The EST: Fastest, Strongest, Toughest
Bianca Blair Crawford, née Blair, professionally known as Bianca Belair (born April 9, 1989 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American professional wrestler.
A former track-and-field athlete, Belair excelled in the sport and became an All-SEC and All-American while attending the University of Tennessee. Prior to her success in the ring, she was a gifted track-and-field athlete who achieved All-SEC and All-American honors while studying at the University of Tennessee.
Blair's natural athleticism led her to WWE after impressing at two tryouts. She made her debut with the WWE NXT roster and gained attention for her standout performances during the WWE Mae Young Classic, although she ultimately lost to Kairi Sane.
She would make her roster debut in on WWE Raw in 2020, and then win the Royal Rumble in 2021 and capture her first WWE championship, the Smackdown Women's Championship, in the WrestleMania 37 main event, where she and Sasha Banks were the first two black women to headline a WrestleMania event.
The EST of Tropes:
- The Ace: Presented as a confident super-athlete with indomitable will and this is reflected in her booking.
- Alliterative Name: Bianca Belair.
- Amazonian Beauty: Look at those abs...
- Berserk Button: DO. NOT. GRAB. HER. BRAID. This is likely to trigger a literal whipping with said hair.
- Braids of Action: Occasionally uses her very long hair to whip her opponents. It looks pretty badass.
- Character Catchphrase: "Girl. Uh-uh."
- Combat Pragmatist: Ain't No Rule, apparently, that states that you can't use your hair as a weapon.
- Finishing Move: Currently using an Argentine Rack dropped into a Facebuster dubbed the KOD (Kiss of Death) she previously used the Alley-Oop and the Spear.
- Happily Married: To Montez Ford.
- Lightning Bruiser: Belair may be one of the best pure athletes in WWE, regardless of gender. She's tall and lean but very well-muscled (again, look at those abs...) She's strong enough to perform her KOD finisher on multiple women at once, and carry the 300-pound+ Otis on her shoulders a considerable distance. She's also a former track sprinter that can bust out a 450 splash from the top rope.
- Logical Weakness: Her braid makes a good weapon, but an even better weak spot for opponents to exploit. The sight of opponents yanking her around by her braid is not uncommon.
- Older Than They Look: Her in-ring look, mannerisms, and relative inexperience in pro wrestling aren't quite indicative of a 30-year-old.
- Red Baron: "The EST of NXT/WWE", as in fastest, strongest, etc.
- Signature Move: The Spear, which she previously used as a finisher. And there is also her hair whip.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Since being called up to the main roster, Bianca has not lost any of her trademark confidence or trendsetting attitude, but it's portrayed as more cheerful rather than vain compared to how it was on NXT, in order to solidify her as a face. This is especially evident when comparing her to the Four Horsewomen, who the bulk of her championship feuds have been against. Sasha Banks, while also nominally a face after her falling out with Bayley, was far more arrogant and cutthroat against Bianca than the other way around, while Bayley had already completed her 180 into a proudly selfish troll by the time she became Belair's challenger. Becky Lynch's feud with Bianca, started by suckering The EST into an infamous quick defeat, was when Lynch fully succumbed to the darkness of her obsession with being the champion and top star of the women's division which had first appeared with her turn against Charlotte Flair years ago. Charlotte, who has had sparing interactions with Bianca post-NXT compared to the others, is well documented as being the haughti-EST female competitor in the entire company.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Bianca typically competes separately from Montez Ford and doesn't manage him directly, but when Ford was poisoned by Zelina Vega in the lead-up to a championship match with Vega's team of Angel Garza and Andrade, Bianca inserted herself into the program, even going as far as to hunt Zelina down at her house and beat the crap out of her while she was in the middle of a Website/Twitch stream.Downplayed more recently, as she relies more on her skill and athleticism than the hair gimmick as of late, saving the hair weapon for when it's time to get serious.
- Wild Card/Tweener: Possesses the requisite heel nastiness and arrogance as well as a moveset, crowd-working ability, and Determinator attributes that lean more toward what is typical of WWE faces. As such, she's been able to serve as this to NXT's Women's Division. A perfect example of this is her interactions with Shayna Baszler, as she's both competed as a babyface against Shayna and served as a member of Shayna's heel team in a War Games match without really changing her character.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: After powering through a leg injury, Bianca won back the WWE Women's Championship from Asuka at SummerSlam after losing it to her at Night of Champions a few months prior. Cue IO SKY rushing in with the Money in the Bank briefcase.
