|
Listen to this article here
|
Sign-Up for a free subscription to The Black Wall Street Times‘ daily newsletter, Black Editors’ Edition (BEE) – our curated news selections & opinions by us for you.
Bianca Belair challenges Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch for her title at Wrestlemania 38 this Saturday in Dallas TX.
Born in 1989 in Knoxville Tennessee, this barely 80s baby has entertained audiences from her neck of the woods all the way to Saudia Arabia and everywhere in between. A former full-riding track star and graduate from the University of Tennessee, Bianca originally had aspirations to become an all-American runner, however, she was diagnosed with a shifting rib syndrome, intercostal chondritis, which benched her from running.
Unable to do track, Belair switched career paths and in 2016, she arrived at WWE where her in-ring charisma and creativity quickly propelled her up the ranks in a fraction of the time it takes most WWE superstars.
Bianca Belair is the “EST of WWE.”
Self-described as the greatest, strongest, and toughest, Bianca is one of WWE’s favorite babyface or “face” superstars. She enters and exits each arena with a Colgate smile, ridiculous swag, and unmatched talents that back up her joyful bravado. In wrestling, a “face” is a character who is portrayed as being moral or approving (faces are “good guys” or “crowd favorites”).
At last year’s Wrestlemania, Belair and Sasha Banks, who was WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion at the time, competed in an instant-classic match that would crown Bianca Belair as a Champion. It was also historic because it was the first time two Black women headlined Wrestlemania.
Bianca’s Wrestlemania championship reign was cut short.
As a new champ, Belair indiscriminately squashed contender after contender until she was finally confronted months later by a former Women’s Champ, Becky Lynch at 2021’s Summerslam. After agreeing to fight Lynch on the spot, Belair was surprise attacked and defeated by Lynch in an embarrassingly meager 26 seconds.
Since Belair’s defeat and title loss, she’s remained upbeat and bulldozed through opponents the same way she had done before, and over the past eight months, she’s worked her way back to the top of the mountain. In an opportunity to exact revenge at the biggest Pro. Wrestling showcase, the fresh Princess of Belair will have to do more than slap Becky if she wants to regain her championship.
And more than a slap is warranted, in recent weeks Lynch has tugged at, fiddled with, and manipulated Bianca’s signature hair braid while spewing nasty and baseless insults. Exacting revenge, Bianca has since whipped Becky with her braid, leaving welted reminders not to touch a Black woman’s hair.
Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch will square off this Saturday at Wrestlemania for the Raw Women’s Championship where history will be made yet again.