WWE Survivor Series: Why Bianca Belair should be the sole survivor

Bianca Belair should be the sole survivor at WWE Survivor Series on Nov. 22 in the women’s five-on-five elimination match.

We have seen it countless times. How being the last one remaining in a traditional WWE Survivor Series match is often the prelude to a push. We saw it in Jeff Hardy’s win alongside Triple H at Survivor Series 2007, leading up to his match against Randy Orton at Royal Rumble the following year.

Speaking of Randy Orton, we saw how he built an early strong booking as making a reputation from being on the winning side of most of these matches. And on a more relevant side of the women’s division, Asuka’s victory at Survivor Series 2017 would then be followed by her Royal Rumble victory.

The 5-on-5 Survivor Series matches rarely have titles tangentially related to it. But they do have prestige that is unofficially connected. The idea that if you outlast the five members of the other team, and potentially even the four others on your own, you have proven yourself their superior in the match.

For this year’s women’s’ Survival Series match, there has only been one member of SmackDown’s team announced so far. And yet, you can’t help but feel as if it has already signified the most important part.

That woman is Bianca Belair. And is easily the most underutilized talent in any women’s division within the WWE.

Bianca Belair has what it takes to be a champion

On NXT, Bianca was present. Even got a few title matches at important NXT TakeOver events. Was a part of the first-ever Women’s Wargames. But yet, when you witnessed her in the ring, you would receive a distinct idea that Creative had no plans to truly have Bianca live up to her potential.

As Bianca herself pointed out in the build-up to her match against Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Title at TakeOver Portland, everyone involved seemed more concerned with pushing the idea of Charlotte Vs Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania. A match that followed Bianca Vs Rhea Ripley and wouldn’t occur if Bianca won the match.

While they try to minimize it, Charlotte can only give the barest of compliments to Bianca as an “athlete”. And then it’s literally only less than a minute before Charlotte declares Bianca “Not a champion”.

This promo summed up quite a bit about Bianca’s positioning during the majority of her career in NXT. Good. But not good *enough* to be placed in charge of heading the brand.

Which is not an opinion shared by many fans. You only need to go on Twitter and see the reactions to Bianca’s current debut run to realize that she connects. Whether it be her unique but natural character. Her powerhouse but well-honed physical style. Or simply the fact that she had proven through time and time again that she can bring it whenever she needs to.

This connects to my first point: Why Bianca Belair could be utilized as the lone winner at Survivor Series to propel herself to the SmackDown title scene.

WWE needs another star in the SmackDown Women’s Division

Sasha Banks is an amazing performer. Calling her the best of the Four Horsewomen is an argument that could easily be had. Her rivalry with Bayley extended throughout brands and was something always welcomed. You only need to look at her most recent PPV appearance at Hell In The Cell where she absolutely tore the house down with Bayley. Sasha is the champion.

Banks has shown she definitely deserves that position. The majority of women who have populated the women’s title scene have shown similarly. Becky Lynch. Charlotte Flair. Asuka. Bayley. But when you look outside those five, who else do you see having the same level of capability and talent to hold up the ceiling of the women’s division?

It’s hard, isn’t it? It almost seems like the main event scene has been populated by the Four Horsewomen since the early stages of the Women’s Revolution. Barring the addition of Asuka, who showed phenomenal ability in breaking into it through her hard-earned ability from experience.

But the fact is, you can’t have the same people in the title scene for eternity. And much the same way WWE discovered that having Randy Orton vs John Cena as the main event for every PPV had diminishing returns, this also should be learned.

In Bianca Belair, we have a change of challenger for Sasha. Someone who could go beyond the regular, if well done, Four Horsewomen bouts. We have something that WWE has so much trouble accepting often: Freshness. Bianca has shown she can hang with the best of them. Now, she deserves the chance to show she can hold up that women’s division ceiling.

And I believe standing tall at the end of WWE Survivor Series would be a fine exhibition of that.