Breaking Down Nikki Bella's Sizable Growth as an In-Ring Performer

Nikki Bella took a wrench to her ring work, fine-tuning, tweaking and enhancing it until it was unrecognizable.

The former Divas champ began her WWE career as a hesitant wrestler-in-the-making, a dance student still having to count the steps aloud. 

Her early struggles were to be expected. She didn't earn her stripes on the indy circuit. She didn't make her name in Japan. She was learning on the job.

Nikki and her sister, Brie, came to WWE from the modeling world. They went from being the World Cup Twins for Budweiser to entering the violent, athletic spectacle that is pro wrestling. 

Uninspiring performances marked Nikki's early career. She looked lost in the ring. She was a key reason for why the first part of this decade was such a painful stretch for the women's division.

In the past two years, though, she has moved miles beyond what she once was. Confidence and experience have allowed her to grow. 

Folks have slowly begun to take notice. In 2014, Nikki won the Writers' Choice Award from Diva Dirt for most improved wrestler. In his 2015 midyear awards, Rolling Stone's Kenny Herzog also named Nikki most improved.

Wresting Inc tipped its hat to her as well:

To understand how far she has come, one has to look backward. Fire up tapes of her 2008-2012 run. Evidence of her in-ring floundering is easy to find.

She was a batter standing in the box, just not comfortable holding the pine.

Early Hesitancy

A 2010 bout against Jillian is a prime example of what was missing from Nikki's game at first.

She ran the match at a low gear. When it was time to turn up the intensity or pick up speed, she just didn't. 

Jillian was caught up in the ropes, and Nikki came at her too softly. Moments later, Nikki was supposed to be charging at her foe in the corner but arrived to that spot via light job instead.

Her selling was off, too. When Jillian sent her crashing backward onto the mat, she seemed unsure of whether to pop right back up or writhe on the floor. She ended up waffling between the two choices.

Delivering convincing strikes was an issue for her, as well.

Against Kaitlyn, she delivered one of the weakest kicks you will ever see inside a wrestling ring. In a tag match on Superstars, she struck Jillian with another feeble kick. 

A lack of sufficient force also carried over to other moves. In a battle with Maryse, she "slammed" her opponent's head into the turnbuckle with featherlight force.

Beyond that, there was a lack of fire to her offense in general at this point in her career.

Wrestling requires one to to be exaggerated and overly demonstrative. Nikki was approaching the art with timidity instead.

It's no wonder WWE had her and Brie rely on the "twin magic" routine so much. That was the best weapon the sisters had.

A More Beastly Bella

To see Nikki wrestle today is to see a different wrestler. She began as a student pushed to the spotlight too soon but has worked to become an artist with a firm grip on the brush.

There is more snap to her moves, more immediacy in her movement, and she's more at home between the ropes. 

When Charlotte looked to end her reign as Divas champ last month, Nikki was fiercer and quicker to pounce. She wrenched Charlotte's arm. She nailed her with shots to the head and pinpointed a dropkick on the challenger's injured arm.

Ramming Charlotte's face into her knee was another of the heel's weapons.

A big part of Nikki's growth has been her expanded playbook over time. As a green performer, she had just a handful of moves she would use. She has since adopted the Alabama Slam, a springboard roundhouse kick and the Rack Attack. 

She now wields a thunderous forearm as well, which Sasha Banks and others have experienced firsthand.

That has helped to make her matches more varied, giving her more to work with in order to tell a story in the ring. Pair that with newfound aggression, and it's easy to see why she has gone from among the worst wrestlers on the roster to earning kudos for her progress.

In May, she and Naomi collided over the Divas Championship. 

The short bout showed off how much more intense she has become. Beyond just cranking up how hard she hit, Nikki wore a more focused, more warrior-like glare. Flips and kicks only tell one part of the story; facial expressions are vital tools as well.

Nikki has grown into a better seller over time, too. At one point in the title match with Naomi, she pulled herself up by the ring ropes wearing a pained expression. She looked convincingly drained by the battle she had been having.

She wouldn't have been able to pull off that moment in 2011.

With the rise of the Divas Revolution and NXT sending the main roster three of its best workers, some fans have been quick to suggest sending Nikki away. She's just 31, though. She's gone from clueless to competent to excellent.

If she has evolved that much from her first few years, one has to imagine that she's not done getting better just yet. With the added spotlight that has come to the women's division of late and the upgrade in competition Banks and others have given her, expect Nikki to keep growing and converting critics into fans.