The EST of WWE, Bianca Belair has raced to the top of the mountain in less than 4 years. Debuting in NXT as a heel, Bianca Belair kick-started her pro-wrestling career as a contestant at the Mae Young Classic. She then teamed with the Sassy Southern Belle, Lacey Evans. Shortly after making her NXT television debut, Belair branched away from the tag team division. Although Belair never won the NXT Women’s Title, she was always one of the top names of the brand.
Bianca Belair quickly caught the eye of Vince McMahon himself, after her incredible performance at the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble match. The following year, Belair put on another Stellar performance and emerged the victor at the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble match. She then went on to ‘Main Event‘ her first-ever WrestleMania at WrestleMania 37 and tasted gold for the first time.
Exactly a year after, at WrestleMania 38, the EST of WWE defeated Becky Lynch to win the Raw Women’s Championship.
BIANCA DID IT!!!!!!!@BiancaBelairWWE is the NEW #WWERaw Women’s Champion at #WrestleMania! pic.twitter.com/hs5tl8ocCs
— WWE (@WWE) April 3, 2022
I have ran down her career highlights in the world of Professional Wrestling. But, who is the EST of WWE outside of WWE? Here’s everything you want to know about Bianca Belair.
Who is Bianca Belair?
On April 9th, 1989, in a small town in Knoxville, Tennessee, Bianca Nicole Blair, better known as Bianca Belair was born. The EST of WWE is the only child of Leonard and Travonda Blair. Belair began to shine at a very young age as an athlete. She was one of the fastest runners in her school and her universities. The EST of WWE excelled in many sports such as Hurdles and other track and field events.
Athletic Career and Achievements of Bianca Belair
As mentioned earlier, Bianca Belair is an outstanding athlete. Belair studied at Knoxville’s Austin-East Magnet High School and her success as a track and field athlete got her into college. Belair attended three universities. The first university that she attended was the University of South Carolina and after then studied at the Texas A&M University. Her height of success was achieved in her home state, at the University of Tennessee, which was also where she spent her final years of college.
While speaking to ‘The Undefeated‘, Belair highlighted why she shifted colleges and how she finally found herself back at her home state. At school, the EST of WWE was the fastest runner and as she moved into college, she was not at her best. Looking back at those days, Belair realised that her poor performance at the University of South Carolina was her immaturity and thinking she was better than everyone else.
“It was just immaturity. I didn’t perform well at all. In high school I was probably running 13.4s in the 100-meter hurdles, and getting to college I was running a whole second slower. So I left South Carolina, transferred out of there and blamed everything but myself.”
Belair had an illustrious track and field career. Building a reputation for 6 years, Belair was honored with the All-SEC and All-American Honors. Adding to these honors, in 2011 and 2012, Bianca Belair received the South Eastern Conference’s academic honors.
Bianca was not only a Queen on the track but she also excelled in powerlifting and cross-fit. Belair was a big girl all her life. She was diffident about her image and cross-fit helped her regain confidence.
“In CrossFit, it’s an amazing community, it’s just positivity all around. I fell in love with my body, I fell in love with my muscles, I fell in love with my physique.”
She was not only a “Jill of all trades“, but also Mastered them. She proved to be the fastest and then outshined all her competitors to be the strongest and then in WWE proved to be the toughest. “The EST of WWE” is not just a catchphrase, it is a fact.
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Sadly, Belair had to give up on cross-fit and powerlifting after being diagnosed with the ‘slipping rib syndrome’. It is also known as the ‘shifting rib syndrome’ or ‘intercostal chondritis’. This condition causes excruciating pain on a person’s chest and their upper abdomen as he or she moves because their lower ribs shift.
Belair was completely dejected because of this. She had opportunities to compete in several competitions and also was offered chances to be on ‘American Ninja Warrior‘, but nothing came to fruition.
“I thought it was really going somewhere, and then it all completely stopped. … It literally felt like it crippled me.”
After thinking her career was over, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry, contacted her via social media. Belair caught Henry’s eye when he saw her profile on the ‘CrossFit Circuit‘. Mark Henry was willing to get her an opportunity to tryout for WWE if she was willing to do the work. An elated Belair accepted the offer and after 2 tryouts, she was offered a WWE contract. After signing with the company on April 12th, 2016, Belair outperformed everyone at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
Bianca Belair’s husband and kids
Shortly after signing with WWE, Belair began to date fellow WWE star, Montez Ford. Ford and Belair dated for over a year and the two got married on June 23rd, 2018. The two do not have any children of their own, but Belair is the stepmother of Ford’s children, Liam and Morgan. The couple have been open about having kids of their own, but with both of them being featured on WWE television on a regular, the plan to get pregnant may be on a hold.
As previously mentioned, Bianca Belair is the current Raw Women’s Champion. She is the only female wrestler to be undefeated at the grandest stage, WrestleMania. Belair along with Sasha Banks shared an amazing moment at WrestleMania 37, for being the first 2 African-American women to main event a WrestleMania. They are in-fact the only African-American superstars to solely main event WrestleMania.
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This historic moment earned them an EPSY for the Best Moment in 2021. Bianca Belair can proudly say that she was one of the superstars to revolutionise the Women’s division. The EST of WWE continues to break barriers and creating records. Being part of the main roster for this a little over 2 years, Belair already has a Hall of Fame worthy career.
What is your favourite Bianca Belair moment? Let us know in the comments.