"I now understand the power of representation" - Bianca Belair cites WWE Hall of Famer as an inspiration
Bianca Belair is one of the premier attractions of WWE at the moment. Being the SmackDown Women's Champion, Belair is one of the cover stars for the promotion as she leads the WWE Women's division towards a much brighter future.
However, it took a long time for Belair to get where she is right now. Her track and field background played a major role in her success inside the squared circle as she soon directed her career path towards wrestling. She has since gone on to become one of the top stars of the company.
Her match against Sasha Banks in the main event of WrestleMania earlier this year is a major milestone in sports history as the two were the first African-American women to headline the grandest stage of them all.
She has now become a source of inspiration for many young aspiring athletes across the world. In a recent interview with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes, Belair discussed the importance of representation and cited WWE Hall of Famer Jacqueline as someone who inspired her:
"The older I’ve gotten, I now understand the power of representation." Belair said, "For me, I always gravitated towards Jacqueline. I thought she was amazing in the ring. She was beautiful, she was strong, she was powerful and it was really empowering to watch Jacqueline."
Jacqueline competed in WWE in the early 2000s and was a mainstay on the roster, having won the cruiserweight championship in 2004. Her impact on wrestling is felt to this day given how many current stars look up to her as an inspiration.
Bianca Belair has now been the WWE SmackDown Women's Champion for over 100 days
Following her win over Sasha Banks at WrestleMania, Bianca Belair started off hot and soon got into a feud with the longest reigning WWE SmackDown Women's Champion, Bayley.
The two had a match at WrestleMania BackLash where Belair picked up the win but that wasn't the end of it. They locked horns again at WWE Hell in a Cell and the result was the same. At WWE Money in the Bank, Bayley was set to challenge for the title again in an "I Quit" match but unfortunately got injured. Instead, Belair faced Carmella for the title on SmackDown last week.
Belair is set to defend the title again tonight against Carmella. Who do you think will walk out as champion? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.