Bianca Belair

Bianca Nicole Crawford (née Blair; born April 9, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Bianca Belair.

A former track and field athlete, Belair made her professional wrestling debut in WWE NXT, where she competed for the NXT Women’s Championship on multiple occasions. After being drafted to WWE Smackdown, she won the 2021 women’s Royal Rumble, becoming the second African-American superstar after The Rock to win a Royal Rumble match. She successfully challenged for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 37, making them the first Black women to headline WrestleMania.[8][9]

Blair attended Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she succeeded in many sports such as track. Blair was a track and field athlete, who competed in the hurdles. She had what ESPN writer Sean Hurd called “a volatile six-year track career” that saw her attend three universities.[10] She first attended the University of South Carolina and then Texas A&M University, and later did not compete at all for a year, before completing her college career at the University of Tennessee, where she became All-SEC and All-American as well as being named to the SEC’s academic honor roll in 2011 and 2012.[11][10] She was also a CrossFit competitor and powerlifter, having appeared in RX magazine, Femme Rouge magazine, and CrossFit.com. Blair was forced to abandon her CrossFit career due to intercostal chondritis, also known as shifting rib syndrome.[10]

Blair entered her information into the WWE prospects database shortly after the premature end of her CrossFit career “more on a whim than with an actual plan”, according to Hurd.[10] Less than two weeks later, she received a social media message from 20-year WWE veteran Mark Henry, who had come across Blair’s profile on the CrossFit circuit, saying he could get her a tryout, but emphasized that she had to do the work.[10]

After two official tryouts,[10] Blair signed a contract with WWE on April 12, 2016, and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.[2] Blair made her first appearance during an in–ring segment at an NXT live event on June 25 as “Binky Blair”, where she proclaimed to be the “EST of NXT… prettiest, baddest, strongest.”[12][5] She made her in–ring debut in September, losing to Aliyah.[13] On the May 3, 2017, episode of NXT, Blair made her television debut under the ring name Bianca Belair as part of a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women’s Championship, where she was eliminated by Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.[14] Belair participated in the Mae Young Classic,[15] where she defeated Sage Beckett in the first round,[16] but was eliminated in the second round by the eventual tournament winner Kairi Sane.[17][18]

Belair (middle) and Lacey Evans before a tag team match at a house show in June 2018
After the Mae Young Classic, starting from the January 24, 2018 episode of NXT, Belair began an undefeated streak by defeating various competitors[19][20] such as Lacey Evans,[21] Candice LeRae,[22] Aliyah,[23] Dakota Kai[24] and Deonna Purrazzo.[25] On April 8, Belair made her WrestleMania debut as she participated in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34 alongside other women from the NXT roster; however, she was eliminated by Becky Lynch.[26] Throughout the rest of the year, Belair started a short feud with Nikki Cross, which led to two different matches between the two – one that ended in a double count–out[27] and one that ended in a no contest, after Aleister Black interrupted the match due to Cross’ involvement in a storyline that involved him.[28] On the January 9, 2019, episode of NXT, Belair defeated Cross in what was Cross’ final match as part of the brand before moving to the Main Roster.[29] On January 26, 2019, at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Belair had her first title match when she faced Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship, but was defeated after multiple interferences by Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, ending her undefeated streak at 367 days.[30] She would have another title match at NXT TakeOver: New York, where Baszler once again retained her title as she submitted Belair.[31]