The Most Perfect Storm

 There's a very popular Portuguese saying that, roughly translated, says: a wet wedding is a blessed wedding. However, there is one rule for this to become a reality: You can't see a weather forecast and book the date for a rainy day, it simply has to happen. Unannounced. From the moment Sasha Banks v Bianca Belair was made official for Wrestlemania, the date was booked. The venue was set. And albeit the road was bumpy, everyone knew that when the time came, this historic match would cross the wrestling sky like the shooting stars Banks and Belair are. But, because the Universe works in mysterious ways, a storm threatened to derail what seemed like a match made in heaven. Intense rain, wind and lightning delayed the start of Wrestlemania 37 but nothing could get in the way of the main event. The first time two black women would highlight the biggest spectacle of the year on the grandest stage of them all. And if you've watched the match, you know the unannounced rain was simply a blessing from the skies. A blessed wedding. A holy communion. The most perfect storm.

THE RAIN AKA HISTORY BEING MADE

Purifying, cleansing, blessing. Throughout the years, rain has accumulated a variety of different meanings that all point towards it being good. For us, for our lands, for the world. And, much like rain, our eyes also purify and cleanse us through the blessing of tears. In a few interviews before this match, Sasha Banks said she hadn't been able to stop crying for days and at the very beginning of it, embraced by the growing chants of the rain soaked crowd, Bianca Belair had to summon all her strength to stop her own tears from falling.

Black women, for reasons beyond reasonable understanding and that logic can't justify, historically have to follow the hardest paths to achieve greatness. They have to climb, scratch, claw, fight for every single achievement that, for others who more often than not are less qualified or talented, are presented as a simple open door. Being a black woman in the wrestling industry hasn't been any different. Often type casted, side lined, barely developed, they had to fight in order to prove and establish themselves as equally deserving of the few opportunities available.

Bianca Belair's meteoric rise due to her sheer talent and public connection happened at the precise moment that Sasha Banks, one of the youngest prodigies in wrestling history, achieved her prime. It was a match made in heaven and WWE had no other choice but to make it official. However, it came with the most unexpected - for some - yet earned catch: it would main event the 1st night of the 1st Wrestlemania post-COVID confinement.

Just like that, two black women held in their hands a match that was larger than either of them. Larger than the title they were fighting for. Just like that, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks became the equivalent of the first astronauts on the Moon. They waved the Black Girl Magic proudly from the moment the canons of fireworks went off, effectively delaying the beginning of their match by how overwhelmed with emotions they both were, and then they proceeded to give us one of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania main event history. Storytelling, creativity, momentum, emotions. It was everything and so much more. It was a love letter to every black woman that paved the way in the past and to every black woman that will carry the flag in the future. Just like rain, Banks and Belair purified, cleansed and blessed us all.

THE THUNDER AKA BIANCA BELAIR

 Have you ever heard a thunder so loud it startled you awake? A sound so unmistakable strong that it made you feel the earth shaking underneath your feet as a response? That's Bianca Belair. The woman that, rightfully so, calls herself the EST of WWE. With a presence unmistakably strong, confirmed by simply looking at her, Belair seems to have been made from the same magical dust that creates natural phenomenon's. The ingredients of her life's journey shaped this woman into one of the most talented diamond's in the rough of the wrestling industry. There is something about her, a kindness in her smile and her eyes that's just as inviting to the public as how good she is with words. But her charm doesn't end there, it's merely the beginning. Belair is a complete athlete, with one of the strongest and boldest movesets but also an in ring IQ that sets her miles ahead of her competition.

Through the years she spent on NXT, Bianca Belair was able to masterfully craft and perfect her charismatic persona. A pure babyface, like few are able to genuinely achieve, with a powerful attitude that doesn't allow her to back away from any challenge. After moving up to SmackDown and having to prove herself, while simultaneously refusing to do so, against the ingenious soon-to-be Hall of Famer Bayley, Bianca's journey was marching steadily to an event that would change her journey forever. It is every wrestler dream to win the Royal Rumble but only a select few get to do it on their debut year and that's what shifted Belair's journey into fifth gear. Destination? The moon. Or, more realistically, Wrestlemania.

From the moment she allowed the fans to see how Belair understood the weight of the match she was about to carry on her back, the crowd selected their winner and chants for her grew just as the match momentum did. The end, much like it had happened upon her Royal Rumble victory, came as the loudest thunder you'd ever hear. Shock covered Bianca's face and the tears she held inside throughout the entirety of this historic match made their way outside. It was a victory not just for her but for everyone in the crowd. Everyone in the back. Everyone at home. Bianca Belair's thunderous meteoric rise woke up the entire wrestling industry and this match served only to establish that she is, without a shadow of a doubt, the EST of WWE.

THE LIGHTNING AKA SASHA BANKS

Once upon a time, a young girl named Mercedes caught lightning in a bottle and made a wish. The lightning was the vibrant light of Eddie Guerrero and the wish? To become the greatest wrestler of all time. She spent the following years training, journaling, producing - in her bedroom and in her notebook - matches and characters. Every fibber of her being was electrified by the lightning in a bottle she kept and when she found the opportunity to become a wrestler, she stopped at nothing until she got it. Her passion for wrestling fuels her thirst for knowledge and constant innovation. However, upon reaching the promised land of her hero's dreams, Sasha Banks became the lighting in a bottle herself. Protected or held back, whichever way you prefer to view it, she was simply there, another bottle on the shelf.

However, the bottle began to crack when the young girl realized that she was larger than what she had become. For four months, Sasha Banks walked away from WWE and it could've been the end of one of the most promising careers in wrestling history. Nevertheless, she persisted. And upon her return, the lightning was out of the bottle. Sasha Banks became what she was always meant to be. Larger than life, bigger than her petit frame, the greatest wrestler of all time. Perfecting every detail in her notebook, every match became a masterclass. It is safe to say that at the young age of 29, Sasha Banks, has only now achieved her prime. And on that same note, it is also safe to say that at the young age of 29, Sasha Banks is already eligible for two Hall of Fame rings with a near flawless career under her combined 8 championship belts.

Yet she's not done. She's far from done. And at this historic Wrestlemania main event, one where she was able to contain her own tears in a way that her younger NXT iteration couldn't at the end of the ground-breaking Brooklyn match, she was able to reinvent herself. A new look, a new attitude, but the same tailored moveset considering the challenger in front of her. And if you ask what young Mercedes would say about the lightning in the bottle being free, try to find the footage where she is smiling as Belair holds the SmackDown Woman's Championship for the first time in her career. The sky might be the limit for Sasha Banks but it never was for Mercedes Varnado because she was born to be a star.

FINAL NOTES

If this historic match had to be graded, using the Richter scale, it would be a solid 8. Both women brought their absolute A game - and beyond - to honour the past, break ground for the present and inspire the future to build from here. A new era is ushering in, quietly as unexpected rain, and may it flourish for a long, long time. With Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair at the whelm of it, the future as never looked brighter.

And as one of the most memorable quotes from the Hamilton musical says,

"look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now."