10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2021 (So Far)

7. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair (WWE WrestleMania 37 - Night 1)

Bianca Belair Sasha Banks
WWE.com

In an ideal world, main-eventing WrestleMania 37's first night would have been the star-making springboard it felt like as Bianca Belair raised the SmackDown Women's Championship aloft before an audience 20,000 strong.

What has happened since then shows why making proclamations like "they made a star that night!" are so dangerous in WWE. Since wrestling Sasha Banks, Belair has largely been bogged down in a feud with SmackDown's other Horsewoman, Bayley, that WWE has somehow conspired to make bad by dismantling everything we know about Bianca's wrestling character. The EST is not a character lacking in confidence, no matter how many video screens laugh at her.

Nonetheless, Banks vs. Belair was up there with Sasha and Bayley in Brooklyn. Feeling more like a big-budget blockbuster than a wrestling match at times, it told the fitting story of Bianca's hair as both a help and a hindrance. Focusing on it throughout the match, often to her advantage, Banks was eventually hoisted by her own petard, dealt comeuppance as Belair's signature whip manifested a gruesome welt on her torso, opening the door for an emotional climax.

With performances like this, it's hard to argue Banks' status as WWE's female GOAT. Belair, meanwhile, solidified her position as somebody with more upside than anyone else on the roster.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.