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[yahoo-the-turnstile-blog]

John Cena proposes to girlfriend Nikki Bella at WrestleMania 33

Love was clearly in the air at WrestleMania 33.

WWE stars John Cena and Nikki Bella, who have been dating since 2012, got engaged in the middle of the ring in front of tens of thousands of fans at the WWE’s biggest event of the year.

Following their match against The Miz and Maryse, Cena stopped the crowd and dropped to one knee before asking Bella to marry him.

“This. This is what you wanted,” Cena said after celebrating the victory alongside his girlfriend Bella. “Over a year ago you broke your neck and wanted to come back because you wanted a WrestleMania moment.”

“I promised I would tell you when the time is right,” Cena said, referring to having asked Bella about getting married prior to her surgery in 2016.

“I have been waiting so long to ask you this,” Cena said. “Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace, will you marry me?”

A #WrestleMania moment for the ages! After winning their #MixedTag, @JohnCena PROPOSES to Nikki @BellaTwins at The #UltimateThrillRide! pic.twitter.com/lnjviTTL6c

— WWE (@WWE) April 3, 2017

Bella nodded yes and sealed the deal with a kiss.

Prior to the match, Cena and Bella each approached and hugged Cena’s mother, Carol, who was seated ringside for the match. After the match and proposal the two went over and shared a moment again with Cena’s mother as well as Bella’s mother Kathy and brother J.J.

Cena’s reluctance to propose played a central role in the buildup for the WrestleMania match. In addition to Miz and Maryse – who are married to each other in real life – parodying the recently very public relationship, Cena and Bella’s personal life has been a part of the WWE’s reality shows “Total Divas” and “Total Bellas” on E! Cena has famously been against both getting married and having children.

John Cena, left, and Nikki Bella arrive at the Kids’ Choice Awards at the Galen Center on Saturday, March 11, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Cena has been with the WWE since 2002, rising to be the face of the company and winning a record-tying 16 world championships. Bella started appearing regularly on WWE in 2008 alongside her twin sister Brie (real name: Brianna Monique Garcia-Colace).

The upcoming nuptials between the two makes it a trio of wrestling couples in the Bella family. In addition to Cena and Nikki, Brie is married to current WWE personality Daniel Bryan (real name: Bryan Danielson) and their mother Kathy is married to former WWE star John Laurinaitis.