Bianca Belair Retains WWE Backlash, Breaking Record for Longest Women's Championship Reign of the Modern Era

By Nick Valdez

The WWE Raw Women's Championship match kicked off the massive WWE Backlash premium live event in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a winner has been decided between Bianca Belair and Iyo Sky! Bianca Belair has been on a very dominant reign as the Raw Women's Champion, but there were some big questions about her match against Iyo Sky as it was revealed that following the events of WWE Backlash, Bianca would be officially a part of the WWE Friday Night SmackDown brand as a result of the WWE Draft this year. So there was no clear winner heading in. 

It ended up being a much different match than Bianca Belair has ever had as the crowd in San Juan, Puerto Rico was very much in support of Iyo Sky. Bianca had been showered with boos with each one of her successful attempts against the challenger, and Iyo was met with all kinds of cheers in a showing of support that she really hasn't gotten from crowds elsewhere. But Bianca won the crowd over with some pretty huge and decisive moves. And ultimately won the match, securing her place as the longest reigning Women's Champion of the modern era. 

What is Bianca's New Record? 

Bianca had been hitting hard with some of the moves that won her the Raw Women's Championship in the first place, but that crowd still was very much in support of Iyo potentially stealing the win. Iyo did try to do so with some counters that took Bianca by surprise, but Bianca was able to power through and keep from getting pinned or tapped out. Even with this, Iyo's clever tactics were on prominent display. Iyo even managed to survive a power bomb from the second rope at one point. 

Damage CTRL's Bayley and Dakota Kai showed up to help, but even their distractions weren't enough to take down Belair, who retains and takes her WWE Raw Women's Championship to SmackDown. With this victory, Bianca will now cross Becky Lynch's time with the Raw Women's Championship of 398 days at midnight tonight. Now currently underway in the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the full card and results for WWE Backlash 2023 so far breaks down as such: 

  • Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky
  • Seth Rollins vs. Omos
  • United States Championship: Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zelina Vega
  • San Juan Street Fight: Bad Bunny vs. Damien Priest
  • Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle vs. The Bloodline
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar

What do you think of the results for the WWE Raw Women's Championship match between Bianca Belair and Iyo Sky? Let us know all of your thoughts on everything WWE in the comments! 

0comments

Related:

Start the Conversation

of