Whenever you’re a wrestling booker planning a surprise return, the probabilities of your plans getting spoiled are very real. There’s at all times a set of ears backstage working for the dirt sheets (I acknowledge that we’re a part of the issue), or a fan with a camera who’s a bit too able to post your talent’s incoming flight onto social media. Spoiled returns are such an actual concern within the business, that a return kept a secret is a rarity. Mix that rarity with the duty of creating a return good — impactful to the promotion’s ongoing narrative climate, just spectacular enough to be well worth the audience’s while without being gratuitous, overbooked nonsense, emotional enough to resonate with said audience — and you might have a return that isn’t each well-done and kept a secret.
Luckily, Bianca Belair has at all times been a cut above the remainder.
Other than the occasional Tennessee appearance, Belair has been largely absent from WWE programming since her first-ever WrestleMania loss against IYO SKY. Belair made her return to broadcast, nevertheless, in valiant fashion at Saturday Night’s Most important Event, where she was announced to be the special guest referee for Naomi and Jade Cargill’s upcoming No Holds Barred match at Evolution II. Atlanta got here alive for Belair, who looked stunning as ever, and Naomi and Cargill each looked troubled because the third member of their past Big 3 stable got here to confront them within the ring.
First things first — this was a beautifully kept secret by WWE. Hot take, but surprises are essentially the most impactful after we, you guessed it, are surprised by them! I didn’t anticipate Belair coming back in any respect this weekend. There have been no reports about her return timeline, no whisperings about her in backstage creative meetings or call sheets, no leaked airport appearances, nothing. Belair’s return was tightly under wraps, and it made her return to WWE programming all of the more worthwhile. It may be tempting to dismiss this efficient secret-keeping in consequence of the circumstances around Belair’s return: there is a difference between, say, Cody Rhodes’ return to WWE at WrestleMania 40 versus Belair’s return to referee a match at Evolution. Nevertheless, if you consider the starpower Belair has — she is literally the feminine face of the corporate at this point — and the essential role she has in Naomi and Cargill’s storyline, it is easy to see how big of a deal it’s that this secret was kept so well.
That is the second part to this: I like how Belair was so easily integrated into the Evolution card. I’m assuming she’s cleared to take bumps and compete after Evolution II, but even when she is not, that is an important method to put her on Sunday’s upcoming card. As previously mentioned, Belair is the feminine face of the corporate: what’s an all-women’s WWE premium live event without “The -EST?”
It’s hard to maintain returns a secret, and it’s hard to do returns well. Luckily, Belair is the b-EST at each.
Written by Angeline Phu