Heading into her fifth WrestleMania, Bianca Belair is engaged in a bit of an embroilment. Two, actually.
The five-time champion known for seemingly superhuman strength and agility will be squaring off against her two greatest rivals, Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley, for the women’s world championship Sunday night, April 20, at Allegiant Stadium. These three have been wowing audiences and dominating the WWE women’s division in recent years, and there’s no clear favorite.
But there’s some other drama. Belair’s friends and former tag-team partners Jade Cargill and Naomi will be battling each other in WrestleMania 41’s first night on April 19. It’s a long story, but basically, Naomi betrayed and assaulted Cargill in order to take her spot by Belair’s side. Since the truth came out, they’ve been exchanging attacks, with Belair hopelessly caught in the middle.
It’s as emotionally complicated as it sounds, which you know if you watch WWE’s live TV shows every week. The storylines in pro wrestling these days take no backseat to the most popular weekly dramas or viral reality shows, and that’s a big reason why WWE has surged to new heights in global popularity.
“I’m super excited,” says Belair. “The women in WWE right now are really showing up and showing out. We have some of the strongest storylines going into WrestleMania, and I get to be part of not just one, but two. It means a lot to me, and it’s a lot of fun, and also very exhausting. But both have different energies—I’m devastated in one, and trying to prevail in the other.”
The quality of the storytelling turns viewers into fans of specific superstars, she explains, and can convert someone who casually watches pro wrestling on TV into someone who might buy a ticket to WrestleMania in Las Vegas.
“I’ve been able to be part of a lot of WrestleManias … but when you get a story like these, it allows you to show other sides, and it really connects with fans on the emotional side,” Belair says. “That’s what we’ve been doing with these stories, intriguing the fans. You couldn’t ask for anything more.”
In wrestling, there’s always more. WrestleMania is the biggest night of the year for the WWE Universe, but it’s not just one night. The annual supercard takes over Allegiant Stadium Saturday and Sunday, and last year’s WrestleMania was a two-day sellout at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, a larger stadium at 67,594 seats.
But it’s not just two nights. WWE also brings its three different live TV shows to T-Mobile Arena, and don’t forget about the WWE World interactive fan experience running five days at the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. There’s also the Hall of Fame ceremony and a comedy wrestling roast at Fontainebleau.
Is that enough? Never. There are too many adjacent wrestling and entertainment events to list, which further proves the concept that any big thing gets bigger when it comes to Las Vegas.
“Vegas definitely has strong energy as a WWE city,” says Belair. “We feel like we’re at the top of the industry. We’re innovative and groundbreaking. So when you combine Vegas with the WWE Universe, it’s going to be colossal. People come from all over the world here to have fun, so you put WrestleMania here and it’ll be even bigger.”
While WWE events have been consistently held in Las Vegas in recent years—including SummerSlam in 2021, one of the first major events with fans in attendance at Allegiant Stadium—its signature “PLE” (premium live event) has been hosted in Vegas only once before. WrestleMania IX took place on April 4, 1993 at the former outdoor arena at Caesars Palace, a venue better known for boxing bouts. Attendance was just under 17,000.
By comparison, the crowd at T-Mobile Arena for the warmup and cool-down events surrounding this year’s WrestleMania (SmackDown on April 18 and Raw on April 21) will almost certainly exceed that number. This week, Las Vegas will be a showcase for how big WWE has become in recent years.
“When I first got in [to WWE], because I didn’t come from a wrestling background, it blew my mind how big WrestleMania was,” says Belair. “It was one night. It evolved into two nights because our roster is so amazingly talented, we just needed more spots to showcase it, and that’s what the fans wanted.
“Now it’s a whole week of festivities, including WWE World where fans can be a part of this interactive world with meet-and-greets and buy all their merch. It gets bigger every year, and in our world, it’s even bigger than the Super Bowl. We work all year long for it and each year, try to top ourselves.”
WRESTLEMANIA 41 April 19 & 20, 3:30 p.m., $180-$1,035. Allegiant Stadium, ticketmaster.com.
