Bianca Belair reacts to Rikishi's comments about her Royal Rumble win
Bianca Belair picked up the biggest win of her WWE career at Royal Rumble by being the final survivor in the Women's Royal Rumble match.
The EST of WWE now has a guaranteed WrestleMania title match. Bianca Belair caught up with several journalists for a conference call following her monumental Royal Rumble victory.
Renzo Silva of Libero.pe asked Bianca Belair about Mark Henry and Rikishi's reactions to her Royal Rumble win. Rikishi was part of the Royal Rumble Watch Along show, and the WWE Hall of Famer praised the former NXT Superstar's efforts in the Rumble.
Rikishi's words meant a lot to Bianca Belair as they validated her potential as a performer and overall skill set. Rikishi's comments will give Bianca Belair the confidence heading into WrestleMania.
"After the match, hearing those words from Rikishi, it's just hearing a legend like that say the things that he said gives me the validation; it gives me even more motivation to go in confidence into WrestleMania."
I proved him right: Bianca Belair on Mark Henry's reaction to her Royal Rumble win
Belair also spoke about Mark Henry's influential role in her career. Bianca didn't watch wrestling growing up, and she never imagined becoming a WWE Superstar either. Mark Henry told the WWE officials to give her a tryout, and Bianca Belair is glad that she proved the veteran right. Mark Henry is proud of what Belair has accomplished thus far in WWE.
"I talked to Mark Henry afterward; he just always tells me every time he sees me, it never changes; he always says, 'I'm so proud of you.' Even before the win at the Rumble, he is so proud of me, and he was the one that believed in me from the jump. So, it's cool to hear from him after the Royal Rumble match to hear how proud he is. I proved him right, you know, he was the one that told everyone, 'give this girl a tryout.' So, I proved him right."
Bianca Belair also revealed her initial reaction to the Royal Rumble win and how she went through many emotions.
"Yes, definitely. It really sank in for me as soon as I threw Rhea over the top rope; I kind of had a little moment, 'Okay, this is really happening,' and I had different stages of emotions. I threw her over the top rope, and I had this moment of, 'Okay, this really just happened,' and I went into excitement and just overcame with joy that I just won the Women's Royal Rumble match and then maybe a few seconds later, I look to the left, and I saw the WrestleMania sign, and it hit me like, 'Oh, yeah, you're also going to WrestleMania. It all hit me at different stages, and it felt like a rollercoaster of emotions had taken over me, and everything kind of just came out when I was doing the interview. I didn't really have anything. I didn't know what I wanted to say. I just said that was on my heart. And when I came backstage, it was just even more love and support, so it's just been a range of emotions ever since I've been crying on and off. I'm an emotional person. But yeah, everything hit me at that moment, and as soon as I got back, now it's still kind of sinking in."
Bianca Belair will get a big Championship match at WrestleMania 37, and the belief is that she will go after Sasha Banks' SmackDown Women's title.
Also, don't forget to check out the video above in which Belair answered Riju Dasgupta's question about carrying Otis and the special Rumble spot with Naomi.
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