• Nikki Bella Introduces “No Prom Pose” Policy: It looks like I’m getting pounded!
Nikki Bella has addressed the viral “prom pose” photo she took with a fan during WWE SummerSlam 2025 weekend. On their podcast, Brie Bella brought it up first: “So, you know that photo that went viral with you and the fan from Fanatics?” Nikki responded with a laugh: “Where it looks like I’m getting pounded from behind? Is that even appropriate to say?”
The fan in the photo was identified as Brian Lema, and Brie admitted her initial reaction was pure shock when she saw the image online. “Did Nikki let someone just hold her that tight from behind?” she recalled thinking.
Nikki explained that Lema had politely asked for a prom-style pose and that she’s agreed to similar requests in the past. “I’ve done it a bunch of times. You guys, I didn’t feel anything. It never felt inappropriate. It didn’t feel like what the photo looks like,” she said.
Brie jokingly asked, “Yeah, so, you just said a pelvic thrust right when they said ‘3, 2, 1’?”
Nikki said the fan’s posture and her baggy pants might have created the illusion, adding that the photo didn’t reflect the respectful nature of the interaction. “Because if I ever felt it was inappropriate, I would go straight to my rep and say, ‘Hey, that was really inappropriate.’ I didn’t have that at all. And he was actually – unless I’m being played – a very sweet guy with a really touching story. He’s watched us from day one.”
Even so, Nikki admitted that after seeing the reaction online, “there’s going to have to be a no prom pose rule” moving forward.
• Mark Henry Reveals The Bad Advice Hulk Hogan Got After Racism Scandal
During “TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan” on FOX, Vince McMahon was asked about his reaction to Terry Bollea saying racist things during his leaked $ex tape and during a phone call to his son Nick in jail. McMahon said: “It was unforgivable. And I was like, what happened? And when those things occurred, that’s not like him. What in God’s name is going on?”
Hogan was fired from WWE in 2015 when these comments went viral. WWE brought him back in 2018. When asked why the decision was made to bring him back, Vince replied:
“I knew he wasn’t racist. I’ve been with him for so many years. He said some racist things and he should pay for that and he did. But in the end, I think that everyone saw the real Hulk Hogan… Terry Bollea and they felt… wait a minute, this guy, he doesn’t act like a racist. He’s not a racist. We all make mistakes. That was a big one, but he wasn’t a racist.”
Mark Henry was also interviewed during this documentary and he said the following:
“He said, in his words, that he was a racist. Why would I sit here and try to defend somebody that tells you who they were? It hurt. It hurt. I grew up watching the dude. I used to love that dude. I wanted to be like him. It hurts.
I told him then, and I told Vince McMahon, if y’all want this to go away, I know how to fix it. We should do a black college tour at Morehouse and Prairie View and hit the circuit. Go and talk to them and be honest with your apology.
He was like, ‘I’ve been advised not to talk about it no more.’ I said, ‘I think that’s bad advice.’”
When asked if professional wrestling would’ve gotten as big as it did without Hogan, Henry replied:
“Absolutely not. Hogan was able to show people the template of what it takes to entertain people. Regardless of his shortcomings, it didn’t make him less of a wrestler. It didn’t make him less of an entertainer. It’s never going to take away from his greatness.”
