Bianca BelAir Not Worried About Pressure to Deliver Ahead of NXT Takeover: Phoenix
(photo credit: WWE.com)
Bianca BelAir spoke with WWE.com ahead of her match with Shayna Baszler at NXT Takeover: Phoenix. Highlights are below:
On having her first NXT Women’s Championship opportunity at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix: “I’ve basically been begging for this title opportunity for a while, so I feel satisfied to finally get what I deserve, but I am definitely not content. Ever since walking into the WWE Performance Center two-and-a-half years ago, I’ve had one goal in mind, and that’s proving that I am the best. All I’ve been missing is a chance in the spotlight to shine. And now that it’s finally my time, I am fully prepared to take down Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship.”
On watching NXT Takeovers but not being part of one yet: “I’ve had to sit back and watch TakeOver after TakeOver after TakeOver, champion after champion after champion. During my time in NXT, the champions have gone from Asuka to Ember Moon to Shayna Baszler to Kairi Sane and back to Shayna. I don’t have a jealous bone in my body, but every time I had to sit through another TakeOver, I knew it should have been me in the ring, under the lights, holding that title over my head. My pleas for a title opportunity were falling on deaf ears for a while and initially I felt slighted, but the more I thought about it, I realized every day they ignored me was just another day for me to get better and better.”
On the pressure to deliver on such a big stage: “Pressure makes diamonds, so when I think of TakeOver, I don’t see it as a “big stage.” I’m not thinking about the bright lights or the thousands of people in the audience … I simply see it as an opportunity to compete, win, and have everyone watch me shine. I’ve been asking for this, basically begging for this opportunity, so I am fully prepared to remain un-de-fea-ted.”
On people who may think she’s not as accomplished as Baszler: “Last time I checked, I’m the one who was in WrestleMania last year and I’m the one that is un-de-fea-ted. Those are both accomplishments Shayna can’t add to her list. I’m coming for that title and when I do, it will furthermore validate everything that I have been saying: I am the strongest, roughest, toughest, quickest, fastest, greatest, the best. The EST of NXT. I ain’t nothing to play with, and I am too determined and too talented to let Shayna Baszler take me down.”
On her preparations for the match: “Being an athlete, you always stay prepared, so you never have to get ready. I am UN-DE-FEA-TED. What I’m doing is obviously working for me, so why would I change anything? I think people mess up when they start changing for their opponent and they end up playing their opponent’s game. There’s no need to panic or change anything. I know exactly what I am going up against. Shayna is irrelevant to me in the sense that all I see is a competitor that I have to go through to get what I want: the NXT Women’s Championship.”
