Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble's Biggest Surprise 1988-2022

3. Women's 2021 - Bianca Belair Is The EST For Real

Bianca Belair's WWE success was always inevitable, but the company that insists on breaking something before promoting the fixed version actually followed through with 'The EST' at the first attempt here.

Given a monster 56-minute run and eliminating Bayley, Charlotte Flair and preeminent threat Rhea Ripley in the cool closing moments, this was as committed to the character as WWE had ever been. They'd thankfully follow it through in a WrestleMania classic with Sasha Banks too.

Authored by Michael Hamflett

Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett

Posted On: 10th Jan 2023

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