WWE HOFer Mark Henry Looks Back On Recruiting Former Women's Champion

One can go down the proverbial YouTube rabbit hole with Bianca Belair and uncover some pretty impressive strength feats outside of wrestling. In fact, it was Belair's exploits in the Crossfit world that initially caught the attention of WWE talent scouts. As a former Olympic weightlifter himself, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry said it was these Crossfit exhibitions that initially put Belair on his radar. During an appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show," Henry elaborated on what he saw in Belair that made her stand out. 

"She's doing an event, and then she turns a backflip," Henry remembered. "And then she does a cartwheel to the next event...To myself, I said, 'Hey. Will you stop doing that? Like, you burning off energy. You're gonna lose.' She didn't lose. When you can showboat and have fun and you can still win, and everybody else is breathing heavy and huffing and puffing and about to pass out, I knew what kind of shape, I knew what kind of work she did. She overworked. Man, she was impressive."

Despite Crossfit's reputation as a strict, no-nonsense kind of program, Henry noted how Belair's charisma shined through. He remembered her competing in a homemade outfit, which is not something you'd normally see.

"She had a damn Mickey Mouse bow in her hair, with a fluffy tutu on that she made...she wanted to be different," he said. "That's wrestling. That's not Crossfit...that got my attention."

A nagging injury forced Belair out of Crossfit, but not soon thereafter, Henry DM'd her, encouraging her to show up to a WWE tryout. After signing a WWE developmental contract in 2016, Belair continued to impress coaches and former wrestling greats. Her first televised match was a battle royal on the May 3, 2017 episode of "WWE NXT."