Speculation continues to mount regarding a possible romance between WWE star Nikki Bella and Super Bowl champion Cooper DeJean, following Bella’s latest video that has only intensified the rumors.
For over a week, fans have been abuzz with discussions about the potential relationship between the wrestling icon and the football star, who is two decades her junior. Neither Bella nor DeJean has publicly addressed the swirling rumors.
In what seemed like a dismissal of the gossip, DeJean recently celebrated a touchdown with a John Cena-inspired move on the NFL field, a gesture that appeared to nod to Bella’s former fiancé, John Cena. Bella and Cena were once engaged but called off their wedding shortly before it was set to take place.
However, Bella has reignited fan chatter by posting a video where she’s seen sporting a DeJean jersey while attending a game at Lincoln Financial Field.
The video isn’t from this past weekend, as the Eagles were playing away against the Bills. Many speculate that it was taken during the same event as a previous post, where Bella posed in front of DeJean’s locker.
Further fueling the rumors, DeJean was recently spotted at a WWE event in Philadelphia. Wrestler Grayson Waller cheekily suggested on a podcast that DeJean was seated in the front row “because he wanted to see Bella.”
WWE star Nikki Bella has poured fuel on the rumors she is dating Eagles CB Cooper DeJean
She previously shared a picture of her sat at DeJean’s locker while at the Eagles-Raiders game
Meanwhile, in the wake of her Instagram post and Waller’s comments, fans were quick to pull up an old photo of Bella and DeJean together during the Eagles’ off-season training camp over the summer.
Neither of the high-profile sports stars have been quick in confirming nor denying the rumors, and it remains unclear whether they are currently, or have previously been, dating.
The most telling sign so far came on the NFL field last week, when cornerback DeJean made a key interception in Washington against the Commanders.
To celebrate, he mimicked Cena’s famous ‘five knuckle shuffle’ move on teammate Quinyon Mitchell in a moment which quickly went viral.
And during a postgame media scrum, he told reporters that the celebration was a tribute to Cena, who bowed out of the WWE last week.
‘The celebration? Tribute to John Cena, guy I watched growing up. Big WWE guy when I was a kid,’ he said.
‘So yeah, we had that one planned for a while, I just didn’t get picked.’
DeJean performed the ‘five knuckle shuffle’ in tribute to WWE legend John Cena last week
Cena proposed to Bella in the ring at WrestleMania in 2017 (pictured) before splitting year later
DeJean is still just 22, and is 20 years Bella’s junior as romance rumors continue to swirl
Cena and Bella, whose high-profile romance was documented in the Total Divas/Bellas reality series, got engaged in the ring at WrestleMania in 2017 after becoming a WWE super-couple.
Yet they called off the engagement the following year and went their separate ways after six years amid differences over marriage and children.
Shortly after the split, Cena went on the Today show with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb and professed his love for the wrestling star, whose real name is Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace.
‘I love her,’ he said. ‘I want to be with her. I want to make her my wife. I want to be the father of her children. I just want us to work.’
His public admission of wanting to have children with Garcia was a surprise, as his dedication to not becoming a father was one of the key reasons that the couple split in the first place.
Back in June, Garcia recalled reuniting with her ex-fiance for the first time since calling off their engagement.
The former couple had crossed paths at the 2025 Royal Rumble in early February ‘seven [or] eight years’ after they had last seen each other.
‘It was very quick,’ Garcia expressed on the Honestly Cavallari podcast, adding that it had been so out of ‘respect’ since the fellow pro wrestler is a ‘married man’ now with wife Shay Shariatzadeh.
Bella recently admitted she has not had ‘intimacy’ with any romantic partner for a long time
Bella is a well-known fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, who DeJean signed with in 2024
On the latest episode of her and sister Brie Garcia’s SiriusXM podcast, Nikki suggested this week that love is not in the air for her right now as she has not had in intimacy in a ‘really long time’.
‘It’s crazy because I actually haven’t been touched or done anything in so long,’ she said in response to the DeJean rumors.
‘It’s funny when people call me a whore when I actually haven’t had intimacy in a really long time, even think of kissing.
‘I haven’t even kissed someone in so long. It’s, like, kind of crazy. I was thinking of this last night: “Do I know how to kiss?” You know when it’s been so long? I mean, I hope so. I’m about to make out with my pillow to make sure I still got it.’
