Nikki Garcia (previously known as Nikki Bella), was looking to be a cornhole champion as she took part in the Johnsonville SuperHole IV event for the American Cornhole League (ACL) at the Summerfest music festival in Milwaukee last week. And while Garcia and her ACL pro partner Eric Zocklein won their first-round match against country star Tyler Hubbard and ACL pro Dayton Webber, the two could not get past Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones and ACL pro Yetty Irwan in the finals. PopCulture.com exclusively spoke to Garcia after the competition and explained why she wanted to take part in Johnsonville SuperHole IV.
“I’ve always loved cornhole, but becoming the host of Barmageddon, I’ve fallen in love with the game even more,” Gracia exclusively told PopCulture. “Now, I wish we could have brought our air cannon cornhole, and maybe I would’ve won, but it’s just, I’m a West Coast girl who grew up on the beach. We grew up playing cornhole. We always played it at barbecues. It’s been a part of my life. And so when I had the opportunity to play, I was like, ‘Hell yeah, for sure.’”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Garcia also talked about if she felt nervous before the event. “I wasn’t so much nervous, but I felt I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. I’m like that,” she explained. “That’s how I’ve been as a professional athlete and anything that I do. I go in it. I want to give up my all, and I am really big on not disappointing people. So I really didn’t want to disappoint my partner. I was lucky who I was paired up with. He’s one of the best in the league, so I had a lot of pressure going into it, and I was like, ‘Why did I choose to have super long acrylics?’ Not a good choice when you’re playing cornhole.”
Garcia has more time to focus on cornhole and other sports since her time with WWE has come to an end. Earlier this year, the 39-year-old and her sister, Brie Garcia, announced they are dropping the Bella name and leaving WWE. When asked what Nikki Garcia will miss the most about WWE, she revealed two big things.
“For one, the locker room,” She said. “I have always loved being a part of that group. I grew up as a soccer player and knew what a team sport meant. I felt that at WWE with the women, and it’s why I always was so vocal for the women and I always will be. I’ll always fight for them. Always did. That helped lead to evolution and a revolution. So I will definitely miss that the most for sure.”
Garcia continued: “The other thing is, the fans like WWE Universe and the Bella Army, even though they’re the Bonita Army now. What I love about the Bella Army is, they go with us wherever we go, and I’ll miss seeing them in that crowd, but hey, you never know whether it’s some other crowd or them years down. But I’m excited to take the Bonita Army through all our other journeys, and I’m going to always miss the WWE universe because there’s nothing like that in the world. When you walk down a ramp and you have the fans interact with you and you hit wrestling moves, the noise that they make, it’s incredible.”
