When Bianca Belair pinned Sasha Banks and captured the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship in the main event of night one of this year’s WrestleMania, she became a megastar. So why isn’t WWE treating her like one?

Belair had shown flashes of brilliance prior to her WrestleMania moment, of course. She impressed during her tenure at NXT, and had some solid main-event-worthy matches. Even though she came up short and failed to win the NXT Women’s Championship, there were very few wrestling fans who didn’t think she had a bright future in the business ahead of her.

Most people who follow WWE with any regularity experience a sense of trepidation when a Superstar they’re fond of gets “called up” from NXT to one of the company’s flagship brands. Success on the black and gold brand doesn't guarantee success on the main roster, and we’ve witnessed the burials of numerous performers in the wake of a main roster promotion. But there was very little doubt that Bianca Belair would make it work. Even so, the beginning of her journey to the WrestleMania main event arrived slightly sooner than expected when she won the Women’s Royal Rumble Match back in January.

The build-up to Banks Vs. Belair was nothing mind blowing, but each woman made the most of her time and did just enough to make the match feel special. By the time the bell rang at the end of their match, the build was long forgotten anyway. Belair won the gold in thrilling fashion in what was most certainly a Match Of The Year candidate for many fans and critics. Even if you were to ignore the historical significance of such a match (and you absolutely shouldn’t) it over-delivered on damn-near every level. Sasha Banks is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and has the resume to prove it. By defeating Banks in a phenomenal WrestleMania main event, Belair’s stock increased drastically, and she proved that she was ready to carry the company on her shoulders. Which makes the lack of any meaningful follow-up all the more saddening.

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"I felt like I was so much in the moment of trying to win the title and doing everything I could that I didn't realize it was going to be an instant classic," Belair said in an interview with Bleacher Report shortly after the event. "I was just so in the moment. It wasn't until after when you can hear everyone's praises and you see everything online, when everything calms down and you have a chance to reflect on the match, you really feel good about it."

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The momentum was there to be capitalized on. But since winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship, Belair has had one match. A six-person mixed tag match that barely lasted seven minutes. At the time of writing, Belair is building to a match with Bayley at the awkwardly titled WrestleMania Backlash. Much like Sasha Banks, Bayley is one of the best wrestlers in the world with the resume that proves it, and is certainly a worthy opponent for the new champ. There’s no reason why Bayley and Bianca can’t have a great match, but the build has been lackluster at best.

To cut WWE some slack, WrestleMania took place in front of a live crowd. They were incentivized by the prospect of having live fans to impress. WrestleMania Backlash is taking place in the WWE ThunderDome, where it’s very difficult to create truly meaningful, memorable moments. 

"I came out with The Street Profits at WrestleMania, I debuted on Raw, I won the women's Royal Rumble in front of no fans, and it's weird coming out and not hearing any noise. You have to learn how to perform differently because you have to try to connect with people through a television screen,” Belair said of the ThunderDome in the aforementioned Bleacher Report interview.

It’s possible that when WWE hits the road and starts producing live shows in sold out arenas once again, they’ll start booking their champions like champions. Currently, many of WWE’s angles feel like wheel-spinning. It often seems like they’re producing non-canonical content to kill time until the world goes back to normal.

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Bianca Belair is an incredibly gifted professional wrestler with an abundance of charisma. She’s good on the mic, and she oozes star power. “The EST of WWE” has proven that she can rise to any occasion and the fans are on her side. WWE made the right decision when they strapped the proverbial rocket to her. Her title win was the quintessential WrestleMania moment. Her reign should be as memorable as the moment it began. When regular live crowds return, there’s no way that Belair doesn’t consistently get big babyface pops from the WWE Universe. Hopefully the booking committee reacts accordingly. Because they need to start booking Bianca Belair like the megastar she is, before it’s too late.

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