Nikki Bella Upton Slip

Today’s WWE female wrestlers are all about sex appeal and athleticism. Some fans don’t like that, complaining that WWE too often values looks over talent. But let’s get real here, wrestling is not a real sport. So it’s completely understandable that an entertainment company would prefer to place the spotlight on gorgeous women.

Just like in other avenues of entertainment, WWE desires to present the most appealing product possible. With a key demographic of 18-to-35-year-old men, it’s not surprising that beauty matters.

Having to wrestle while looking marvelous is a challenge for the women of WWE. The infamous term ‘wardrobe malfunction’ will inevitably be used when a female wrestler has to compete in a bikini-style outfit. On multiple occasions, the audience has gotten to see much more than intended and that includes Nikki Bella.

In April 2014, Brie Bella got involved in her real-life husband Daniel Bryan’s ongoing storyline with Stephanie McMahon and Kane. As part of the storyline, McMahon threatened to fire Brie if the injured Bryan did not relinquish the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Payback on June 1, 2014. This led Brie’s character to quit WWE before slapping McMahon in the face. After Brie quit, McMahon put Nikki in multiple Handicap Matches as punishment. Brie returned to television the following month, appearing in the crowd on Raw July 21, 2014. A confrontation ensued, which resulted in McMahon slapping Brie and having her arrested.

As scorching as their confrontation came across on TV, it was quickly overshadowed by Nikki having a nip slip!

McMahon had organized a four-on-one gang-up of Nikki; her opponents in the 4-on-1 Handicap Match were Alicia Fox, Eva Marie, Cameron and Rosa Mendes. McMahon’s fearsome foursome feasted upon the hapless Nikki, with Alicia herself executing a scissor kick to the Bella’s back. After being thrown out of the ring, Nikki was lying in agony on the floor. As she struggled to regain her composure, disaster struck.

With millions of fans watching on television, Nikki’s boob became exposed.

Her small red top momentarily slipped below her bountiful cleavage.

While Nikki’s nip slip was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, it quickly went viral after photos appeared on social media. Since then, millions of people have seen her humiliating moment.

Earlier in the month, Nikki nearly had a nip slip while lying on the ground with one arm tied behind her back.

This wasn’t the first time where one of the Bellas had a nip slip at a WWE event. In fact, it was almost a year to the day that Brie had a nip slip of her own (during an in-ring segment on Raw on July 22, 2013, hyping Total Divas). The nip slip was enough to prompt an apology from Brie on Twitter and vow that it would never happen again.

During a red carpet interview with Hollywood Life in May 2014, the Bellas revealed their number one tip for avoiding a wardrobe malfunction.

Nikki said, “Uh, wear panties? No, I’m just kidding. Um, make sure it’s not cold out (Nikki glances down). As you can tell, that was my mistake today.”

Brie said, “I would think, laugh it off. I’ve had one. If you laugh it off and don’t make a big deal, everybody’s gonna like, “OK, it’s not a big deal.’ But the minute you make it a big deal, it really sticks out.”

Nikki added, “When you have a sister, we do the checks before and like, we kinda move around all weird, ‘Like, anything? Anything?'”

According to former WWE star Maria Kanellis, the way to keep things in place involves double-sided tape.

She revealed in 2007 about her wrestling outfits, “I usually try to wear something practical and cute to wrestle in. But the problem is that most things that are sexy are so small and have a tendency to slip and move so the tigers (a.k.a. boobs) or other places come out to visit. As much as that might be entertaining to some of the studs out there (maybe some of the ladies too hehe), I think I would get thrown off the show. So, all of us girls have a secret that I am about to tell you to keep our clothes in place. It is double-sided tape. Sexy, right? Well at least it keeps the Divas covered so we can come out to play every week without getting thrown off the air for over-exposure.”

In Nikki’s case, double-sided taped is apparently not enough. Following the incident, there was talk among WWE officials of her wearing bigger tops instead of relying on double-sided tape.