The former WWE star — who rose to fame under the stage name Nikki Bella — returned to where it all started on Monday, January 6, to celebrate the premiere of WWE’s Monday Night Raw on Netflix.
Garcia, 41, joined current and former WWE stars on the red carpet at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, in her first major red carpet appearance since settling her divorce from ballroom dancer in November.
The WWE Hall of Famer rocked a red leather strapless corset and matching pants for Monday’s occasion.
Garcia’s red carpet return comes two years after she and sister ended their affiliation with WWE and two months after she and Chigvintsev — who share son Matteo, 4 — divorced last year amid a domestic violence dispute. “Nikki and Artem have settled their divorce and will not be going to court,” Garcia’s rep said in a statement to Us Weekly at the time. “Both parties decided to drop the domestic violence restraining orders against each other in an effort to move on with their lives and effectively coparent their son.”
The statement continued: “Nikki’s number one priority has always been her son and privacy on the matter. She is thankful for all of the love and support she has received during this difficult time.”
Chigvintsev, 42, was arrested in August following an alleged altercation with Garcia in Napa, California. At the time, Us confirmed that the dancer was arrested for domestic battery and booked on a felony domestic violence charge. He was released on bail the same day. (In September, prosecutors declined to charge him.)
One week after news broke of his arrest, Chigvintsev and Garcia both filed for divorce.
In December, Garcia addressed her separation from Chigvintsev for the first time on an episode of her and sister Brie’s “The Nikki & Brie Show” podcast.
“I’ve been heartbroken. You dream of having this family and you have this incredible love, and it just goes the other way. You go from having a great love story to having a terrible one,” she said.
On a later episode of the podcast, Garcia said that she hasn’t had “a day without tears” since settling her divorce from Chigvintsev. “I just know that situations like this, divorce, whatever it may be, it takes a piece of you,” she said. “It takes a piece of your heart that will never grow back or never be replaced, but it’s, ‘How do we make that piece of you that’s gone strong?’”
Garcia and Chigvintsev began dating in 2019 after competing together on season 25 of Dancing With the Stars in 2017. The pair welcomed their son, Matteo, in 2020 and went on to tie the knot in 2022.
