With the addition of Ronda Rousey and Sonya Deville, as well as the return of Carmella, this season was not short on controversy, drama, and action that viewers have come to love. Season 9 centered around Rousey’s historic rise to the main event of WrestleMania 35, Nia Jax’s career-altering knee injuries, Carmella’s budding relationship with Corey Graves, and Natalya’s life after the passing of her father Jim Neidhart.

Without any further ado, let’s get you caught up on Total Divas Season 9.

#9. Naomi is no IIconic party planner

Don’t ever let WWE Superstar Naomi plan your party unless you prefer a disaster. After The IIconics showed some signs of being homesick, Naomi planned a huge bash for the former Women’s Tag Team Champions. Things got off to a terrible start right from the get-go when the Australian duo walked into a beach house covered with English flags. Naomi thought the flags were Australian and placed them throughout the party house in honor of the Aussie pair.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it. Naomi planned a night of drinking with the Total Divas cast, only there was one significant problem: The IIconics don’t drink. Not only are they as straight edge as CM Punk, but the women go to sleep early, so they didn’t exactly make for the best party guests.

This all led to Billie Kay having a heart to heart with Naomi, where she informed the former SmackDown Women’s Champion that the duo would be leaving the beach party early. Bummer!

ALSO READ: 5 Things You Should Know About The IIconics

#8. Ronda Rousey is a doomsday prepper

Like the great prophet Michael Stipe, Ronda Rousey has declared that this is the end of the world as we know it. She and husband Travis Browne own Browsey Acres, a self-sustaining farm in rural Riverside, California. With a plethora of land and animals to boot, there is always plenty of work to do at Browsey Acres. Rousey doesn’t mind either and sees the farm as a place of solitude, a welcome departure from the fast-paced world of professional wrestling.

Rousey espoused some interesting views about being a doomsday prepper that took both Natalya and Sonya Deville off guard,

Did she just say, “zombie?”

Rousey then took Deville and Natalya out for a little archery on her property, which is all par for the course when it comes to doomsday prepping.

Yum! Rousey also believes that we are due for another polar shift and while visiting a posh underground bunker, she described her philosophy as follows,

#7. Natalya’s pitch for tag team gold was rejected by WWE

Total Divas’ ninth season follows Natalya as she struggles through the grief associated with her father Jim Neidhart’s passing. Neidhart’s death and memorial were documented on Total Divas Season 8, but Season 9 featured a heartbroken Natalya doing her best to carry on without her beloved father.

The former RAW Women’s Champion wanted to honor her late father by winning the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Championships alongside Ronda Rousey. Natalya helped train Rousey and was instrumental in getting her ready for the WWE spotlight, but she may have done her job a little too well.

While the two teamed up initially, Rousey became a dominant singles competitor and went on to win the RAW Women’s Championship in rapid fashion. This left Natalya on the outside looking in when it came to the Women’s Tag Team Championships.

Natalya pleaded her case,

Natalya made her pitch to Vince McMahon, but was ultimately rejected in a move that left her devastated. There is a silver lining for Natalya. She did find herself in the Women’s Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 35 alongside long-time friend Beth Phoenix. The two came up just short and The IIconics ultimately took home the gold.

#6. The Bellas considered a comeback

Nikki and Brie Bella are both legendary WWE competitors, probable future Hall of Famers, and both have officially retired. Brie Bella is staying home to focus on her family with SmackDown Superstar Daniel Bryan while Nikki Bella has been forced to the sidelines by a significant neck injury.

With the Women’s Tag Team Championships taking center stage with the company, the two deliberated a potential comeback to the wrestling ring.

Nikki and Brie discussed why tag team gold means so much to them:

Nikki Bella meanwhile sees no finality in retirement,

While a Bella Twins comeback might seem inevitable, fans shouldn’t get too excited. Brie Bella is in the process of trying to make baby number two with husband Daniel Bryan and while Nikki continues to push for a return, Brie said she’d have to discuss things with her husband first and that’s where things left off.

ALSO READ: Total Bellas - 4 Things We Learned From The Season 4 Finale

#5. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville’s LGBTQ storyline was nixed by WWE

Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose were all set to have a historic LGBTQ storyline, but the company backed out at the last possible second.

The two women are inseparable, see each other five days a week, are neighbors in the same community, and have unparalleled chemistry, so they are constantly coming up with exciting new ideas to pitch to the powers that be at WWE. Both Rose and Deville decided to pitch the first-ever LGBTQ storyline to WWE Creative.

Much to their delight, their idea was initially accepted by WWE and was all set for WrestleMania 35. When asked whether she and Mandy Rose have the chemistry to pull off a gay storyline, Deville replied,

Despite a brilliant showing at Elimination Chamber, Rose and Deville were pulled from the Women’s Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania and the LGBTQ angle was nixed along with it.

A heartbroken Sonya Deville, who is openly gay, described WWE’s change of plans in the following,

#4. Carmella’s relationship with Corey Graves leads to backlash

Carmella and Corey Graves are in love, but there are several issues that stand in the way of happiness for the couple. As documented on this season of Total Divas, Graves and his wife were no longer living together, but he was still legally married when he began dating Carmella. Initially, the two decided to keep their relationship a secret, but Graves’ wife took to social media with a scathing critique of the new couple.

After things became public, Carmella endured a torrential downpour of fan harassment. Faceless, nameless, trolls began calling her a “homewrecker” on the internet, which led to the former SmackDown Women’s Champion becoming more reclusive as the season progressed.

While Graves and Carmella continued dating, they sought to carry out their relationship privately. When Graves decided to take Carmella out for a private dance lesson, the media showed up and a fan waited outside to call Carmella a “homewrecker.”

While things are definitely complicated for the two, don’t expect them to stop seeing each other anytime soon. They had numerous romantic moments throughout Season Nine and seem genuinely smitten with one another.

ALSO READ: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Corey Graves

#3. Rousey’s in-character comments didn’t go over so well

To say that Ronda Rousey offended some of her fellow WWE Superstars on this season of Total Divas would be a vast understatement. No one has been more loyal to Ronda Rousey during her WWE run than Natalya, and Rousey even managed to get under her skin.

It all began when Rousey started showing signs of the heel turn that would lead to the historic WrestleMania 35 main event against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. Rousey would utilize her enormous social media following and cut promos on her in-ring targets.

First up was none other than Total Divas cast-mate Sonya Deville. Rousey cut an in-character promo questioning Deville’s MMA background and expertise, calling her a “hobbyist.” Deville was offended by the comments, but Rousey noted,

Rousey claimed that Deville had double standards and added that she really didn’t give “a f*ck,” but the two women did eventually hash it out.

Perhaps Rousey’s promo skills are a little too believable because she also offended both Nia Jax and Natalya.

Jax called out Rousey,

Jax confronted Rousey backstage and eventually, the two women came to an understanding and did hug it out.

After Rousey called wrestling “fake,” Natalya was also offended by her comments and felt that Rousey “pushed the envelope too much.” Natalya admitted,

Rousey once again re-iterated that her comments were in-character and the two also came to an understanding.

#2. Nia Jax and Carmella have real-life heat

This season of Total Divas was filled with strife between WWE Superstars Carmella and Nia Jax. Things got off to a quick start on the very first episode when Nia Jax said that she wasn’t looking forward to her upcoming match against Carmella and that she didn’t respect her work. Jax took it a step further with the following,

Jax continued,

Their feud has origins in NXT and became exceptionally heated after the two had a match together. When Carmella thought Jax was being a little too rough, she called her out in front of the entire locker room, drawing Jax’s ire in the process.

When Carmella tried to smooth things over with Jax, the former RAW Women’s Champion was quick to point out that she finds “no genuineness” in Carmella and further challenged her authenticity.

Carmella took Jax to task for the remarks,

Later, Jax attributed some of her remarks to the struggles she was enduring with knee pain, and after a heart to heart with Nikki and Brie Bella, she finally made amends with Carmella.

#1. Nia Jax’s knee injury is much worse than you think

Total Divas Season 9 followed Nia Jax, as she struggled through significant injuries to both knees. Jax was in so much pain that it affected her personality, but she still carried on wrestling despite the excruciating pain. Nia confirmed that she had been experiencing knee pain for the past year, but that she didn’t want to let it stop her “from being able to push past the pain.”

Nia pushed herself and was able to wrestle alongside Tamina Snuka at WrestleMania 35 despite having no ACL in either knee and inevitably having to undergo double knee surgery. Jax very much believed that her WrestleMania 35 match could be her last.

Jax commented,

Jax described her body as “breaking down” and expressed concerns about her career coming to an end. She was also told that she would be at a higher risk of re-tear in the future.

More will be revealed on the special two-hour Total Divas Season 9 finale, which airs on E! this Tuesday at 10 PM EST.

ALSO READ: 5 Things We Learned From The Total Divas Season 8 Finale

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