Nikki Garcia, formerly known as Nikki Bella, has taken steps toward an in-ring return after making headlines with her surprise WWE comeback earlier this year. She first resurfaced in January, attending the WWE Raw on Netflix premiere, before entering the WWE Royal Rumble in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium as the #30 entrant. Her appearance generated buzz as she interacted with several top stars, especially after months of speculation about whether she would step back into a WWE ring. Nikki and her sister Brie Bella had both departed WWE in 2023.

Fueling speculation even further, Nikki has teased the potential return of WWE Evolution, the all-women’s pay-per-view, which is reportedly being discussed internally. Now, new insight has come from Natalya, who recently appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, and revealed that Nikki has been actively training behind the scenes in preparation for something bigger.

“Nikki actually has been coming and training with me privately. So she flies in every week, and she’s been coming and working with me. I will tell you that she hasn’t lost it, she has so much passion for this," Natalya shared.

Natalya reflected on the long history she shares with the Bella Twins, revealing that all three of them began their WWE careers during the same week in developmental. The trio came from humble beginnings, united not just by their shared aspirations but also by necessity, supporting one another in the early days.

“It’s funny because I saw her last week. She came to Tampa and I said to her, This is so funny because we started our careers together in the very same week, Nikki and I and Brie. So we started together in the same week in developmental in WWE and I remember when all three of us had nothing. All three of us were hired at the very base amount of pay and it was never, ever about the money. It was always about the work, the passion. So we were just laughing and sharing old stories. I didn’t have enough money to buy wrestling gear, so The Bella Twins were giving me their clothes."

Natalya detailed the sacrifices they all made to get their start, including leaving behind their hometowns, living on minimal income, and piecing together ring gear with creativity and borrowed outfits.

"Because when you just get started, you’re just kind of literally just getting started. I went to Florida with this one suitcase because I was like, I gotta get down to Florida, I’ll just leave everything behind. I’ll get back to Calgary. I never went back to live in Calgary because my whole life with WWE has been kind of stateside as far as living, but I didn’t have money for a lot of the things that we need to look like superstars. So The Bella Twins, they were giving me their clothes. They were giving me stuff to look nice. I was taking certain things that they had and I was cutting them up and glueing my own sequins on them, and trying to make it. I look back on that now I’m like Nattie you look like sh*t, pardon my language. But I was like, I wouldn’t have hired you looking like that, because you look horrible, but you do what you have to do."

Now, with their careers established, Natalya expressed pride in mentoring Nikki and sees the possibility of partnering with her again.

"I just remember those early years with the twins. So being able to help Nikki prepare for Royal Rumble and of course, I would love to see Nikki back. I’m looking for a tag team partner and of course I’d love to have Nikki as my partner. But I just love her, and I love Brie so much, and they just have so much passion. So seeing what Nikki’s doing in the ring and doing in our dungeon, I mean, our dungeon is really like a dungeon. We try to make it as much like the original dungeon that my grandfather started in Calgary. There’s no air conditioning. It’s in Florida. It’s just a small room with enough room to put a ring in, and there’s one bathroom, and there’s some fans, and there’s a lot of stray cats that my husband and I feed.”