WWE: Why Bianca Belair is the future of the company

WWE NXT superstar Bianca Belair is the future of this company. If you haven’t recognized her immense talent, get with it.

If you were to look up “homegrown talent” in any sort of dictionary, you would most likely encounter a picture of The EST of NXT right under that definition. Before signing with the WWE in April of 2016, Bianca Belair knew little about the business she would soon turn on its head.

Before WWE

Born on April 9, 1980, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Bianca Belair (Bianca Nicole Crawford) has been an athlete almost her whole life. From a very young age, Belair started doing Track and Gymnastics.  Her dedication to track would lead to her being on her high school’s track team, which eventually led to her receiving a Full Ride Athletic Scholarship to the University of South Carolina. However, due to personal struggles she talks about on Lillian Garcia’s “Chasing Glory” Podcast, Belair would transfer to the University of Texas A&M after a year.

Belair would eventually move back to Knoxville to finish out her college career at the University of Tennessee.  After initially thinking about doing track professionally, Belair would soon decide that that wasn’t the route she was going on. She would eventually get into Cross Fit, and one of her training videos would eventually lead to WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry contacting her for a Tryout in 2015. The WWE would end up calling Belair for a second tryout, leading to her signing a contract with the NXT brand in April of 2016.

Homegrown Talent? Look no further.

Belair’s background in track, gymnastics, and CrossFit was advantageous to her wrestling training. Nearly a year after signing with the company, Belair would compete in the first-ever Mae Young Classic, losing to eventual winner Kairi Sane in the second round of the tournament.

This would end up being Belair’s only loss for a long time as the Knoxville native would go on a year-long undefeated streak, lasting until her eventual loss to former NXT women’s Champion Shayna Baszler at NXT TakeOver Phoenix.  Belair incorporates all aspects of her background into her In-ring work and has a unique weapon in hair Braided Ponytail, which she says she braids a certain way to produce that particular sound effect.

Because of her strength, speed, and agility (among other qualities)in the squared circle, Belair earned the moniker “The EST of NXT”.  She is the fastEST, the strongEST (have you seen those Military Presses she does!), the toughest,  the RoughEst, the bEST.  She proves her mettle every single time she steps in between the ropes. She definitely proved it when she broke the record for most eliminations (8) in the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble.

A Confidence like No Other

From the very first moment Bianca Belair stepped inside of a WWE NXT ring, she has exuded an aura of confidence unlike many have ever seen before. Belair believes that she is the best, and that confidence is shown in every match she competes in; it’s in every promo she cuts, in every facial expression. It is present in her tone of voice when she directs the words “You don’t even go here” at superstars she feels do not belong in the same ring as her. Belair has an incredible connection with her audience.

She is unapologetic in who she is, she is strong, she is intense, and yet, she is not afraid to be vulnerable.

Belair’s matches with the likes of Nikki Cross, Shayna Baszler, Rhea Ripley, and Io Shirai, are but a few examples that showcase her incredible talent. Her standout performance in the Triple Threat Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series 2019 – just one night removed from a brutal first time ever all-female WarGames – proves why she is a force to be reckoned with.

Final Thoughts

Belair, along with incredible women like Naomi, Mia Yim, Ember Moon, and Sasha Banks to name but a few, is the superstar 7-year-old me dreamed of seeing.  Here and now, at 25 years of age,  being able to say that someone who looks like me is proving the strength and dedication of women as a whole is more than I am able to put into words.

Bianca Belair is an amazing in-ring performer and an even better promo. Her in-ring prowess is unlike any I have ever seen in the industry.  Her incredible performances since the beginning of her career in the WWE, as well as more recently in the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble and Survivor Series 2019, prove that not only is she the EST of NXT, but she is also the future of the WWE.