Retiring?! Brie Bella’s Big Career Announcement Blindsides Nikki on Total Bellas

Decisions, decisions!

Brie Bella made a handful of big ones during Sunday’s Total Bellas, from the status of her career to the digits of her area code. Audiences who’ve been keeping up with the Bella Twin’s personal turmoil these last few months know Brie wrestled with some pretty sizable “what ifs” this season—and not only with regard to wrestling.

Her and Nikki Bella‘s WWE comeback tour had Birdie Danielson‘s mother questioning just about everything: was mom’s new travel schedule giving her toddler separation anxiety? Was traveling even worth being away from Birdie during such a formative time in her life? And if not, then what was she doing it for, anyway?

Brie finally found the clarity she’d been searching for this week, certainly on more counts than one.

“Bryan and I have an announcement!” shouted the Bella Twin, closing out a wholesome beach evening with her family, adorable nieces and nephews included. “I decided that after Evolution, I’m gonna be fully retired,” Brie continued with a smile. “Fully done.”

Believe it or not, that was hardly the half of it. Brie also shared that she and Daniel Bryan would be leaving  San Diego considerably earlier than their year-long lease originally stipulated. And, much to J.J. and Lauren Garcia‘s delight, she revealed the couple’s plans to head back home: “Bryan and I are looking for a house in Phoenix,” she said happily. “Cause we’re moving back!”

They were dead serious too. Though Brie’s family might not have known it at the time, she and Bryan had already made the initial house-hunting trek to central Arizona earlier that week. After falling in love with the “perfect” home in Phoenix, the 35-year-old career woman—to borrow Brie’s words—came to an important realization.

“Birdie is truly number one,” she said, adding that what her heart “truly desires” right now is stability, starting with a stable residence fit to raise a family. That last qualification in particular became more and more relevant as Sunday’s episode drew on. Why? As consequential as those career—and property—related revelations were for Brie, her final decision this week was probably the most exciting of all of them.

“I know a couple months ago I told you I wasn’t ready for baby number two because I have a lot on my plate,” she told Bryan during their Phoenix trip. “But I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I think the comeback really made me realize that I am actually ready. And I do want Birdie and our next baby to be close in age.”

Brie suggests they “start trying” for another baby once they’ve settled into the new place, and Bryan was obviously over the moon about her idea. “I love that,” he said sweetly.

 As for Brie’s future with WWE? After more than a decade in the ring, she knew—for her at least—it was time to tap out.

“I love WWE, but the one thing I learned is that I can’t do everything. I just can’t,” she explained. And even though she’ll miss it, “I know deep down inside that I’m making the right decision, that the boots have to be hung, that I need to go back to Phoenix and just really put more concentration on the things that are in my future instead of what was in my past.”

Understandably, hearing that her sister planned to retire and leave San Diego all at once was a little disorienting for Nikki. “Talk about dropping two huge bombs,” she told the confessional camera. “I guess retirement I always thought would be something that Brie and I would talk about together. I just did not expect this big change after such an incredible comeback.”

See how everything unfolded this week—and catch up on the Bella Twins’ action-packed road to Evolution, ring roasts with Ronda Rousey and all—in the full recap video above!