A Look Back At Dolph Ziggler and Nikki Bella’s Relationship

Fans of the hit E! reality show Total Divas can see that Nikki Bella is in a relationship with John Cena, the premiere Superstar of WWE. But what most fans don’t know is that the leader of the Cenation is not the first WWE Superstar the buxom Bella has romanced with.

When Nikki was starting out her career in WWE, she was dating Dolph Ziggler. While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact timeline of their relationship, photos that have surfaced online of the two out together in public show they were together as early as 2008 and as late as 2010. During this time, both talents were stationed near WWE’s then-developmental branch, Florida Championship Wrestling, in Tampa, Florida.

During an October 2013 interview with WrestlingInc.com, former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis said the well-publicized animosity between herself and The Bella Twins can be traced to her dancing with Ziggler at a party. This upset Nikki, who was dating Ziggler at the time.

Me and Dolph Ziggler were very close friends. We have been for a long time before the twins ever arrived and one time I was dancing with Dolph at a party we were at, at a Green Iguana place or something. So we were all hanging out, having fun and dancing. I was dancing with him. I was dancing with the girls. I was dancing with the other people that were there. So all of a sudden when I’m dancing with Dolph I get a tap on the shoulder and it’s Nikki Bella going, ‘what are you doing?’ And I said, ‘uh, dancing with my friend?’ And she’s like, ‘oh, he’s with me.’ I said ‘okaaaay, sure.’