WWE superstar Bianca Belair recently spoke with Complex to discuss her Royal Rumble victory, and how she’s only the second black competitor in company history to win one. The EST also comments on her spot with Naomi in the match, and who she thinks she may choose as her WrestleMania opponent. Highlights are below.
Comments on being the second black superstar to win the Royal Rumble:
“It’s crazy. I didn’t know that fact until I got backstage and Kayla actually told me. It’s crazy that I never ever saw myself being in this position and I’m here now and creating history in the process of just trying to be me and trying to go after my goals and in the process I’m creating history. Being a part of representation, it’s an amazing feeling. It’s one thing to win the Royal Rumble and get your tickets to WrestleMania, but it’s another thing to add even more purpose to it while you’re doing it. It’s amazing.”
On the spot with Naomi in the match:
“That’s definitely one of my favorite moments of the match. I got to be in the ring with Naomi last year for the Royal Rumble for a very short time. But having that moment with her, we both almost being eliminated and dangling off of the rope and realizing like, “Look, if we got to do this together, we have to work together.” And when we finally work together, we end up saving ourselves in the process. So that was an amazing moment to have with her and shared everything with her and I’ve always looked forward to like just getting in the ring and creating magic with her because she’s so athletic and she’s so talented.”
Sharing a moment with husband Montez Ford after the match:
“It’s just amazing that I’m doing this alongside the person I love. And to be able to have your husband standing there as soon as you walk through the curtain, he’s the first person you can go to. I just went to him and I hugged him and we really didn’t say much at first we just embraced each other and then we prayed. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t find my words. It’s bringing tears to my eyes thinking about it, but I couldn’t find my words. And the only thing that I could think in that moment was to pray. So we hugged and I just looked up at him and I said, “Can we pray?” I couldn’t find the words but he prayed. He prayed with me. He prayed for me. And that was the moment that we shared after the match.”
Says she needs time to process before choosing who she’ll face at Mania:
“I think it’s a huge decision and I’ve been thinking about it, but in this moment, the fact that I won the Women’s Royal Rumble match, I’m just living in the moment. When I was in the ring last night, it kind of hit me in two different stages: When I won, I was in a moment of everything just slowed down, and the realization of, “I just won the entire Royal Rumble, 30 women in the ring and I’m the last one standing,” that moment hit me up like, “Oh my god, I just won the Royal Rumble and I’m celebrating that. And then looking over and seeing the WrestleMania sign, it hit me like a couple of seconds later I was like, “Oh, wait, you’re going to WrestleMania,” it hit me at two different times and it was like a wave of emotions. And so just, the fact that it just hit me at two different times, I’m just living in the moment of winning the Royal Rumble and just trying to figure out my emotions right now and trying to not cry every five seconds. So I feel like I don’t want to make an emotional decision right now. I’m just trying to like get my emotions in check and weigh my options and then go from there.”