Nikki Bella has heard it before and hoping to one day never hear it again.

Two weeks ago, during a promo on “Monday Night Raw,” Ronda Rousey brought up Bella’s real-life relationship and breakup with fellow WWE star John Cena.

Bella had just talked about the doors she knocked down during her time in WWE, and Rousey responded by saying the only door Nikki knocked down was “to John Cena’s bedroom, and he eventually threw you out of that exact door.”

Bella, who will challenge Rousey for the Raw women’s championship on Sunday at WWE’s first all-women’s pay-per-view Evolution at NYCB Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, said she is used to hearing the digs about Cena being responsible for what she’s accomplished in her career. She would like to move past it.

“I’ve grown thick-skinned to it,” Bella said in a phone interview. “I just can’t wait for the day it can stop and not every promo towards me brings up my ex and I think it will [stop]. I think there will come a day for that, but maybe there won’t, but I do hope so.”

Bella has been with WWE for more than a decade, is the longest reigning Divas champion in history, has come back from neck surgery and has starred on the “Total Divas” and “Total Bellas” reality shows. She and her sister Brie also have their own clothing line among other endeavors.

Rousey’s promo came under criticism because many felt painting Bella as needing a man to get ahead and using sex to do so are the very stereotypes the women of WWE and a show like Evolution are trying to put behind them.

Nikki sees a blending of past and present in the way Evolution is being promoted because of the greater number of women’s matches compared to a regular show. She does, however, want to see WWE eventually move beyond the idea of “saying women slept their way to the top or [got there] because of a man that made a woman.

“I think we are taking some old ways and bringing it into [Evolution],” she said. “I definitely hope it changes, and I think it will because I think the women are better than that. I think we can tell empowering stories that have nothing to do with men or how men define us because that’s the point of Evolution.

“We define ourselves as women. We want the equality. We don’t want to be defined by our men or our relationships because almost every woman is in a relationship with another wrestler in our industry. It’s crazy. I’ve never seen it like this, but it’s beautiful. We are such a big family.”

With that said, Nikki understands rivals getting personal makes for a very good storyline.

“I think it’s just going to depend on the storyline, the situation, are they the one driving the show,” she said.

Former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia, who will also fill that role at Evolution, sees using Nikki and Cena’s relationship in the storyline as a way of Rousey trying to get under Nikki’s skin.

“What more bigger button can you push on a woman than to say the only reason you got ahead was because of a guy?” said Garcia, who hosts the “Chasing Glory” podcast. “That’s a huge button to push, and I think that’s just trying to get in her head, but I know Nikki. Nikki knows that Nikki got herself there, period.”

Nikki Bella said the perception of how she got ahead — Rousey also has called her a “DNB” or Do Nothing Bella in promos — can strike a nerve with her at times, but can also make her feel sad for those pointing the finger.

“I guess where it doesn’t make me angry or feel bad about myself is I know the hard work that I’ve done to get where I’m at,” Nikki said. “I know the stuff that … John didn’t do what everyone said. He was my biggest supporter. He gave me amazing advice. I’d pick his brain all the time, and that’s what he did for my career, [like] everyone who has that special person in their life.”

Nikki hopes the view of successful women in general continues to evolve in a positive way.

“I think for me, this is the part where not only do men need to evolve, but [also] women that just because a woman is successful doesn’t mean it’s because of her man,” Nikki said. “I think it’s unfair.”