Steve Carrier on November 6, 2025
After being sidelined since WrestleMania 41, Bianca Belair’s recovery has been longer—and rougher—than anyone expected. But now, there’s finally an update.
According to Bodyslam, WWE sources believe the “EST of WWE” could be returning in the early stages of 2026. While nothing is set in stone, there’s growing optimism behind the scenes that Belair may even return earlier than the currently projected timeline.
Belair has been absent from the ring since suffering a devastating injury during her triple threat match against Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY at WrestleMania. The damage? Multiple broken fingers—and not your average fracture. In July, Belair told CBS Sports just how bad it got.
“I broke it in three places and the joint. It healed, but it won’t bend. You can’t wrestle with a straight finger because it’ll break again… I can’t even sew right now. I can’t even make gear. We’re on the end of this healing process, so we might have some time, but you never know. Crazy things happen.”
Later, on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, she walked fans through the exact moment her hand shattered during the now-infamous top-rope German suplex spot.
“It was when we were doing the triple German spot… my hand got stuck underneath Rhea. Also I went to the wrong side of Rhea, but my hand, I thought she was gonna go further over me, we kind of just collapsed together. So when my hand went back, it got stuck under her, and she literally crashed on my hand.”
The pain was immediate and overwhelming.
“I knew immediately it was broken… In the moment I thought I broke all my fingers. The ref comes to me. He’s like, ‘Are you okay?’ I’m like, ‘I just broke all of my fingers!’ You just see me rolling around on the ground… Rhea had to snap me out of it. She’s like, ‘Bianca, Bianca!’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ Oh, we have to finish this match.”
Even months later, Belair told Club 520 her hand was still not fully healed.
“I have my wedding ring on my right hand because my left finger is still broken.”
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful noted that WWE originally expected Belair to return much sooner but severely underestimated the damage.
“When the injury happened, WWE did not think she was going to be out this long. Now, her finger looked terrible from what I understood — it like swelled up big time. People were coming and checking on it. It was on the triple German suplex spot at Mania where I think that she thought she broke all of her fingers, but she actually broke the knuckle. So it ended up a lot worse than they thought.”
Despite the setback, Belair still takes pride in her WrestleMania performance.
“That’s one of my matches I’m super proud about at WrestleMania this past year with Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY. There was a lot of strength and athleticism that we displayed, and storytelling. That’s what’s amazing about WWE, it’s sports entertainment, for sure, and that’s what we do. I’m super proud to be a part of something like that.”
As of now, she’s made limited public appearances while continuing to heal. The fact that WWE now feels she’s on track for an early 2026 return—and possibly sooner—is a big sign that the worst may finally be behind her.
Would you bring Bianca Belair back into a title feud immediately, or build her into a new storyline from scratch? Drop your booking ideas in the comments and let us know how you’d reintroduce the EST.
November 6, 2025 1:12 pm
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