All of Nikki Bella and John Cena’s Breakup Details

Nikki Bella broke plenty of fans’ hearts when she announced on Sunday, April 15 that she and longtime love John Cena had split after six years together.

The split was one that no one saw coming, as the couple often posted about each other on social media and gushed about each other to the press in the days leading up to the announcement, leading many to wonder what went wrong when it came to one of the WWE’s most visible couples.

Scroll through for the full details on the split currently rocking the WWE Universe.

The breakup post

Bella announced the pair’s split with a statement on her Instagram account Sunday.

“After much contemplation and 6 years of being together Nikki Bella and John Cena announced today their decision to separate as a couple,” the statement read. “While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another. We ask that you respect our privacy during this time in our lives.”

The pre-breakup posts

Looking back, it seems Cena shared a few cryptic posts on social media before Bella announced the split, one of which was an Instagram image of a heart pieced together out of shattered glass.

The 40-year-old never captions his Instagram posts, so fans are left to interpret his statements how they will. Ahead of Bella’s split announcement on Sunday, the wrestler shared another post, this time uploading an image of a Walt Whitman quote that read, “We were together. I forgot the rest.”

Also on Sunday, he encouraged his followers to seek Whitman’s words if they were “feeling down.”

The post-split Instagrams

After Bella’s announcement, Cena has continued to post on social media, and while he hasn’t directly addressed the breakup, some of his messages have seemed to allude to it.

On Sunday night, Cena used Instagram to share a photo of The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy character along with the words “Worst Day Ever.”

Tuesday saw him share a quote on Instagram from Kwame Floyd.

“It’s not what you go through that defines you; you can’t help that,” the quote read. “It’s what you do after you’ve gone through it that really tests who you are.”

The post-split tweets

On April 16, he preached the virtues of perseverance.

On April 17, he seemed to potentially address the sources speaking to the media who painted a rather unflattering picture of the wrestler in regards to his relationship with Bella.

The wedding

After the split, it was revealed that the couple was just weeks away from their planned nuptials, with the duo set to wed on May 5 in Mexico.

“It wasn’t going to be some showy Hollywood, over-the-top glitzy thing,” a source told People of the wedding, adding that Bella was excited to celebrate her heritage with those close to her.

The WWE star had previously celebrated her bachelorette party with a full-on fête in Paris, spending over a week in the City of Lights along with twin sister Brie Bella and other family and friends.

The reason

Cena had been upfront with Bella from the get-go about his desire to neither marry again nor have children, though he seemed to change his mind about marriage when he proposed to Bella at Wrestlemania in 2017. Still, he never changed his mind about having children, something that was brought up on multiple occasions on the E! reality shows Total Divas and Total Bellas.

A new report from People suggests that Cena had “convinced” Bella that he had changed.

“When [Cena] proposed, he convinced [Bella] that he was a changed man,” a source said. “And if he can change his mind about never wanting to get married, why wouldn’t he change his mind about not wanting kids?”

“They have had an on and off relationship for years,” the source added. “It’s no secret that they didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, but, when you’re in love, you turn a blind eye. And that’s what Nikki did.”

The history

Bella had discussed Cena’s refusal to have children with her twin sister, Brie Bella, on the shows, and she had also grappled with the idea of potentially not having children as she had previously expressed her desire to become a mother.

“I do want to be a mom,” Bella told Cena in 2013 on Total Divas. “I feel like I’d be missing out.”

“I’m going to choose my words carefully,” Cena replied. “I can’t give you that.”

On a 2014 episode of Total Divas, Brie spoke to Cena about the issue, sharing that she was worried Bella was “lying to herself” when she said she no longer wanted children.

“Nicole and I were talking and she brought to my attention that she’s over marriage, she doesn’t want to have kids anymore,” Brie said. “It was a little alarming to me.”

Cena responded that he had been honest with Bella from day one and had always been upfront with her about what he wanted.

“I was abundantly clear about that from our very first date,” he said. “It wasn’t like I tried to manipulate your sister into thinking a certain thing was going to happen and then all the sudden say ‘Ha ha.’”

The wrestler added, “I love this girl, but I love my life.”

The aftermath

The breakup shocked many due to its seemingly sudden nature, as the pair had gushed about each other just days before their split was announced.

It remains to be seen where the duo will go from here, as Bella has remained silent on social media since sharing the news.

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com