The Highway to WrestleMania is usually romanticized. It is a journey to the land of giants. A map to sports activities leisure’s Mecca. It is also a high-stakes pursuit the place most superstars spin out. For Bianca Belair and Montez Ford, their partnership is a driving drive to maintain calm and stick with it.
“It is the busiest time of the yr. It is probably the most hectic time of the yr,” Belair advised CBS Sports activities whereas selling Hulu’s “Love & WWE: Bianca and Montez” actuality collection. “It’s totally nerve-racking since you’re making an attempt to determine the way you’re going to get to WrestleMania. You need to be on that stage. So that you’re very susceptible. You are going via quite a lot of feelings.”
Try the complete interview with Bianca Belair and Montez Ford under.
Belair and Ford met in 2016 in WWE’s developmental program. They’ve efficiently navigated most of their skilled wrestling careers collectively. Belair is a three-time girls’s champion. Ford and his teammate Angelo Dawkins, identified collectively because the Avenue Earnings, are the second Triple Crown tag crew champs in WWE historical past. Nevertheless, not all types of success are weighted equally.
Belair was a tour de drive instantly after becoming a member of the primary roster at WrestleMania 36. She hasn’t missed or misplaced at a WrestleMania since. That features a milestone match with Sasha Banks in 2021, the primary time two Black superstars headlined WrestleMania and solely the second tentpole primary occasion helmed by girls. Ford’s success, whereas substantial, has been a shared endeavor with Dawkins. Ford needs a primary occasion singles run. He is admittedly had ideas of, “I am not simply Bianca Belair’s husband.” It may be robust to see your accomplice reaching your goals. It is a fixed reminder of unfulfilled ambitions. However Ford is aware of to not let intrusive ideas shift to envy. He as a substitute celebrates Belair’s achievements and makes use of them for motivation.
“I’m her husband so anytime she’s profitable or does one thing groundbreaking or landmark, that is my success too basically,” Ford stated. “However there’s additionally the a part of me, the child that is beloved this since a baby, that at all times needs to do one thing for myself. I do not need to be the one one bragging, I need her bragging too. What I do is use these ideas to encourage myself. I am very, very affected person. I know the enterprise has alternative ways of issues taking place. I really feel like endurance, onerous work and endurance will at all times push you thru.Â
“I bear in mind one in every of my favorites of all time, Macho Man [Randy Savage], would at all times speak about how, ‘The cream rises to the highest, brother.’ It is form of the identical factor whereas being on this journey. And the issues she’s doing are actually motivating me when it is my time. I simply use these ideas to higher put together myself. I see the issues she’s doing and know that when it’s my time, not solely will I do the identical issues however push the bar even larger.”
A singular type of help is offered to companions who work collectively in a specialised area. It is a non-verbal understanding of the opposite’s wants. Ford grounds Belair and makes her chuckle. Belair reminds Ford that his humor — a present larger than his outstanding athleticism — mustn’t invalidate his frustrations.
“Wrestling is such an enormous a part of our lives,” Belair stated. “To me, that is my protected area. My husband at all times says, ‘That is my peace right here.’ If I must vent or I must bounce concepts off of somebody, it is going to be my husband.”
“With this enterprise and all the things altering on a regular basis — and even life — feelings do not have an appointment time. They only present up,” Ford added. “You may’t put a restrict on what she’s in a position to focus on. That is perhaps the time when it is time for her to speak. You need to notice you are a husband, you are a employee, you are a accomplice, you are a good friend. All these issues at any given time all on the identical time.”
There may be an emphasis placed on asking vital questions throughout interviews. However foolish prompts typically result in insightful solutions. Even when requested one thing as innocent as, “Who has the higher eyebrows: Ford or Dwayne Johnson,” Belair’s devotion to her husband is unwavering.
“I gotta go together with my husband. He is my husband!” Belair exclaimed. “He is obtained some good ones.”
“My eyebrows are thick too,” Ford added. “The Rock’s are good and formed up although.”
Love and laughter are considerable when talking with the couple. These qualities shall be essential as Belair and Ford hope to succeed on the Royal Rumble this Saturday. The Highway to WrestleMania 40 is not clear however reducing via the fog is simpler collectively.
Hulu’s “Love & WWE: Bianca and Montez” premieres on Feb. 2 with all eight episodes obtainable to stream.