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Nikki Bella to have career-threatening neck surgery

"I truly have such hope that I will get to compete in that ring another day," the star said.

By Annie Martin
Nikki Bella (L) and boyfriend John Cena at the New York premiere of "Sisters" on December 8, 2015. The WWE Divas star will have neck surgery Wednesday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 5 | Nikki Bella (L) and boyfriend John Cena at the New York premiere of "Sisters" on December 8, 2015. The WWE Divas star will have neck surgery Wednesday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Nikki Bella will put wrestling on hold to have potentially career-ending surgery Wednesday.

The 32-year-old WWE Diva announced the news in an interview with E! News published Monday. The surgery for a badly herniated disc will last about two hours, and Bella said she plans to take at least six months off to recover.

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"I have basically a broken neck," Bella said of her injury. "What makes mine a little bit difficult than most people is that I have some disc behind my vertebrae so with a lot of prayers we're gonna pray that the doctors can get the piece behind my vertebrae with just a bone fusion."

Bella will stay at the hospital for one or two days before returning home and using a neck brace for three months with no travel. Her final x-ray will be in six months, but she should know if the surgery is career-ending the day of the procedure.

"We only know that when I get out of surgery on Wednesday and then basically how the bone heals Wednesday," she explained. "So that's been tough but I truly have such hope that I will get to compete in that ring another day, I really do."

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Bella promised to have "the best comeback story that anyone has ever heard of," and was equally positive in an Instagram post she shared about her surgery, saying, "This isn't the end for me, it's just a beginning of a new chapter."

"I know I will compete in that ring again," she declared. "In life, we all have bumps in the road, it's how you overcome those bumps that makes you who you are. I am ready to conquer those bumps! I'm ready to test my will and strength! ... When I walk down that ramp again you will hear me roar!"

Bella is leaning on her twin sister and wrestling partner, Brie Bella, and boyfriend, wrestler John Cena, as she prepares for her surgery. She and Brie, who are known as the Bella Twins, star on E! reality series Total Divas, which airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.

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