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I had the honor of chatting with Bianca Belair, who's a very integral part of the WWE NXT women's division on a recent conference call. During the course of the chat, we touched upon a wide variety of topics including her long braid that she uses rather innovatively during her matches.
You may check out the whole chat right here:
Not only does her braid help her stand out of the pack, but she has used it as a weapon on various occasions against several opponents. How did she get the idea of using such a unique weapon?
Well, at first the idea was just to have it. Just to have a braid. To stand out. To be different. My husband helped me out a lot with that. He really told me how important it is for you to stand out and be unique. And so, I looked at what every single girl was doing on the roster and I was like, I'm going to go the opposite way.
Her husband is obviously Montez Ford, whom you may know as one-half of the Street Profits, the current RAW Tag Team Champions who've made quite a stir since coming up from WWE NXT. But what inspired Belair to actually use the braid as a weapon during the course of her matches?
He encouraged me just to wear it. And then, it naturally just progressed to me just using it. I was in the ring one day. My coach Sara Amato said- 'Maybe you can hit the girl with your braid'. And then I was like 'maybe'. I was in the ring one day and I was in a match with Ruby Riott. I decided I'm going to try and hit her with my braid. And it made this huge noise. One neither I was expecting or she was expecting.
There are some moments during one's career when a performer just knows that she/he has stumbled onto something special and this was one such moment for Belair. She knew that she had to make the braid a part of her in-ring arsenal.
We both just paused and looked at each other. We had no idea what was happening. The crowd was going crazy. It was just 'it' from there. I realized it can be used to my advantage and it can be used as a weapon. And now, I'm stuck with this braid. That's basically how it came about. Now, it's a thing. I'm kinda stuck with it. And I love it.
Bianca Belair came up short against Rhea Ripley but fans have been campaigning for her to be added to the Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley match at WrestleMania 36. Whether or not that happens, Belair will continue to remain a very integral part of the WWE women's roster.
