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Bianca Belair

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Bianca Belair
Belair in April 2018
Birth nameBianca Nicole Blair[1][2][3]
Born (1989-04-09) April 9, 1989 (age 35)[1]
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States[1]
ResidenceOrlando, Florida, United States
Spouse(s)
Montez Ford (m. 2018)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Bianca Belair[4]
Bianca Blair
Binky Blair[5]
Billed height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)[4]
Billed fromKnoxville, Tennessee[4]
Trained byWWE Performance Center[6]
DebutSeptember 26, 2016 (2016-09-26)[7]

Search Bianca Belair on Amazon.

Bianca Blair Crawford (born Bianca Nicole Blair; April 9, 1989)[8][9] is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on SmackDown 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.[10][11]

Early life[edit]

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.[12] 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.[13][12] 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.[12]

Professional wrestling career[edit]

WWE[edit]

NXT (2016–2020)[edit]

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.[12] 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.[12]

After two official tryouts,[12] 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."[14][5] She made her in–ring debut in September, losing to Aliyah.[15] 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.[16] Belair participated in the Mae Young Classic,[17] where she defeated Sage Beckett in the first round,[18] but was eliminated in the second round by the eventual tournament winner Kairi Sane.[19][20]

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[21][22] such as Lacey Evans,[23] Candice LeRae,[24] Aliyah,[25] Dakota Kai[26] and Deonna Purrazzo.[27] 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.[28] 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[29] and one that ended in a no contest, after Aleister Black interrupted the match due to Cross' involvement in a storyline that involved him.[30] 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.[31] 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.[32] She would have another title match at NXT TakeOver: New York, where Baszler once again retained her title as she submitted Belair.[33]

On the May 1 episode of NXT, Belair started a feud with Mia Yim after confronting Yim at the WWE Performance Center.[34] The next week, they had a match which Belair would win.[35] On the next episode of NXT, Yim confronted Belair backstage and said she wanted a rematch.[36] That match took place two weeks later where Yim would get the victory, the first pinfall loss for Belair in NXT.[37] A third match was scheduled for the June 5 episode of NXT, where Yim would once again pick up the victory.[38] A "relentless and aggressive" Belair would return to NXT television in July, squashing both Priscilla Zuniga[39][40] and Xia Li[41] in less than three minutes, and defeating Taynara Conti on the September 4 episode. After that match, a triple threat match between Belair, Yim, and Io Shirai to determine the number 1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship was announced.[42] A week later, Candice LeRae would be added to the match, making it a fatal 4-way. The match would be the first match on the debut episode of NXT on the USA network, where LeRae would emerge victorious.[43][44] After defeating Dakota Kai on the October 9 episode of NXT, Belair would challenge NXT Women's title contender Rhea Ripley to a match.[45] The match took place two weeks later with Ripley gaining the victory despite outside interference from Shirai and LeRae.[46]

Belair cutting a promo in February 2020

At NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Belair and Team Baszler (NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, and NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray) faced Team Ripley (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, and Tegan Nox) in the first ever women's WarGames match, where Ripley would give her team the victory by pinning Baszler.[47] The following night, she would participate at Survivor Series, where the three brands (Raw, SmackDown and NXT) faced each other in several matches, where she was part of Team NXT who defeated Team Raw and Team SmackDown in a 5-on-5-on-5 women's elimination match.[48][49] Belair would have a notable participation in the 2020 Royal Rumble, where she entered her first Women's Royal Rumble match at Number 2, eliminating a record 8 other superstars (tied with Baszler), before being eliminated by the eventual winner Charlotte Flair after lasting for 33 minutes and 20 seconds.[50] At TakeOver: Portland, Belair was defeated by the NXT Women's Champion Rhea Ripley in another title match.[51] Belair's last match on NXT took place on the February 19 episode of NXT, where she was defeated by the Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair.[52][53]

SmackDown Women's Champion and various feuds (2020–present)[edit]

On the Raw following WrestleMania 36, Belair made her main roster debut by saving The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and her husband Montez Ford) from Zelina Vega, Angel Garza, and Austin Theory. Belair established herself as a member of the Raw roster, and was paired with The Street Profits, thus turning face in the process. However, the alliance was dropped since WWE felt she did not fit with the comedic segments with the team.[54] As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Belair was drafted to the SmackDown brand.[55]

On January 31, 2021, at the Royal Rumble event, Belair won the Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Rhea Ripley, thus becoming the first-ever Black superstar to achieve this feat in WWE history, after The Rock. She was in the match for over 56 minutes, a record for a participant in the Women's Royal Rumble match, having entered at #3.[56] On the February 26 episode of SmackDown, Belair officially challenged SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks to a title match at WrestleMania 37 and in the main event of night one.[57] At WrestleMania, Belair defeated Banks to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, marking her first title in her career.[58] She then retained the title against Bayley at WrestleMania Backlash,[59] and at Hell in a Cell in a Hell in a Cell match.[60]

At SummerSlam, Belair was scheduled to defend her title against Sasha Banks, but during the event, WWE announced that Banks could not compete, and would be replaced by Carmella. Carmella was attacked by a returning Becky Lynch, who challenged Belair for the title. Belair accepted and lost the match in half a minute after two moves by Lynch, thus Lynch won the title from Belair, ending her reign at 133 days.[61] At Extreme Rules, in what was supposed to be their SummerSlam rematch, Belair defeated Lynch by disqualification due to interference by a returning Sasha Banks, thus not earning the title.[62]

As a part of the 2021 Draft, Belair drafted to the Raw brand.[63]

Other media[edit]

Blair made her video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K19.[64] She is also featured in WWE 2K20.[65] In late January 2020, WWE.com revealed Blair's first action figure debuting in Mattel's Basic Series 107.[66][67]

Personal life[edit]

On June 9, 2017, Blair announced that she was engaged to fellow professional wrestler Kenneth Crawford, better known as Montez Ford.[68] The couple married on June 23, 2018. Blair is the stepmother to Crawford's two children from a previous relationship.[69]

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

References[edit]

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  2. 2.0 2.1 "WWE Performance Center welcomes new class of recruits". WWE. April 12, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  3. Bianca Belair finally celebrates her college graduation
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Bianca Belair". WWE. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
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  6. WWE Performance Center welcomes new class of recruits (April 12, 2016) wwe.com
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  8. "Bianca Blair Crawford Makes History at Wrestlemania". University of Tennessee Knoxville News. April 13, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  9. Sam, Doric (April 9, 2021). "At 'WrestleMania 37,' Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair are embracing history". The Undefeated. Retrieved September 23, 2021. When the segment ended, Belair, whose real name is Bianca Blair Crawford,... Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  10. Thompson, Andrew (April 10, 2021). "Bianca Belair defeats Sasha Banks for SmackDown Women's Title at WrestleMania". POST Wrestling. Retrieved April 11, 2021. For the first time in history, two Black women headlined a WrestleMania...
  11. Guzzo, Gisberto (April 11, 2021). "Becky Lynch Congratulates Sasha Banks And Bianca Belair For Making History At WrestleMania 37". Fightful. Retrieved April 11, 2021. ...they are the first Black women to headline [WrestleMania].
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External links[edit]

Preceded by
Charlotte Flair
Women's Royal Rumble winner
2021
Succeeded by
TBA