Nikki Bella says she could be back in the ring by the end of June after an ankle injury sidelined her during a March 27 SmackDown match with her sister, Brie Bella. The WWE star has not competed since twisting the ankle in the tag team bout against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss.
Bella told Sports that the medical team wants to wait until June to see what the ankle looks like before clearing her, adding that she does not want to rush back and risk getting hurt again. Injuries, she said, are hard to predict, but doctors told her there would be no guesswork until they can assess the ankle in June.
The injury cost Bella a shot at WrestleMania 42 in April, where she was supposed to compete in the fatal four-way tag team match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. It would have been her first WrestleMania match since 2017. Instead, she reached the entrance ramp in a walking boot with Brie and introduced Paige as her replacement for the bout.
Paige made her first WWE match in nearly 10 years and then teamed with Brie Bella to win the championship. Brie Bella and Paige remain champions, giving the injury-hit storyline an unexpected finish while Nikki watches from the sidelines.
What happens next is simple: June is the checkpoint. If the ankle has healed the way Bella hopes, an end-of-month return becomes possible; if it has not, the wait goes on. For now, the one thing she is not willing to do is come back before her strength is ready.
