Whatever your take on professional wrestling, Bianca Belair’s Royal Rumble victory counts on many levels

People who watch wrestling often argue over the legitimacy of the art form with friends who don’t watch. The skeptic will often point to the staged punches and kicks, ignoring the real table bumps, glass stains, and other physical demands that most humans are not made for. The wrestling fan usually retorts by noting the level of performance, athleticism, and emotion needed to make it a show. Victory at the Royal Rumble of Bianca Belair, marked by a joyously torn victory speech, is one example.

And the same goes for the response of his colleagues.

You don’t have to go so far as to profess your admiration through a crackling voice in the middle of a high school gymnasium to affirm how real it is still to you … damn it! But in the middle of a collective call for equality in response American racism in 2020, as well as today, the first day of Black History Month 2021, Belair’s victory should resonate differently from other victories in recent memory. The Women’s Royal Rumble first took place in 2018, and in its fourth installment, Belair became the first black woman and the second overall black wrestler to win a Rumble, following The Rock’s victory in 2000. The Male Rumble has been held annually since 1988, so you could do the math on the story of its performance and victory.

For her, personally, the company ran a Belair WWE Chronicle on its network in the days preceding the event. Belair detailed his battle with depression while moving from the University of South Carolina at Texas A&M, to the University of Tennessee on scholarships. (She even earned All-SEC and All-America honors in Tennessee.)

When it comes to the art of professional wrestling, Belair’s performance herself was the best ever by a Royal Rumble woman, as well as one of the best we’ve seen in general. Belair entered third in the 30-women’s match, staying in the ring for 56 minutes and 52 seconds (a record for women in the Rumble), racking up four eliminations and persevering through several tight calls.

Naturally, as human beings, we are inclined to look to the future and to speculate. Whether it’s the upcoming season of your favorite show, the next NBA branding business, or the 10 minutes you have to relax before having to do laundry because you run out of basketball shorts and black socks for you. quarantine.

In this case, the wrestling community is salivate at the thought of Sasha Banks defending her WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship against Belair at WrestleMania this year. Banks, a five-time Raw Women’s Champion, is currently in her longest reign by far and is at her undisputed highest level since joining NXT’s main roster almost six years ago. WrestleMania 37 will take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. (Where Super Bowl LV will be held on Sunday), the venue slated for last year before COVID hits. As in 2020, the event will take place over two days; April 10 and 11. If Belair chooses Banks over Asuka – the current Raw Women’s Champion – it will be the first title contested by two black women at a WrestleMania. If the two Belair banks remain at the elite level of performance they have demonstrated in recent months, it will be a meeting worthy of a major event.

Banks and Belair are both the best they’ve ever been right now. Hoping WWE gives people what they want.