Did Nikki Bella Know John Cena Was Going to Propose at WrestleMania?

John Cena proposes to Nikki Bella at WrestleMania 33. (WWE.com)

John Cena proposed to his real-life girlfriend at WrestleMania on Sunday night. So how big of a surprise was this to Bella? Did she have any idea it was coming?

In an appearance on Today this morning, Nikki Bella said that she didn’t know John Cena was going to propose. John Cena also said that for logistical purposes, he did have to tell at least one person backstage that the engagement was going to happen, but only Cena and the unnamed person knew it was coming. Presumably this person was Vince McMahon, although Cena did not specify.

Cena also expanded on what he mentioned in the ring last night: that he was planning the engagement for over a year, having decided he was going to marry Nikki Bella when she underwent neck surgery in January 2016.

Even if Bella was not wise to the plan, though, she clearly had some idea it was going to happen. This engagement did not come out of nowhere, but rather at the end of a months-long WWE storyline in which Cena and Bella’s rivals in the show, The Miz and Maryse, constantly mock Bella for wanting to get married when John Cena won’t propose. Virtually every single week, the idea of John Cena proposing to Nikki Bella was mentioned on WWE programming.

There had also been rumors and speculation about the potential engagement for several months to the point that Cena and Bella were both directly asked about this in interviews conducted prior to WrestleMania. When they were on Today last week, the idea of a WrestleMania engagement was brought up, and John Cena appeared to get very nervous, dodging the question and doing his best to move on.

Nikki Bella was also asked in a recent interview with Between the Ropes what her thoughts were on people around the world placing bets on the possibility of John Cena proposing to her at WrestleMania.

“I just kind of learn to ignore it,” Bella said. “One, I don’t want to get my hopes up. And then two, when we were on the Today Show they were like there’s a prop bet going on in Vegas. It was like what?”

Brie Bella, Nikki Bella’s twin sister, posted a video reaction to the engagement on Sunday night, and in the video, Brie herself questions whether Nikki knew this was coming.

“I have to talk to her, because…she kept it a secret from me — well, I guess she probably didn’t know,” Brie Bella says.

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