If you just started watching WWE in 2022, especially at or just after WrestleMania 38, you'd think Bianca Belair has long been one of the company's biggest stars. Nicknamed the “EST of WWE” for a reason, Belair won 77.4 percent of her matches in 2022, has gone on to win 80 percent of her matches in 2023 according to Cagematch, and is the only black superstar, regardless of gender, to have a title reign lasting longer than 300 days, which, when one considers the sheer wealth of talent WWE has employed over the years, is incredibly impressive stuff.
But there was a time when Belair wasn't feeling so confident. That's right, in 2021, Belair, then the SmackDown Women's Champion, found herself in the ring opposite a returning Becky Lynch for the first time in her career – at least in singles action – and became the not-so-proud holder of one of the fastest title changes in SummerSlam history, dropping the belt to “The Man” in just 26 seconds. For Belair, this felt like a sign that maybe, just maybe, WWE had lost some trust in her, as she detailed to Ryan Satin on his “Out of Character” podcast.
“I'm like, ‘okay, they have this faith in me, and let's run with it, let me prove, let me show that this was the right decision to make,' and then SummerSlam happened,” Belair said via F4W. “That just kind of like messed with me a little bit, like was I doing something wrong? I thought I was doing everything right, and then we had to rebound from that.”
How did Belair get over her loss to become one of the most dominant female champions in WWE history? Well, she received a little help from one of the “ultimate mentors” of the last generation of WWE.
How Bianca Belair rebounded to become one of the brightest stars in WWE.
Discussing her loss further with Satin, Belair pointed out that none other than John Cena took her aside to lift her spirits.
“Sometimes when you think it can be the worst thing that's happening and then it flourishes into this beautiful year-long storyline and it all comes full circle, and that's what it did for me,” Belair said. “But in the moment, it can be tough. That 26-second moment was tough for me and I remember going to my husband, and we always allow each other to vent and then we're like ‘Okay, I'm validating your feelings but how do we get out of this? Like, we can't stay here in this mindset, let's look at the bigger picture.'
“Then John Cena was there and he pulled me aside and he talked to me. He really helped me with my perspective of that and it's going to carry with me for the rest of my career.
“It definitely helped and I always looked up to John Cena. John Cena is someone who is a student of the game no matter what. Even when he comes back, he's in front of the TV backstage watching all the matches, even like at live events, he'll go and he'll be on the Main Event matches. He's always watching and being a student and he's sharing his knowledge with us. He's a gem in this business and he gave me some gems that night.”
In the end, Belair fought her way into WrestleMania 38, beat Lynch in a much longer match for the RAW Women's Championship, and has since retained the title on 11 occasions, including a win over “The Man” at SummerSlam 2022 in her home state of Tenessee, almost one year removed from her 26-second loss.
“I feel like it all worked out,” Belair said. “A lot of that had to do with Becky Lynch too. She is someone who fights for women's wrestling but she also fights for others in the locker room and she had a lot to do with bringing that full circle and making it work out the way that it did and I've learned so much from her. In hindsight, looking back, that was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. You can't be Superwoman all the time, and you've got to overcome some odds and I was able to do that and then it turned into this beautiful storyline.
“It definitely worked out in a perfect way.”
Can Belair's perfect ending continue into 2023 at WrestleMania 39, or will the very real chance of surpassing one full calendar year as champion come to a crushing end at the hands of whoever wins the Elimination Chamber in Montreal? Fans will find out the contents of that next chapter soon enough.
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