Bianca Belair is one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive, women's wrestlers of the modern era. She's not known as "The EST of WWE" for nothing, and "Miss WrestleMania" has racked up one of the most impressive records at the event of any woman in history. The track and field star-turned CrossFit athlete was discovered by WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry and reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida in April 2016. The rest, as they say, is history.Belair worked as a heel in "NXT," and despite never winning the developmental brand's top women's title, she impressed the masses with her natural athletic ability in the ring. She was involved in some of the most exciting matches in the brand's history, including the first-ever women's WarGames match in 2019 alongside Shayna Baszler, IYO SKY (then known as Io Shirari), Kay Lee Ray (the now Alba Fyre) in a losing effort. The following night, at Survivor Series, she represented "NXT," and her team came out on top over the women of "WWE Raw" and "WWE SmackDown." She made a splash at the 2020 Royal Rumble, eliminating a then-record eight women.While she was no slouch in "NXT," when the main roster officially came calling following her Rumble appearance, the "EST" really started to shine. Over the years, she's held the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships twice and has two reigns with the WWE Women's Championship.In just five short years on the main roster, Belair has had many incredible matches, from episodes of the red and blue brands to "The Grandest Stage of Them All." While this list is by no means all of Belair's incredible matches, here are what we deem her top five greatest.
Belair and Becky Lynch kicked off a massive feud at SummerSlam in 2021, which saw a returning Lynch squash the "EST" for the SmackDown Women's Championship, and while Belair got her lick back at WrestleMania in 2022, the feud rolled on, and adding the incredible Asuka to a match for a triple threat was only going to be a recipe for excellence.Over the years, the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view lost its luster (this would be the final year for the event), as many fans were tired of a stipulation event rather than feuds being put in the cell naturally throughout the year. Putting this triple threat on the card, a match that didn't involve a cage, was a breath of fresh air.The Raw Women's Championship was on the line after Belair dethroned Lynch for the title at WrestleMania 38. "Big Time Becks" thought she couldn't lose, and "The Empress of Tomorrow" thought neither woman was ready for Asuka, but it was Belair to overcome the odds of the triple threat.Any other champion may have looked less-than in the ring with two other top stars, but Belair never lost her shine throughout the bout. After almost 19 minutes of hard-fought action that never slowed down or let up for a second, it was Belair tocapitalize. She caught Asuka with an Unprettier-like move, sending her face-first into the turnbuckle and looked for the KOD. Lynch tried to steal the win, and hit Asuka with a Manhandle Slam, but Belair threw Lynch out to get the pin on Asuka to retain.The triple threat was named one of the top women's matches of 2022 by many outlets, but another Belair match, also on this list, took the top spot for the year.
In recent years, IYO SKY has emerged as one of the best performers in WWE, if not the world, and she showed that off in an excellent match against Belair at Backlash 2023. In addition to being an excellent, crowd-pleasing in-ring battle, the match was important because with her victory, Belair became the longest-reigning Raw Women's Champion, and of the entire modern WWE era, at the time.It was also wildly interesting due to SKY's story at the time. Many believed she was being held back by Bayley and Damage CNTRL, and the Puerto Rico crowd actually booed the babyface Belair and chanted for SKY throughout the bout. Belair gave no indication she was rattled by the crowd, however.There was no major feud or excessive story going into their Backlash match, as SKY simply won a triple threat match to challenge for the title on an episode of "Raw," meaning the in-ring action was the main thing to shine. SKY put up an excellent fight, but Belair showcased her strength, at one point, military pressing her challenger, one handed, above her head. At another point, despite SKY's counters, Belair hit a massive powerbomb off the ropes. The roof almost came off the building when SKY kicked out.Thankfully, a large portion of the match was contested ahead of Damage CNTRL interference, which happened just following the powerbomb spot, allowing both Belair and SKY to shine. Belair dodged a moonsault, despite Bayley holding on to her braid, and hit the KOD for the win.Belair successfully retained the title during the match, but she did something even better by making SKY look excellent, even in defeat.
It may be slight recency bias, but many outlets, and most, if not all of us here at WINC, ranked the triple threat match featuring Belair, SKY, and Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 41 for the Women's World Championship as one of the best matches of 2025. Sadly, it has to be noted, that as of this writing, the bout is Belair's most recent match, due to a nasty knuckle injury she suffered during the contest.It's the shortest match on this list, coming in at just under 14:30, but it started off hot and never let off the brakes once things got underway. It may be easy to forget about how good Belair was in this match, due to how bright Ripley and SKY's stars continued to shine after this match, while Belair was put on the shelf due to injury, but she held her own until the very end.At one point, Belair looked to put both Ripley and SKY up on her shoulders for the KOD, but both women escaped. She was able to suplex them, with Ripley on the middle rope, and SKY on the top, however. Belair very nearly had the match won with a KOD to SKY after she ate a pair of boots by Ripley off an Over the Moonsault, but the pin was interrupted by Ripley. She almost had Ripley with the KOD, before taking an Over the Moonsault by SKY and eating the pin.The match would be Belair's first-ever WrestleMania loss, but it was still a hue a win for her when it comes to WrestleMania moments. SKY was white-hot as champion at the time, so while taking the belt off of her didn't make sense, the match to get to her retaining was flawless, thanks in part to Belair's athleticism.
As previously mentioned, Belair and Lynch had one of the hottest feuds of 2022, after Lynch squashed the "EST" for the blue brand's championship, the title she won in the one of the most important matches in WWE history,upon her return at SummerSlam the previous year. At WrestleMania 38, Belair looked for redemption, and she got it in a major way with a victory on "The Grandest Stage of ThemAll"Against "Big Time Becks," this time, for the Raw Women's Championship.Lynch put Belair through a physicalbout, one that lasted slightly over 19 minutes, but Belair absolutely held her own. At one point, she attempted to put Lynch in her own submission, the Dis-Arm-Her, but Lynch was able to get back in control of the match. Lynch just was not able to keep Belair down, but the "EST" certainly took a beating.Belair tried to powerbomb Lynch, but ended up sending both of them over the top rope, but it was enough for her to finally get some control of the match. At one point, Belair had Lynch across her shoulders and sent her stomach-first across the turnbuckle, before hitting an impressive 450 Splash. Even after taking a Manhandle Slam on the stairs, in the end, it was Belair to rally and hit a big KOD to end the best women's match of 2022 and claim the Raw Women's Championship.Lynch and Belair weren't done there, however. In what should also be required viewing in Belair's catalog of excellent bouts, and a match that probably should have made the list, the women went after it one more time at SummerSlam 2022 in their feud-ending match.
The aforementioned incredibly important match in WWE history saw 2021 Royal Rumble-winner Belair take on Sasha Banks in the main event of night one. It was the first time two Black women fought in the main event of WrestleMania, or any other WWE pay-per-view, and only the second time in history women would take the marquee 'Mania spot in WWE history.The feud going into the match was hot, with Banks reminding Belair that the "EST" couldn't exist without the road she, the "BEST" had paved. Despite that, both women were clearly very emotional, due to the history they were making, before locking up to start the match.The women were evenly matched, though Banks, in storyline, may not have been fully prepared for the sheer strength of her opponent. Belair pressed Banks over head head, marched up the stairs, and dumped her in the ring at one point in the opening minutes of the bout. The women went back-and-forth, and sequences continued to come down to Belair's strength and power, only to be met with Banks' experience, or vice versa.With the women on the ropes, Banks attempted a double stomp to Belair, who countered, and made it to the top to hit the 450 Splash. Banks somehow kicked out, which proved to be a bad idea, as Belair nailed her with her braid, before finally getting her up for the KOD to win the historic match and become new SmackDown Women's Champion. While it's not shown in the Netflix broadcast, various clips on social media at the time showed Banks on the outside, smiling toward her challenging, seemingly knowing just what they both had accomplished that night.
