Up and coming NXT Superstar, Bianca Belair, has been impressing a lot of people with her development and performance during her time on the yellow-and-black brand — not only WWE executives and fans but legends and peers.
Speaking with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald, Belair shared some stories regarding her in-ring name and ring gear as she discussed her upcoming matchup against Shayna Baszler. The two are scheduled to compete for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix on January 26th.
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“My actual real name is Bianca Blair,” she explains. “Growing up, people always told me my name had a ring to it. People always remembered my name and so I wanted to think of something that was very similar to it. I just stuck an ‘E’ between the ‘B’ and the ‘L,’ made it from Bianca Blair to Bianca Belair. That’s where that name came from.”
When it comes to ring gear, Belair says that she favors “pretty much anything that stands out. Anything that is shiny.” She extrapolated, saying, “Anything that glitters, that’s why I’m into rhinestones. Superstars wear sequins, so I wear sequins and rhinestones. That’s where my whole gear comes from. The lip print that just highlights my femininity. I pride myself on being an athlete and I have muscles, but at the same time I am a woman and my muscles make me empowered as a woman. My lip print is just my step on everything, every time I step in the ring.”
The conversation then turned to January 26th and her match against current NXT Women’s champion, Baszler.
She claimed to be “100% ready” for the match, adding that “As an athlete my whole life I have been taught to always stay prepared, so I never have to get ready. I’ve been ready for this. I’ve been begging for this match. Basically begging for the title opportunity and now I have it.
Going in I know that Shayna, she comes from a great background. She’s coming in with a whole other skill set that I know absolutely nothing about it.
At the same time, I think about it, I walked in the Performance Center two and a half years ago knowing absolutely nothing about what I was getting myself into and look how quickly I’ve caught on. I’m going into this match 100% confident that I’m coming out with the NXT Women’s Championship.”
Do you think Belair can do it? Will she be walking out of Phoenix victorious?
