Iyo Sky Pins Bianca Belair In Shocking Upset

Iyo Sky shocked the world once again at WWE WrestleMania 41, this time by defeating Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair to retain the Women’s World Championship.

Seemingly the afterthought in this three-way rivalry, Sky is an afterthought no more. The Damage CTRL was widely expected to lose her title inside Allegiant Stadium. Instead, she pinned Belair after a top rope moonsault and won one of the best triple threat matches in WWE history.

In doing so, Sky prevented Blair from capturing her fourth world championship and first world title in two years. She also picked up her second shocking victory in as many months after beating Ripley to win the title just weeks ago.

Much like the WrestleMania Saturday main event, the opening match of WrestleMania Sunday was an instant classic that had the fans on their feet. Three of WWE’s most popular babyfaces entered the match, but in the end, it was Sky who won over the fans the most. Then, she won the match no one expected her to win.

Sky’s big moment demonstrated just how beloved she’s become. It also showed that Belair is badly in need of a character change.

“The EST of WWE” remains in pursuit her first world title win in nearly two years. She is also looking to win back fans after they booed her yet again inside Allegiant Stadium. What’s triggering Belair’s sudden struggles with the crowd remain unclear, but clearly, they’re there.

Ripley has dominated Raw’s title scene for most of her stint on the main roster while Sky entered WrestleMania 41 as world champion for the second straight year. Both stars have undoubtedly helped elevate the women’s world title scene during that span, which featured lengthy absences from both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.

Yet, they remain as popular as ever while fans were clearly rooting against Belair in Las Vegas.

ForbesWWE WrestleMania 41 Results, Highlights And Takeaways For SaturdayBy Blake Oestriecher

That’s a surprise given that Belair has actually taken a step back out of the spotlight for the past couple of years.

While Ripley and Sky were busy carrying the world title scene, Belair, along with both Naomi and Jade Cargill, were doing the same for the WWE Tag Team Championship scene. That didn’t quite work out as planned as a result of WWE’s start-and-stop booking of women’s tag team wrestling, and even with Belair involved in a major storyline with Naomi and Cargill, her undeniable star power led her to an Elimination Chamber victory and world title push.

Inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Belair attempted to ascend the throne once again, but just when it looked like she was going to win after hitting Ripley with the KOD, Sky swooped in with a noonsault and pinned Belair to get the win. Just like that, Belair is no longer undefeated at WrestleMania.

That loss ended Belair’s incredible run at WrestleMania, where she was following in the footsteps of The Undertaker with an undefeated streak and incredible series of matches of her own. Too bad Sky spoiled the party.

Belair’s WrestleMania 37 match with Sasha Banks ranks among the best WrestleMania matches ever, and she had a mini-undefeated run of her own. In fact, maybe you can call Belair “Ms. WrestleMania.” After all, she entered WrestleMania 41 with a record of 4-0 at the event, with notable wins over Asuka, Banks and Lynch, three future Hall of Famers and unquestioned cornerstones of women’s wrestling history.

But that’s over, and Belair’s babyface run may need to come to an end, too.

Although Belair’s star power as well as her ability in the ring cannot be questioned, what isn’t as clear after Belair’s loss at WrestleMania 41 is where she goes from here. After all, Belair remains in a unique position because although she’s still incredibly popular, the crowd reaction at WrestleMania 41 indicated that she was the least popular star of the three babyfaces in the bout.

Perhaps that’s a sign of what’s to come for Belair in the future, when failing to become champion again won’t make it easier to win over fans. And the only thing that might fix her problem?

Turning heel and targeting Sky as a villain.