Roxanne Perez has responded to Nikki Bella after the WWE Hall of Famer took a verbal shot at her on the October 16, 2026 edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown, with Perez firing back in a pointed message aimed at Bella’s memory and in-ring record against her.
According to Fightful, Nikki Bella used her appearance on that SmackDown broadcast to refer to Perez as the “least relevant member of The Judgment Day,” while also questioning why Perez was being positioned for a WWE Women’s Championship opportunity. The comments were framed as a direct challenge to Perez’s standing within the faction and her credibility as a title contender.
Perez did not let the remarks go unanswered. Per Ringside News, she responded by telling Bella that “old age” was apparently affecting her memory, pointedly reminding the Hall of Famer that she has defeated her twice in the past. Fightful’s report characterized Perez’s reply with a biting line of its own, summarizing her message to Bella as, “You can look but you can’t win,” a taunt built around mocking Bella’s in-ring losses rather than backing down from the relevance question Bella had raised.
The exchange adds a fresh layer of tension to Perez’s current standing in WWE, where she is aligned with The Judgment Day and reportedly being discussed in the context of the WWE Women’s Championship picture. Bella’s SmackDown comments directly challenged that positioning, arguing Perez did not merit consideration for a title opportunity, while Perez’s counter leaned on her head-to-head history against Bella as the rebuttal to any claim of irrelevance.
Neither Fightful nor Ringside News detailed the specific matches in which Perez says she defeated Bella twice, nor did either report indicate whether WWE has any immediate plans to book a follow-up confrontation or match between the two. What is established by both outlets is that the back-and-forth began with Bella’s comments on the October 16 SmackDown and that Perez has since responded publicly, extending a public exchange between a Hall of Famer and a current Judgment Day member tied to the women’s title conversation.
As of this report, there has been no further statement from WWE regarding whether this verbal exchange will translate into an on-screen program, leaving the next step in the rivalry unconfirmed.
