Bianca Belair is one of the most polarizing WWE superstars to come around in a long time. Belair is what some would call a generational talent. Belair gained even more popularity when she won the women’s Royal Rumble Match, then went on to defeat Sasha Banks for the Women’s SmackDown championship at Wrestlemania 37.
Before Belair entered the wrestling world she was a star on the track, so when it comes to the Olympics theirs no doubt she was watching. Especially Gymnast Simone Biles who in this year’s Olympics prioritized her mental health over competing.
In a recent interview with Vibe & Wrestling, Bianca talked about how Simone Biles ‘ focus on mental health truly inspired her.
“Simone Biles is so inspiring on what she did especially in such a big stage and she allowed herself to be vulnerable and put her mental health before her physical habilities and speaks volumes as well the team and the coaches that she had the fact that they were able to support her and they went out there support her and they still won the medal. The message is that athletes are humans and it is so hard mentally and we have to look at her and admire her for what she did because there are times that as athletes we felt that something was not going well but we kept on pushing and it’s ok to put your mental health first.
“In college I had a coach who did that for me. I was struggling so much mentally with depression, anxiety, eating disorders… and he told me: “You have to go and talk to a doctor, you are back on track until they clear you” and he put my mental health first and at that time I didn’t understand but he helped me so much as a human being and as an athlete too, even to this day. I know my triggers I know how to manage my mental health better; it’s still a marathon and now for me is just… my husband is helping me so much, even for WrestleMania he was giving me affirmations all throughout the day. Everytime I was saying something that sounded that I was doubting myself or I was scared he was giving me affirmations, so surrounding myself with the love of my parents and dealing with like an imposter syndrome because they are telling me all the time: “Yes you can do this” and I say: “Do I really can do this?” “Yes of course you can do this”… But Simone Biles inspired me with all she did and any athlete can relate to her and she’s gonna help every athlete in all sports across the board”.
Belair is set to defend her Smackdown women title against Sasha Banks at Summerslam on August 21 in Las Vegas.