Bianca Belair opens up about being recruited to WWE by current AEW star
Bianca Belair has credited current AEW announcer and analyst Mark Henry for bringing her to WWE for a tryout.
The EST of WWE has made quite a big name for herself in the company, becoming a two-time Women's Champion. Most recently, she defeated Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 38 to claim her first RAW Women's title.
Belair recently sat down to discuss her rise to stardom on “The Players’ Pod” with Kelley O’Hara. The EST explained that Mark Henry, who was working as a talent scout, had seen her perform at a Crossfit event in Puerto Rico. The World's Strongest Man immediately contacted Belair in hopes of luring her to WWE:
“So I had this big ol’ bow in my hair and a skirt on and I grabbed the microphone and I was talking to the crowd,” Belair said. “And he DM’d and he asked me ‘hey have you ever considered becoming a WWE Superstar because you’re doing everything that it takes. You have the look, you have the charisma, you have the strength, you’re grabbing the microphone and you’re talking to the crowd, essentially cutting promos, you don’t even realize it.”
Belair further revealed that she thought the message was fake until she did her own research:
"My nephew was like ‘Mark Henry commented on a picture’ and I’m like ‘that’s fake.’ And then I researched it and was like ‘this is Mark Henry, like the Mark Henry.” Belair said. (H/T: WrestlingInc)
Henry explained the training camp system behind recruitment to Bianca and told her that she needs to impress higher-ups to get hired by the leading promotion. It's safe to say she did just that.
Bianca Belair eagerly waited for WWE to sign her after tryout
Bianca Belair recently opened up about her excitement in finding out that she would be signed to the company. The RAW Women's Champion revealed that she had been pulled aside after her second tryout and told that "it was not a matter of if but when."
However, it was in seeing other hopeful wrestlers that she realized how lucky she was. The experience almost left her feeling guilty:
"I was in the airport with a girl and a guy that were at the tryout with me and I remember we were talking and on the back of their phones, it was full of WWE stickers and they were just saying like, ‘I hope I get a call back’ and, ‘I’ve been wanting to do this since I was five years old’... it made me feel like I was almost stealing their dream, you know?" said Bianca Belair. (H/T: Postwresling.com)
In the end, The EST's hard work and natural talent have taken her to the top of the mountain in WWE. But at only 33 years old, she still has plenty more mountains to climb in the world of sports entertainment.