WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella has revealed that her recent Women’s Intercontinental Championship match against Becky Lynch was originally scheduled to take place on an episode of Monday Night Raw, not the Clash in Paris premium live event. The change was made at the last minute after another championship match was pulled from the PLE card.
Speaking on the latest episode of “The Nikki & Brie Show,” Nikki discussed the build to her first singles championship match in over seven years. She explained that the initial plan was for the title bout to happen on the August 25 episode of Raw from Birmingham, England. The week prior, Nikki had even cut a promo during a commercial break, challenging Lynch for the following week’s show. However, that plan was soon changed.
The decision to move the match to the premium live event was made after it was announced that the reigning Women’s World Champion, Naomi, was pregnant and had to relinquish her title. Her scheduled championship defense against Stephanie Vaquer at Clash in Paris was subsequently canceled, which opened up a spot on the card. Nikki said that she was informed about the change about a week before the event.
The match at Clash in Paris was a hard-fought encounter that saw Becky Lynch retain her championship. In the main event of the show, Lynch would go on to interfere on behalf of her husband, Seth Rollins, helping him to retain the World Heavyweight Championship against CM Punk. This has led to speculation of a potential mixed tag team match pitting the two couples against each other at the upcoming Wrestlepalooza event.
During her conversation on the podcast, Nikki also confirmed that cameras are currently filming for the second season of the “WWE: Unreal” docuseries on Netflix. The new season is reportedly set to be released in early 2026. This means that the backstage drama and last-minute changes surrounding the Clash in Paris event will likely be a featured part of the new season.