Held back from singles action in the NXT on USA era so far, Bianca Belair went into this match with Dakota Kai as the favourite despite 'The Leader Of Team Kick's recent return.
'The EST of NXT' used the clash to remind everybody of exactly who she was, marking herself as the third realistic challenger to Shayna Baszler's Championship at the next available opportunity.
Strength, speed and charisma up to ceilings way higher than Full Sail, Belair was a TV-ready star long before the black-and-gold brand made the recent leap. Kai's time may come another day, but the fact that her defeat came with relative assuredness suggests she may not currently be in the plans.
The total opposite could be said for her opponent - the time for her to have one more crack at the Champion is yesterday.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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
