Nikki Garcia returned to the spotlight days after her husband Artem Chigvintsev was arrested for domestic violence.

Garcia, 40, co-hosted Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, a live Netflix event — her first public appearance since Chigvintsev’s arrest last week.

Garcia was joined by comedian Rob Riggle for the event, which was a hot dog–eating competition between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi that was held at the Luxor in Las Vegas on Monday.

The WWE pro looked jubilant as she took the stage with a huge smile on her face, clad in a bright red sleeveless jumpsuit with her jet black hair cascading down in loose waves.

However, Nikki was notably missing her wedding ring following her husband’s domestic violence arrest.
The former pro wrestling star sported a bare third finger on her left hand, and she didn’t appear to make any effort to conceal that she wasn’t wearing her ring.

‘My fabulous co-host today is an accomplished athlete herself, WWE Hall of Famer, Nikki Garcia everyone!’ Riggle announced at the start of the event.

During her introduction, Garcia responded to one audience member’s sweet shout-out.

‘Thank you Rob! Thank you everyone, I’m so happy to be here! And in just about 40 minutes — oh I love you too! — these two undisputed heavyweights of competitive eating will be standing on this stage, devouring hotdogs at unimaginable speeds and you know what, you’re all just going to have to see it to believe it,’ Nikki said.

The appearance comes just days after Garcia’s husband Chigvintsev, 42, was arrested.

The Dancing With The Stars pro was arrested on Thursday in Napa, California, on suspicion of felony domestic violence, and he was released from jail later that afternoon after his bail had been set for $25,000.

The Russian-born dancer was taken into custody after police saw ‘traumatic’ physical damage to a victim. Garcia was also in Napa at the time of the alleged altercation, but details of the alleged victim are not yet known.

According to a radio dispatch obtained by TMZ on Friday, Artem made a call to 911 to ask for medical assistance, but also claimed that Nikki threw shoes at him during the alleged incident.
‘Initially came in as requesting medical, but now he is stating he got into an argument with his wife and his wife threw shoes at rp [reporting party],’ the dispatcher said in the call, per the outlet.

The dispatcher also said, ‘There is a child on scene. Medical en route. There’s an active 415 [disturbing the peace] in the background responsible.’
Artem reportedly called 911 after an alleged domestic battery incident on Thursday – but took it back only minutes later, TMZ also reported on Friday.

Afterwards, the dispatcher also said over the radio, ‘RP is stating no medical is needed now.’

Sources told the outlet that the alleged victim did not place the call to 911, but Chigvintsev did around 8:30 a.m. due to alleged injuries on the victim.

However, law enforcement was on the road when the professional dancer called 911 once again, but only to take back what he had said earlier.

It is protocol for police to continue their response, but the fire department and paramedics were called off after being dispatched.

Upon law enforcement’s arrival to the scene at 9:30a.m. – an hour after the first call had been made – Artem was taken into custody.

Nikki Garcia’s representative also told TMZ on Friday as the former WWE wrestler broke her silence over the alleged incident: ‘This is a private matter, and Nikki asks for privacy for her and her family at this time.’

Officials with the Napa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the arrest with DailyMail.com, noting that deputies clearly witnessed physical evidence of domestic violence.
‘When it comes to felony domestic violence, it’s not based on hearsay,’ Napa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Henry Wofford told Dailymail.com Thursday. ‘The deputies saw something that is apparent.’

Wofford explained, ‘I’m not telling you this is what happened in this particular case, but sometimes there would be evidence of blood, sometimes scratches, sometimes it’s bruises.’

‘It’s something visible where the deputies said, “OK, we’re making this arrest.”‘

Deputies spoke to Chigvintsev and arrested him for felony domestic violence, Wofford told Dailymail.com Thursday, adding that the dance pro ‘was cooperative’ and ‘did not fight with our deputies or anything of that nature.’

Wofford told Dailymail.com that Chigvintsev was booked at Napa County Department of Corrections at 10:40 a.m., with his bail set at $25,000.

Chigvintsev posted bail at about 2:15 p.m. and was no longer in custody as of Thursday evening, Wofford stated.

Wofford told Dailymail.com that there was only one other person connected to this incident, but declined to identity of the victim or any details, per their request.

Wofford said that as of Thursday evening, he was not aware of any protective orders being filed by the victim or on their behalf by authorities.

‘We’re going to take our time like we do in every domestic violence case,’ Wofford said. ‘No one gets a preferential treatment, and no one is getting overlooked.’

‘When it comes to domestic violence victims, it is common for male and female victims to not be fully prepared to tell the entire story shortly after the incident, so we’re not going to rush this…and we have the patience as well.’

Wofford told Dailymail.com that the department was focused on providing ‘a support system for the victim.’

Wofford said that a probe was ongoing as to whether Chigvintsev had violated any laws with his conduct prior to his arrest Thursday.

Amid Artem’s arrest, a source told Page Six on Thursday that he will not be returning as a pro dancer on the upcoming season 33 of Dancing With The Stars.
‘There were no plans for Artem to be a part of Season 3,’ the insider revealed to the outlet.

His arrest took place only three days after he and Garcia celebrated their second wedding anniversary.

The two first met in 2017 when they were paired together on the 25th season of Dancing With The Stars – but were eliminated during the sixth week.

In July 2020, Nikki and Artem welcomed their son Matteo, four. And two years later, the couple said ‘I do’ in August 2022 during a romantic ceremony in Paris following multiple wedding postponements.

(Armani)