Bianca Belair's historic emergence as one of WWE's top female competitors will include yet another honor.
The former University of Tennessee track star topped the 2021 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Women's 150 list, PWI contributing writer Kristen Ashly revealed during an appearance on Renee Paquette's Oral Sessions podcast Thursday.
Belair kicked off 2021 by winning the women's Royal Rumble match at its namesake pay-per-view event in January to earn a title shot at WrestleMania 37 against then-SmackDownWomen's Champion Sasha Banks, with both becoming the first Black women to compete in the main event at WrestleMania on April 10, which later won an ESPY award for 'Best WWE Moment.'
Belair defeated Banks and held the title for four consecutive months before dropping it to a returning Becky Lynch, who had vacated her RAW Women's Championship after announcing she was pregnant with her first child in May 2020.
Belair has consistently climbed the PWI Women's 150 rankings during her five-year wrestling career, having previously ranked No. 85 in 2018, No. 36 in 2019, and No. 23 in 2020.
PWI also revealed its top-5 wrestlers ranked in this year's upcoming '150' issue which included the following:
- Bianca Belair (+22) (WWE)
- Utami Hayashishita (+63) (STARDOM)
- Deonna Purrazzo (+27) (IMPACT)
- Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (+18) (AEW)
- Thunder Rosa (+9) (AEW)
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