Speaking on the newest episode of WWE Chronicle all about Bianca Belair, the EST of WWE reveals the moment she wrote the ‘EST’ nickname.
In the latest Chronicle, WWE follow Bianca’s journey from NXT up to the main roster and her Royal Rumble debut in 2020.
During the episode, Belair says that even though her skills were steadily progressing, she didn’t start feeling like she had something with wrestling until her appearance in the 2017 Mae Young Classic. A tournament in which she defeated Sage Beckett in the first round only to be stopped in the second by Kairi Sane (who went on to win the tournament).
Belair shared the origins of her ‘EST’ nickname and how it started with her first-ever promo at an NXT live event and in fact was originally ‘IST’ rather than ‘EST’.
[Reading the promo card] “I’m going to get right to the point, here in NXT I’m bringing “ist.” I’m the prettiIST woman on this roster, I’m the strongIST woman in this ring, and I’m on a whole other level.” That was my first promo. This is definitely the moment where I thought that I made it.
I called my mom and I’m like, I got my very first promo three months in, like, I’m here. This is where EST came from because it started as “ist.” It was just, I’m the ist, I’m the ist. I’m the prettiest and the strongest and the baddest and the roughest, oh, ist, IST, NXT, it all rhymes. The EST of NXT, EST of WWE, so this is where the EST came from.
The nickname has of course stuck, with Bianca using it in almost all promo’s, including having the word ‘EST’ stitched into her homemade ring gear or woven into her hair – the EST is here to stay!
You can catch Bianca Belair mix it up with 29 other superstars at the annual Royal Rumble PPV this coming Sunday, all the details of which you can find here.