WWE star Bianca Belair recently spoke to Inside the Ropes to discuss all things pro-wrestling, including how the EST’s main roster debut changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights are below.
How her main roster debut got changed due to the pandemic:
“Yeah, so when I was in NXT, I had my title match at TakeOver in Portland with Rhea, and that’s when I found out that was going to be my last TakeOver in NXT, I found out that I was going to actually be debuting the RAW after WrestleMania – which I was very, very excited about, because, you know, if you want to debut, you want to debut on the RAW after WrestleMania. It’s the biggest RAW of all time. So I was super, super-excited about that. And then it kind of switched to, “Well, you might be debuting at WrestleMania.” So I was really on a high like “OK, this is all coming together and I’m going to finally get my moment.” And then the strange year happened and I found out, “OK, you’re still going to debut at WrestleMania…but inside the Performance Center and it’ll be alongside The Street Profits.” So much has happened. It’s been a very strange year, but I’ve had a very good year when you think about this whole entire year. It started with Royal Rumble to all the different Takeovers, to TakeOver Portland, debuted at WrestleMania alongside my husband – and being able to share that moment with him, to being drafted to RAW, to being drafted to SmackDown, to being a part of a Survivor Series team with Team SmackDown… I’ve had had a very great year. Even though it’s been kind of crazy and it’s just everything has just been thrown at last minute, you just kind of have to learn how to adapt to everything. And that’s how you have to be here. You have to always stay ready because stuff is always going to be thrown at you. I feel like I’ve always just been on my toes ever since all this strange stuff has happened with COVID and it’s just… It’s been a crazy ride, but I always try to focus on the things that I can control. And right now, I’m on SmackDown and it’s the land of opportunities. I think that everything’s been going on a roll ever since I’ve been on Smackdown.”
Discusses rolling with the punches as a performer:
“It’s something that… It’s hard to even put it into words. Of course, you’re like, “OK, I would have loved and preferred to debut in front of thousands of people.” But I will say as a performer, you really just learn to roll with the punches. You learn to not really focus on… Well, for me, I learned to not focus on the negative so much and really focus on what what you can control. Otherwise, I’ll drive myself crazy. So it was very hard to wrap my mind around, but it was something that you just have to roll with the punches and go out there and do. And what’s crazy is that when WrestleMania aired, I was really, really excited. I knew I was going to be excited, but it was just the intro that they had and I was really excited to really sit down beside my husband and watch us in that moment – and we were able to share that moment.”
Reiterates how her Royal Rumble appearance was a surprise:
“Last year, the Royal Rumble kind of came out of nowhere. I found out the night before that I was going to be a part of it, and I went and had this great moment there. So I’m very excited about this year because I’m fully expecting to be in the Royal Rumble, and I can prepare for it and so I’m just super excited about this being an even bigger Royal Rumble. And now I can be prepared to actually win it and that be my path to WrestleMania.”