Those who tune into WWE SmackDown every week know that Bianca Belair was supposed to take on Sasha Banks at SummerSlam. That didn’t end up happening though due to a still undisclosed reason, which ruled Banks out of action at the event. Those who watched live know that Carmella was then sent out to have a match, which the crowd was unhappy about, but then Becky Lynch shocked everyone and returned after being gone due to her pregnancy. It was a shock to fans for sure, and it turns out it was pretty close to a shock for Belair too, as she revealed to Inside The Ropes when she learned about the match.
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“It was pretty much very, very, very, very, very last minute. Pretty much when I was in the ring up – until the time that I went out [to the ring]. Very late call, very late moment, everything, all the emotions that you saw in my face during the match at SummerSlam, were real emotions, shock. Kind of just like, ‘Wow, this is happening. Ok, let’s go with it and just be great at what you do.’ So it was a very, very last minute call,” Belair said.
WWE managed to keep it a secret, which is quite hard to do these days. It was a huge moment, though it did not go like anyone thought it would. Lynch ended up hitting the Manhandle Slam and winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship in 26 seconds, and no one saw that coming.
Since then she’s been on SmackDown and revealed a more heelish character, while Belair still has the crowd’s support and is clearly the babyface. Lynch shot down several attempts for a rematch but was eventually forced by Adam Pearce and Somyha Deville to give her a rematch after Belair won a No. 1 contender’s match, and now they are set to meet at Extreme Rules. For Belair, she doesn’t feel like she lost any ground just because of how quickly she recovered.
“But for me, I think I’ve been able to come out on top of it all by just recovering so quickly,” Belair said. “And I think my journey, everything has been coming so quickly and I’ve just been capitalizing off of it and rising to the occasion and continue to build my reputation as someone who is always dependable and shows up and shows out and puts on a great show and performs and you know, I have a reputation being great at what I do. But I think coming out of this, most people would see me getting beat in twenty-six seconds [and think] ‘oh no, it’s the end of her.’ But I think it’s kind of showing how much the fans are behind me, how much I really am the EST. I’m not going to give up and whenever I see an occasion keep going. So I think it’s a great story. Great feud with Becky and you know when and if – I will say when I get my title back – it’s going to be an even bigger moment for me.”
Do you think Belair leaves Extreme Rules as the Champion once more? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
