Since coming to WWE, Bianca Belair has become one of the biggest stars of the promotion’s women’s division.
In her first WrestleMania match, Belair headlined Night One of WrestleMania 37, defeating Sasha Banks to capture the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Just one year later, Belair would repeat her success, dethroning Becky Lynch to win the Raw Women’s Championship, becoming the first person to beat ‘The Man’ for a title in nearly three years.
Her Inner Struggle
Belair isn’t just a fighter in the ring, but has been fighting a much different battle within herself.
Sitting down with Ariel Helwani, the reigning Raw Women’s Champion spoke about her struggles with mental health, which dated back to her freshman year at the University of South Carolina.
“My freshman year, I just struggled so much mentally. I was struggling with an eating disorder secretly in high school, so when I got to college I told myself ‘okay I’m not going to do this anymore. I’m gonna be healthy.”
“I had a very unhealthy relationship with food… Mentally or physically, I just wasn’t able to get back to where I was.”
Bianca Belair on the eating disorder she struggled during high scholl and college.
Belair said that after her freshman year, she transferred to Texas A&M, where she continued to struggle with her mental health.
The Raw Women’s Champion mentioned her coach at the time Vince Anderson for being an enormous help when she was struggling.
“I was put into a psychiatric hospital. It got that low… That’s when everyone found out. He [Anderson] was the one, once I got out, who said ‘you can’t come back.’ He made me go see a psychiatrist. He was like ‘you have to get yourself together mentally because that’s what is more important.’
“I was put into a psychiatric hospital. It got that low.”
Bianca Belair on her struggles with mental health during her athletics career.
After Texas A&M, Belair transferred again to the University of Tennessee, where she was not allowed to compete.
“I wasn’t allowed to compete for the team. But she [UofT coach Heather Van Norman] told me ‘I’ll train you for a whole year, even if you can’t contribute to the team.’ And she’s the person who really got me back on my feet.”