If you’re a fan of professional wrestling, you know Black women are having a moment. Across the industry, badass Black women are stealing the show with unforgettable matches and captivating storylines. Someone who’s been at the forefront of this movement for the past few years is WWE Superstar Bianca Belair. For WrestleMania XL, the three-time world champion is set to team up with Naomi and Jade Cargill for another showdown with Damage CTRL. Bianca, Naomi and Jade will take on Dakota Kai and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Asuka and Kairi Sane, in a 6-woman tag match on Saturday, April 6.
Ahead of her big match, Belair spoke with The Root about the spectacular moment Black women wrestlers are having and how she strives to make representation a “requirement.” Bianca recalled how after she and Sasha Banks a.k.a. Mercedes Moné main evented WrestleMania 37 in 2021, a transcendent moment for Black women seemed within reach. However, in 2022, Naomi and Sasha both left the company and the EST of WWE had to be the main Black female superstar on her own. She handled the situation, but it wasn’t ideal for her as Belair didn’t “want to be the only one.”
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“Representation is so important. It’s not a request, it’s a requirement. It’s really cool when you see one person that you see yourself in doing something, but when you only see one, it kind of makes you feel like it’s an anomaly or it’s possible, but you have to be very lucky,” Belair told The Root. “When you start seeing multiple people who represent different things, it makes it seem like it’s more possible.”
In addition to Bianca, Naomi and Jade, the SmackDown roster also includes Michin (Mia Yim) and B-Fab (Briana Brandy). Over in AEW, Moné recently joined a women’s division that includes Willow Nightingale; Trish Adora; Queen Aminata; Nyla Rose; Red Velvet; and the ROH Women’s Champion, Athena. It truly is an amazing time to be a Black woman who loves wrestling.
“I love it because…it’s not just one or two, but it’s space for all of us. We all represent something different, we’re not a monolith. We all can connect to different people in different ways,” she said. “I’m super excited for it. I’m looking for it to continue to grow even more. I’m just ready to see where it goes. And I’m ready for it to take off and just be a part of it.”
WrestleMania XL airs Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7 live at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Peacock.
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