pressure him to propose and I think he got to the point where he thought she would break up with him if he didn’t propose. So he did, maybe thinking that he was changing. But he didn’t change. Or hey, maybe I’m totally wrong and this was all just some reality show storyline. Who knows.
PS… Yes, I’m surprising myself about how much I know about this now-defunct couple. I think I’ve watched a grand total of two episodes of Total Bellas. But it was all I needed to know!!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
When someone shows you who they are believe them.
Cough Khloe
Cough Nikki
Cough *every woman who thought they were the exception to the rule.
I’ve always liked that saying…and then I heard this update: “When someone shows you his true colors, don’t paint them over with a color you like.”
Love this quote too!
@yeahright THIS
My favorite quote! So true.
I would bet he’s like a Hugh Grant. Have kids late in life randomly.
Yup. Most likely.
or john stamos, or george clooney…
glad she left him before marriage. she can find a man who is excited to marry her and have a family with her, not settle for this.
I’m so sad for her but I respect that he did this. As hard as this is it would have been worse to get married and quickly divorce, or–worse–to marry and allow the resentment from getting married when you don’t want to lead to poor treatment of your wife. This was merciful. I don’t know these two at all but I wish them both well. They are both ridiculously attractive which is good for their futures!
Same here. it sounds like he proposed thinking it would make her happy and that he could talk himself into wanting it before it was time to say the vows… and he tried and couldn’t. Sucks that you fall in love with someone who wants something different from life than you do, but it really is better to call a spade a spade now instead of trying to grin and bear it AFTER the wedding.
I don’t think he got cold feet per se, but rather that he never wanted to get married again at all, and realized that going through with it would have been a mistake. I feel so bad for her, because it must be devastating to have to call off a wedding only 3 weeks out, but at the same time he repeatedly said that it wasn’t something he wanted.
I wonder how much he was pressured by Vince McMahon to make the proposal as part of wrestlemania last year. I think the pressure came not just from Nikki but from the company because they wanted to see two stars together.
I don’t watch Total Divas, but I do watch WWE, and I assumed it was to boost the Total Divas storylines. I mean… why else do it during WrestleMania? They always seemed like such an odd couple to me. I think they can both do better.
Wrestlemania moment.
I agree that John proposed because he didn’t want to lose Nikki. But since she does want marriage and kids, it’s very likely they would break up eventually. Those are too big differences that people just don’t get over.
I read that she had been in therapy to deal with not having children if she married John, he wouldn’t change his mind on it. Not sure why you would want to marry someone who doesn’t want kids when you yourself want a child so bad. That would only end badly, imagine giving up something like that, she would definitely end up resenting him if they got married
ITA. No one should give up something that’s so important, for anyone. And in this instance I truly believe no one should be forced to contemplate marriage/kids OR accept a life without those 2 things.
Did she really want a child that bad? Her twin was the one with baby fever. Nikki not so much.
She’s hurt right now but eventually she will see this was for the best. She should want to be with someone who wants marriage and kids. He didn’t want that so why go into a marriage that would eventually be filled with resentment.
It’s sad, but for the better. I don’t think less of him. I also believe he only asked her to marry him so as not to lose her because he loved her. He had been saying they recently were having hard conversations about his not wanting to have children. That is no way to go into marriage with issues like that unresolved. Putting a career first for the white-hot years, making the most of that, is not unusual. Many driven people are like that, and relationships can often take a back seat.
That was fudged up what he did to her. He was honest with her in the beginning, but I think he was very much pressured to propose to her, which, I think is wrong since as it turns out he didn’t have any intentions of following through with it. I hate to say it, but I’m sure deep down she had a feeling this was going to happen. I’m guessing she thought she could change him. With the two of them, it always seemed to me as just pure ‘publicity’.
I’d argue that it was pretty screwed up that she was going to try to change him. They both have their faults – at least they don’t have to go through a divorce now.
If you watched, even knowing a lot of it was scripted, it wasn’t a big campaign of either of them trying to change the other (I don’t think anyone that saw the Tv shows would ever leave with the impression that Cena was anything other than unbending and unchangeable). They loved each other and thought they could make it work. Relationships are literally based on compromises.
You can’t change people. If someone tells you they don’t want marriage and kids, believe them and move on. If someone tells you they want marriage and kids, believe them and move on.
If people were more honest with themselves, a lot of heartache could be avoided.
Hopefully Bella finds someone more suitable for what she wants in life, and she gets what she obviously desires.
This 10000000%
If he didn’t want to get married, he never should have proposed. And if he truly cared about what she wanted, he would have broken things off with her a long time ago so she could have started looking for a man who wanted the same things she did. He sounds like a selfish jerk.
Better to get cold feet and leave before the wedding rather than after when she gets pregnant.
I feel bad for the both of them, but I don’t understand why you (Nikki) would date someone for so long knowing they don’t want to get married or have children, when you yourself want those things. She should have moved on years ago.
Totally agree.
I watched the show (I love the behind the scenes mechanics of wrestling and how they workout). After the shock wore off, the issue wasn’t really that she desperately wanted marriage and kids and he didn’t. It was that she didn’t feel secure in the relationship. They adored each other and personality and career wise we’re really well matched. But everything was on his terms. I understood where he was coming from, but he’s a SUPER rigid dude. It wasn’t at all about the white dress and the ceremony, it was that she was the secondary one in the relationship. Distilling it down as “she was pressuring him for the ring” misses the boat entirely.
I agree about Nikki always being the secondary person in the relationship and the difficulties that presents. Yes, she wanted marriage more than him. But he proposed. She probably realized after she got what she wanted that it wouldn’t fix the underlying problem. It would be marriage in name and not in the sense of an equal partnership, which is what she was actually asking for. Very his house, his rules, his career.
John did seem to change, but minimally and mostly not to lose her. I recall an episode where she got a job as a realtor and bought her own condo, almost like a backup plan. He showed up and made some big apologies. It sucks that he gave her just enough hope to keep her on the hook but not enough for either to be truly happy.
Well I was wrong , wrong , wrong in my assessment of their break-up. I don’t feel that bad for Niki only because he said countless times he didn’t want marriage and kids and she says she didn’t pressure him but she really did. Even when she was all, “I’m good, I can spend the rest of my life with John and not have kids.” I was like gurl stop lying, you are just waiting him out. I do feel bad that so close to the day he calls it off. I think she was shocked at the WM proposal and yeah, why do all of that if you aren’t really feeling it. This is a lot to untangle for them though between the companies they share.
I don’t think they share any companies or business entities at all. This is a dude who, when she moved in with him, had her sign a “roommate agreement” that not only gave her 2 weeks to move out should they terminate the relationship, but outlining all of his household rules. He couldn’t compromis in their daily living situation, let alone something where money was involved. All of her business stuff is tied up with her sister, not Cena.
And I’m having a whole time with this “she just desperately wanted to get married” because it missed the point entirely. The relationship was 100% on his terms. They clearly loved each other, but it wasn’t a partnership.
I was in a very similar situation years ago. Got engaged, started planning for the wedding, already sent out save-the-date cards, then a few months before the wedding date, my ex decided he wasn’t ready to get married. We broke off our engagement and didn’t split right away, but only a couple of months later we broke off our relationship completely.
At that time, I was devastated. I had to deal with all the questions from friends and family as to what happened. I myself didn’t know what happened.
This is just the universe’s way of telling her that she and John are not meant to be married. She will find the right person eventually.
My cousin dated a man for 7 years. They broke up because he said he didn’t want to ever get married. 3 months later he married someone he just met. My grandmother said ‘when a man says he doesn’t want to get married, it means he doesn’t want to marry YOU’
I’m not sure this is true, i think some people are just more compatible than others. Also, it sounds like your cousin dodged a bullet, because that man didn’t really value her.
Yeah, I went through a situation like that. At the time I was so completely, unbelievably hurt by it, but in retrospect I see that I was wasting my time (thankfully nothing close to seven years) on someone who just wasn’t very in to it. Not gonna lie, though, it still hurts a little.
So true. Your grandma was very wise. Sort of like George Clooney, he dated a lot of women right before Amal, who thought they could be the next Mrs. Clooney even though he told them otherwise. The ones he dumped were very heartbroken. When he met Amal he knew he met the right one.
Daily reminder that everything in the WWE is staged.
I admit l watched up until last season. He made her sign an agreement to vacate his premises if there was a breakup and probably a NDA as well. She has always wanted children and a couple episodes revealed that. In my opinion she needs to close the door and move on and move on from Senas fickle, self serving self. She knew his beliefs at first then changed his mind later (shady). I’m sure her previous beau, Dolf Ziegler, another prominent wrestler will swoop in. He promised her all these things and she walked away. 10 bucks says he’s already swooping in.
The Rock said it best – Cena has a toothbrush up his ass. This guy just bugs me, I find his personality to be as interesting as a pencil.
i dealt with something similiar…. and it got to a point where i was like to my bestfriends yea i dont think i want to even try for children or be married…. that was after in my mind i tried to change him …. now mind you this was even years so i saved myself and got out man lololololol
but yea my close circle at the time now tells me yea that was not like u ash …you always said you atleast wanted to try or be open to kids if you could have them… so i feel for bella for sure
Maybe it’s some elaborate plot for their reality show ?
I always thought that Cena played a character in the show. Maybe he wanted kids and marriage, but if he said so, there would be no storyline ?
Wouldn’t surprise me if it was a kayfabe breakup.
That being said, I really like Brie Bella and her family (Brian and Birdie). I find them extremely cute.
Ugh I will admit that I love wrestling, and that I watch the Divas and follow them on insta blah blah. John was always very honest on his no kids no marriage rule. I think that she was a little envious of her sister’s life (now with a kid and Daniel being what seems to be an amazing husband/father) so it definitely go to her. I think he proposed to save face and buy some more time, but now that it got closer he realized he already caved to marriage, he most likely will cave to children and it’s not what he wants. She knew from the beginning what he was like, he was upfront and she still tried to change him and stuck it out when she knew it may not happen. I feel bad for her, of course, but I also understand and appreciate him doing it now as opposed to right after they got married or while she’s pregnant or something.