SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair
The Boss. The EST. The SmackDown Women’s Title.
One of WrestleMania 37’s marquee bouts has “show stealer” written all over it, as Sasha Banks will put her title on the line against Bianca Belair.
While it may be difficult to believe for those who witnessed her meteoric rise through the ranks, Banks is now a battle-tested veteran on the main roster and a Grand Slam Champion to boot, though her most recent title win was arguably her most impressive.
After being betrayed and brutalized by her former best friend Bayley, Banks shed a protective neck brace and immediately stepped straight into hell to challenge The Role Model for her championship in a Hell in a Cell Match. A savage fight ensued, but Banks earned the first SmackDown Women’s Title of her career by using a chair-assisted Banks Statement to force a frantic tapout.
Belair caught the attention of the WWE Universe during her time at NXT and continued to do so when she made the jump to the blue brand.
Nevertheless, she was still seeking a true career-defining victory, and accomplishing the herculean feat of winning a Royal Rumble Match was made more daunting when she drew No. 3 for the 30-Superstar melee.
But you don’t get a nickname like “The EST of WWE” if you’re lacking in confidence, and Belair silenced the doubters by competing for 56-plus minutes, racking up four eliminations, joining forces with Rhea Ripley to toss Charlotte Flair, and finally eliminating The Nightmare after a pulse-pounding brawl in the bout’s final moments.
After mulling her options for WrestleMania, Belair indeed challenged Banks on the Feb. 26 edition of SmackDown.
And while she has hovered around the title picture during her time on both NXT and SmackDown, Belair has yet to earn championship gold in WWE. Will she achieve her goal on The Grandest Stage of them All, or will Sasha continue to prove exactly why she is WWE’s Blueprint?
