Bianca Belair’s reign as Raw Women’s Champion has been the stuff of legend, and earlier this week, she made history yet again.
Having won her title in a match against Becky Lynch on night one of WrestleMania 38, Belair has now been Raw Women’s Champion for 347 days and counting, surpassing MVP’s 342 day United States Championship reign from 2007-2008. This makes the EST the longest-reigning Black singles champion in WWE history, male or female.
Speaking in a recent interview with The Whole Story Podcast, Belair opened up about her success, saying that she’s honored to have done so well in her relatively short career and to provide inspiration to others.
“It means everything to me. I feel like I’m still fairly new to this. I know I’ve had a lot of success very quickly, but I’ve only been on the main roster for, [I’m] going on my third year. So to know that I’m currently the longest-reigning black champion in WWE history, it’s something that’s really hard to put into words.
“It’s an honor, it makes me feel like I’m doing something right, and it really puts, not pressure but significance on how big this moment is, and that it’s not just about me. I think that’s what I love about it the most is that I feel like it’s not just about me. It adds a why to what I’m doing. It’s representation, it’s inspiring others.”
“I Want To Be Representation” – Bianca Belair
At WrestleMania 37 in Tampa, FL, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks faced off for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in the main event of night one. This marked the second women’s main event in WrestleMania history, and the first involving women of color.
Continuing in her interview, Belair reflected on that WrestleMania main event, expressing how cool it was that her husband Montez Ford’s daughter got to see two Black women in that position when she was just eight or nine years old.
“Something that stuck with me that my husband said when we were talking about WrestleMania 37, when I was one of the first black females to ever main-event WrestleMania, my husband, I think he had just turned 30, and he was saying, ‘I’m 30 years old, and this is the first time we’re seeing this.’ My stepdaughter, I think she was around eight or nine at the time, he said, ‘She’s eight years old, and she saw it at eight years old, so imagine how that’s gonna impact her, seeing it at a such a young age.
“So that really stuck with me, knowing that, where WWE is right now, it’s an amazing time where these unprecedented moments are happening, and I’m able to make my title reign be something that’s bigger than me, and it can inspire people and let them know that [if] you want to go do something, you go after it and you keep going with it as long as you can.
“So I’m riding this wave. I hope I’m doing it right. I want to be representation, I want to be inspiration, and I just really want my title reign to be more than just about me, and that’s what it’s becoming, and I think that that’s special.”
Bianca Belair is set for another title defense at the upcoming WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, CA. She is set to take on Asuka, who earned a title shot by winning the Elimination Chamber.
h/t Fightful