Due to some technical difficulties, we missed the last couple of episodes of Total Bellas. But a brand new PVR later, and we’re back with our coverage, starting with the second episode of the season. In this one, it’s the beginning of the end of the relationship between Nikki and John Cena. Check out the recap for all the details.
Brie and Nikki are assembling a table, and they talk about starting a business putting together furniture for other people. Maybe they should learn to put together a match first.
Later, they’re at a BirdieBee photo shoot, and they talk about Nikki’s predilection to be naked all the time. OK, that I’m in favour for. Amidst this, Nikki drops the bomb that she’s been cleared to wrestle again. Of the two, I’d prefer she just concentrate on the nakedness. They start talking about work-life balance, and Nikki gets sad that she won’t be having kids like Brie does.
Later, they go work out. On the way home, they mangle the English language. Rob, one of John Cena’s best friends, calls Nikki. He talks about how his life is ruined now that he has a kid, but how it’s worth it. Nikki invites him to her and John’s engagement party, even though it was supposed to be family-only. And then tells him that he’s going to be Cena’s best man, even though Cena hasn’t decided that. Afterwards, she regrets saying it.
That night, Nikki tells Cena what she did. Rather than argue about it, Cena lectures her on being a presumptuous self-important beeyotch who doesn’t think before she talks. He then asks if she’s fine with getting married in his hometown, because he thinks she may not be (she’s not). She finally admits to him that she only said she was because she thought if she started having opinions on things that he didn’t share, he’d call the whole thing off. He says that the wedding is her day, and if she wants it somewhere else, that’s fine with him. He then says she needs to always be honest with him.
Later, both of their families come to the house for the big “meet the family” night. For some reason, JJ, the twins’ brother, starts peppering Cena with personal questions… “stanning” him, as the kids say.
Upstairs, Brie asks Lauren, JJ’s wife, if she’s pregnant. She confesses that she is, but doesn’t want to say anything about it lest it take the spotlight away from Nikki. Nikki walks in on their secret whispering session, and when they won’t tell her what they’re talking about, she gets upset.
The next day, the girls go wedding dress shopping along with Gramma Bella. Everyone likes every dress she tries on, but Nikki seems off, like she doesn’t even care.
Later, at home, she and John are planning the engagement party. She’s worried about the event going perfectly, and he tells her that invariably stuff will go wrong, but that she should just accept that will happen and enjoy herself. Despite his reassurance, she feels like she’s going to have a panic attack. Later, she’s still worrying herself silly, and then gets emotional about her dead grandpa. Cena tries to comfort her again. She says that she’s all focusing on making the perfect party in order to suppress the emotional roller-coaster of missing her family on this otherwise-happy day.
Both families arrive for the party, and the house is full. And Nikki is secretly miserable, but she doesn’t know why. Cena’s buddies, Rob and John Martin, who Cena doesn’t know are coming, arrive. Cena is thrilled to see them. Nikki is happy that he’s happy, but it only highlights how “meh” she’s feeling about the whole thing.
Later, they’re going to make a toast, and Cena insists they do it together, apparently not remembering that Nikki cuts the worst promos. During his part, he tells everyone that they’re going to get married in Napa Valley, where Nikki wants it.
But then we enter Brie Mode, and drunkenly, she calls Lauren up and effectively forces her to reveal her pregnancy, thereby stealing the spotlight from Nikki on her big day. Nikki is irritated with Brie, but is more ticked that another family member is having another baby, while Cena is firmly against having kids with her. Angry, Nikki bails from the party and heads up to her room in tears. In a talking head segment, Nikki comes to the realization that she can’t live without kids and contemplates what this means for her relationship with the child-hating Cena.
The next day, Brie and Bryan head to the gym so Brie can get some training in before the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. They work out but then the discussion turns to Brie potentially lactating during the match, and it’s clear the director’s just milking the scene for time. Yeah, see what I did there? On the way home, Brie calls a despondent Nikki, who’s in the car, driving to the airport to pick up John. Their ride home is nothing but awkward silence, as Nikki is in a major funk. They get to the wedding planner’s store where they’re going to make a bunch of decisions for their ceremony. Nikki asks if they can go to a private room to talk.
She tells Cena that after Brie had her kid, Nikki’s really got a case of baby fever. And that even though she loves him, she feels anxious that their wedding means that her dream of being a mother will never come true, which she may end up resenting him over. He tells her that he was afraid this would happen, and he would never want to deny her from being a mother, so maybe them getting married is the wrong thing to do. The episode ends with the two of them sitting there sadly.
Bob Kapur doesn’t have any kids that he knows about. E-mail him your paternity suit papers at bobkapur@hotmail.com