Bianca Belair Reflects on NXT Evolution

In the past week, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Bianca Belair teased the possibility of joining the “WWE NXT” brand again, this time with her tag team partner Jade Cargill. As always, it will be quite difficult to forget her latest work on “NXT,” where she faced Charlotte Flair in a high-stakes singles fight in February of 2020.

Since then, much has changed in WWE’s developmental brand. While on the current season of “The Masked Man Show,” Belair explained some of the major differences that she noticed between her time on “NXT” and this current “NXT” incarnation, now led by WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative.

“Like to me, NXT is so different, not just the people who are presently based in, but the entire configuration that was in place before the [COVID-19] lasts for a long time since after the pandemic changed a lot. So much so when you go in, it is like, I am what part of the world now? They’re in a whole different building.

The ring setup is different. But the talent there is freaking crazy,” Belair said.

Belair Praises NXT Growth

She had no qualms about how quickly the current generation of wrestlers, particularly women, is becoming accustomed to the business.

“Okay, let’s give them a few months, and these girls will be on a television screen, having these wild matches. These girls are picking up rather fast, and it’s just awesome what they are doing.” Belair also noted that the shift in the primary recruitment target has pivoted to focusing on young athletes.

“There’s a lot of athletes being recruited, right? So, I’m all for a lot of collegiate athletes. I’m like, all right, that’s where I came from. So I think it’s pretty awesome.” Most recently, the weekly television location has shifted, which has to be one of the most impactful factors.

The brand was based in Full Sail University when Belair worked in “NXT” from 2017 to 2020. Still, NXT is often recorded from WWE’s…