WWE: Paul Heyman is absolutely right about Bianca Belair

Bianca Belair is beginning a rivalry with Bayley on WWE SmackDown that should be one for the ages.

Earlier this year, Bianca Belair was called up from WWE NXT as a member of the Raw roster not long before Paul Heyman was removed from his position as the Red Band’s head of creative. Not everything Heyman did landed well, such as the Lana/Lashley/Rusev angle, but, for the most part, Raw was in a better place in his hands due to his focus on the future.

Belair was one of the wrestlers tabbed by Heyman, who has a good eye for talent, as a future star to build on Monday nights. She never got a chance to be a focal point on Raw, but, since being drafted to SmackDown, we’re starting to see signs that WWE will finally capitalize on one of their most talented wrestlers.

Lana may have been the sole survivor at Survivor Series, but Bianca was the obvious standout of the match, nearly carrying SmackDown to an upset victory. Belair is now starting a rivalry with the longest-reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion and 2020 MVP Bayley, and that rivalry should be the best feud in the entire company when it heats up.

To further that rivalry, Belair appeared on Talking Smack after the Nov. 27 episode of the Blue Brand. Heyman, of course, is now a co-host of the show alongside Kayla Braxton, and he decided to send some huge praise in the direction of the EST.

Here’s what he said, via Fightful.com’s Robert DeFelice:

"“I would be remiss if I don’t also let Bianca know, and I think she knows this quite well, You’re the future of the women’s division and [future is] a word that is thrown around here a lot, but you are. You are an athlete with amazing credentials. You bring those credentials and that credibility to WWE. What you do is truly worthy of the tagline ‘the EST of WWE.’ I am in awe of the magnitude of your talent. You know, my feelings about The Street Profits. Those same feelings of admiration are bestowed upon you as well and I think that you know that.”"

And he is 100 percent correct.

Belair has received high praise from major stars like Charlotte Flair and legends of the business like Kurt Angle, so Heyman is just another notable name on the list. I like that “The Future” came up here, because it reminds me of the nickname Asuka received, which is also the name of her excellent theme song.

Because I sincerely think Belair is the most talented wrestler to come up from NXT since Asuka, who was, of course, undefeated as a fixture on the Black and Gold brand. No, Belair didn’t win the NXT Women’s Championship, but just about everyone who watched the product on a weekly basis in 2018 and 2019 understands that she was deserving of a title win. And she really should have beaten Shayna Baszler.

Digression aside, Belair is awesome. Forget Belair’s ridiculous Combine numbers in NXT that provide statistical proof of her athleticism. Belair is so much more than the moves and the strength. She is a fantastic promo, she can sell any match, her facial expressions are already among the best in all of WWE, and she carries herself like the absolute star that she is. Basically, she’s everything you want in someone you would call “The Future” of a wrestling promotion. Heyman has hit the nail on the head.