The Truth About Bianca Belair's Long Hair Braid, Explained (2024)

In her WWE main roster career, Bianca Belair has quickly become perhaps the most popular member of the women’s division, impressively surpassing even the likes of The Four Horsewomen. She’s a two-time champion, former tag team champion with Jade Cargill, and one of the top faces of SmackDown. She also has a distinct look that sets her apart from everyone else, particularly when it comes to her long hair.

Becky Lynch might have a lot of different hairstyles and Sasha Banks has dyed her hair myriad different colors. No one has had the long braid that Bianca Belair has, though, let alone used it in the ring the way she does.

Bianca Belair’s Braid Has Been Used As A Weapon

Bianca Belair Used Her Hair For Offense Before, But She Took It To The Next Level At WrestleMania 37

• Bianca Belair debuted in NXT in 2017 and proceeded to stand out from the crowd with her braid-based offense.
• NXT coach Sara Amato is credited with coming up with the idea for Bianca Belair to whip opponents with her hair.
• Using the braid in matches like her WrestleMania main event with Sasha Banks made Bianca Belair's hair all the more celebrated among WWE fans.

Bianca Belair signed with WWE in 2016, but didn’t debut with NXT until 2017. Though she never became a champion like she did on Raw and SmackDown, Belair still stood out due to her distinct look. Sure, there were the muscles and the sheer power, but there was also the hair, a thick twisted braid that hung all the way to her knees.

Throughout her half decade on WWE programming, Belair has used the braid multiple times as a weapon. There was the time she whipped it across Shayna Baszler’s midsection, shockingly snapping loudly like a whip and creating an immediate cut across Baszler that took weeks to heal. It wasn't the only time Belair has used her braid to take down her opponent. She’s also memorably sliced open Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch with it, and has used it to tie her opponents up. As great and unique of a weapon as it is, the braid has also been used against her, with opponents pulling at it, choking Bealir with it, and using it as a way to throw her down to the mat.

On Booker T’s Hall of Fame podcast, Belair revealed that the idea to use the braid as a weapon came from NXT coach Sara Amato She said:

Is Bianca Belair’s Braid Part Of Her Real Hair?

Bianca Belair's Braid Is Long Enough To Make Some Fans Skeptical

• Bianca Belair has indicated that her braid is made of her real hair.
• Bianca Belair has to work hard on her hair to prepare for each match, given the physicality entailed.
• Montez Ford encouraged Bianca Belair to maintain her braid and keep using it because it helped her stand out.

Bianca Belair’s hair gives her a presence you won’t forget, but is the braid real? Certainly, hair that long has to be an extension, right? Belair has insinuated that the braid is indeed very much made of her real attached hair. In an interview with the Miami Herald, Belair said:

“I’ve never actually measured the hair, but it’s almost to the floor. It’s pretty long. It almost touches, I would say it’s between my ankle and my knee, so somewhere mid-calf, so that’s the length of my hair. It’s pretty long. Preparing the hair for every match is a task. I’m not even going to lie about that. It’s a task."

Her husband, Montez Ford, helped her to establish the braided look. Belair also told Booker T:

"First it just came as something as, I just liked the look of it. My husband taught me a lot, even from the very beginning, because he watched wrestling growing up. He was the very first person that, when I was debating wearing it to the ring or not, he told me, ‘No, you have to wear that because that makes you stand out.’ So that was the first time I learned the lesson of ‘this whole thing is about unique and standing out and being different.'”

Ford also said:

While Belair implies that the hair is hers, there have been Instagram posts showing her with much shorter hair. The hair could be hers, but also an extension as well. In modern wrestling, however, where kayfabe is dead, it’s nice to have a little mystery about a wrestler’s gimmick. Real, attached hair or not, the braid gives Belair a great look and a weapon like you’ve never seen before.

Will Bianca Belair's Braid Always Be A Part Of Her Wrestling Gimmick?

The Future For One Of Bianca Belair's Signature Elements Could Go In A Variety Of Directions

• There has been no shortage of fan speculation about circ*mstances under which Bianca Belair might lose her signature braid.
• If Bianca Belair were to lose her braid, it could be a tremendous source of heat for whichever opponent were to take it from her.
• Fans do still associate the braid with Bianca Belair, meaning it may not be worth it to sacrifice this part of her presentation.

The choice of whether or for how long Bianca Belair keeps her braid will probably be up to her more than anyone else. Still, some fans have raised the idea of her perhaps participating in a hair vs. hair match or other contest where she puts the braid on the line. Alternatively, the idea of a heel attack that culminates in her having the braid cut off has circulated here and there. This certainly would be a natural way to get heat for a major rivalry, though there's always a question whether sacrificing a core part of a wrestler's identity like that is worth it in the long run for just one storyline.

Of course, there is also a case to be made that, while Belair's braid was a crucial part of her presentation, she may not really need it anymore at this point in her career.

Bianca Belair Doesn't Need Her Braid In Order To Stay Over

Bianca Belair Is Popular And Well-Respected Enough Not To Have To Depend On An Accessory

• Bianca Belair has come far enough in terms of both skill and star power that she doesn't need her braid to distinguish her anymore.
• Bianca Belair has turned heads with her partnership with Naomi and Jade Cargill.
• An eventual feud with Jade Cargill or Bayley feels likely for Bianca Belair.

Bianca Belair's braid certainly did succeed in helping her standout in the early stages of her wrestling career as it distinguished her from other talents in developmental, and she used it in key spots in some of her biggest matches on the main roster. It does raise the question if it will always be a part of her gimmick, though, or if it might be an accessory she "outgrows" now that she's so firmly established with WWE fans and has come a long way as an in-ring worker, producing some truly excellent matches.

Indeed, Bianca Belair's recent efforts alongside Jade Cargill have firmly planted The EST as a popular work horse who may well have a role in redefining the women's tag team division. In particular, this partnership has helped Cargill, whom some pundits were concerned WWE had fumbled, by giving her a great partner to work with and an opportunity to be featured without highlighting her limitations in singles bouts.

The EST And Jade Cargill Dropped Their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship In Surprising Fashion

• WWE Clash at the Castle 2024 saw Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn pick up an upset win.
• WWE may be setting up a feud between Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill.
• Triple H may be putting Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill through some hardship to set up greater fan investment.

Many fans were surprised when Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill lost their Women's Tag Team Championship to Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn at Clash at the Castle 2024. Some chalked it up to WWE wanting to "throw a bone" to the Scottish crowd, given Piper Niven wasn't set up to win Women's Championship and a swerve awaited when Drew McIntyre failed to take the World Heavyweight Championship off Damian Priest. However, WWE started lining up other challengers for the Unholy Union, suggesting the company wasn't just hotshotting the titles onto hometown heroes only to turn it right back over.

There's a school of thought that WWE might cut to the chase and put things in place to execute a dream match with Belair and Cargill as opponents, which many have seen as the end game for their pairing in the first place. There's also a real possibility, though, that fans are seeing classic Triple H booking.

The Game has demonstrated that he believes the old wisdom "the money is in the chase" with long title reigns for heels like Roman Reigns and Gunther. Moreover, WWE famously put off the crowning moment for Cody Rhodes for a year to offer extra time for him to build sympathy and investment from the fans and make his WWE Championship win at WrestleMania 40 feel all the more meaningful. There's every possibility Triple H has a similar strategy in mind for this potentially game-changing women's tag team, delaying the gratification of a longer reign by having them take some time away from the titles, face some adversity, and emerge all the stronger for it when they do return to the title picture.

Regardless of the future of Bianca Belair's signature braid, there's no question it has helped distinguish her as an act in WWE. It was a key part of some of her most important matches to date, and even a key spot that led to her elimination in the 2024 Royal Rumble. Nonetheless, like all things in wrestling, it's unclear what the future might hold for this element of Belair's character, just as her own future as a tag team or singles wrestlers has all sorts of interesting possibilities in the months ahead.