Bianca Belair says the women’s division on WWE’s main roster reminds her a lot of her days in NXT. The self-proclaimed ‘EST’ spent years honing her craft in WWE’s developmental brand. From 2016-2020, she established herself as one of the most promising acts of her genration.
Her success has continued since arriving on Monday Night Raw in 2020. She’s the reigning Raw Women’s Champion. She’s also a former SmackDown Women’s champion and won the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble. WWE’s Four Horsewomen (Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Bayley) helped usher in the Women’s Revolution, but Belair may surpass them all when all is said and done.
NXT As a Pipeline to WWE
Belair recently spoke with Bleacher Report‘s Graham Matthews and said she gets strong ‘NXT vibes’ from the women on Raw and SmackDown.
“It kind of feels like NXT all over again,” she said. “I think when we were in NXT, it was special. It was a time where the women’s locker room was full of women empowerment. We were competitors but we wanted the best for each other.”
NXT is a training ground for Raw and SmackDown, and virtually all of the top women in WWE wore ‘black and gold’ before they wore red or blue. Belair gets a great deal of satisfaction seeing the people she came up with thrive on the big stage.
Belair added, “What’s amazing is that it’s 3, 4, 5 years later., it’s those same women but we’ve all gotten even better. We’ve evolved.”
Almost all of the top young female stars on Raw and SmackDown started in NXT. Rhea Ripley, Raquel Rodriguez, Damage CTRL, Shotzi, the list goes on and on. If you want a glimpse at who will be carrying the women’s division in 3-5 years, you know where to look.