Bianca Belair Reveals The Origin Of Her Signature Hair Braid And How She Get’s The Noise On The Hair Whip
“All right, I’m the girl with the braid.”
Bianca Belair recently opened up about the origins of her iconic braid and the art behind her devastating hair whip during an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. The “EST of WWE” revealed how her now-signature look came to define her presentation in WWE and offered insight into the technique behind the infamous whip that has left a lasting impression on opponents — both visually and audibly.
Belair explained that the braid wasn’t originally part of her vision when she was creating her on-screen persona. “So I was, again, I was trying to figure out what do I want to look like? I want to have a unique look, and I was looking at all the girls that were there. They would wear their hair down. It was beautiful. I want to wear my hair down, I want to feel beautiful and I just loved how all the girls were glamorous. But I wore a braid one time, and my husband, he was like, ‘That’s your thing. You have to stick with it.’ He’s like, ‘You have to keep the braid.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I feel like sometimes I feel I look better with the long hair.’ He’s like, ‘But everybody does that. The best way to stand out here is to do something that nobody else is doing. Look at what everybody else is doing, and if that works for them, go the complete opposite way. The first time somebody comes to a show, they might not remember your name for the first time, but they’ll remember the girl with the braid.’ And I was like, All right, I’m the girl with the braid.”
That decision would soon define Belair’s in-ring presentation. The braid, beyond its striking visual presence, became a weapon — one that delivers a signature crack so loud, many believe production adds sound effects to emphasize it. Belair was quick to clarify that the sound is 100% real.
“Yeah, a lot of people think that production adds a special effect to it, no [there’s no sound effect]. And every time that I do it, it’s loud. I thought Sasha was the loudest, and then when I hit Becky, it surprises me. I’m like, Oh, that sounds like that hurt. Sorry. You know, every time it gets louder and louder. [The welt it leaves is crazy]. So that’s why I don’t do it a lot too. For one, I don’t want the audience to get used to it, and two, I don’t want to just mark up people.”
As for how she achieves that trademark whip sound, Belair shared that it all comes down to a specific braiding method and how the hair moves through the air. “It’s a special way that I braid it, and I can whip it in the air. This is my appearance one, it’s not braided so it won’t make a noise. So when I braid a certain way, if I can hear the way that it goes in the wind, I can tell if it’s a hair whip braid. I’m like, Yep, that’s it. We’re good.”
The braid has become one of WWE’s most recognizable calling cards, a true extension of Belair herself — both as a symbol of her individuality and as a literal weapon in her arsenal.
You can check out the entire Bianca Belair interview on Insight With Chris Van Vliet below.
(h/t Alex Hunt and Chris Van Vliet for the transcriptions.)
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