Bianca Belair hopes that she has provided a worthy blueprint of what collegiate athletes can bring to WWE.
Bianca Belair did not take the route to WWE through the independent wrestling circuit. Bianca Belair was a track and field athlete and a powerlifter and found her way into WWE in 2016 as part of the first-ever Mae Young Classic Tournament.
Speaking to Kevin Kellam at Sportskeeda, Bianca discussed WWE brand new NIL program for collegiate athletes.
"You know, when I first started in 2016, I used to always say, 'Man, I wish I found this a lot earlier.' I got a late start. But you know, I think my path is unique and I love the path that I took. I think that you know if I would have started right after college, I would have never gotten to CrossFit and I would've never gotten to go into powerlifting which I use, I pull a lot of things from CrossFit and powerlifting and I use it in the ring and even it even molded me into the person I am and a lot of that goes into the academic area. So I love the journey that I had. I do think it's amazing. There's a lot of collegiate athletes that are getting this opportunity and opportunity you know getting a head start and I have to say, being a collegiate athlete. I hope that I'm a representation and I've proved that it can work. I'm not the only one in WWE that's a collegiate athlete being successful right now. You know, we have that grit, we're coachable, we know how to work hard, we know how to have downfalls but still be able to bounce back. So I'm really excited about this program."
Bianca also spoke about her athleticism saying that for her, every chance in the ring has the chance to prove that there is only one Bianca Belair and there is only one EST of WWE
“The thing about me is there's always something where, you know, every single time I step into the ring, I try to prove that I am the EST and I'm showing that I'm the strongest or the fastest, quickest or the flyest, by doing some top rope move. I'm always trying to pull things out of my pocket and reinvent things and show that can't nobody do it like me or do it better than me, you know?
I'm [always] doing things like at Crown Jewel with the one-arm press [against Sasha Banks], or when I just had a match on Raw and I had two girls on my shoulder and I powerbombed them. I'm always trying to do something to prove that no one can do it like me.”
You can check out the full lineup of athletes for the first WWE NIL class at this link and follow Bianca Belair's journey every Monday night on WWE Raw. We have live coverage every Monday beginning at 8 p.m. eastern time.
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