Bianca Belair 'Learned So Much About Fingers' In Time Away From WWE

This past April, Bianca Belair broke several fingers during her WrestleMania 41 match with Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY for the Women's World Championship, leading her to be sidelined for the entire summer. Usually, finger injuries take up to 4 to 6 weeks to recover from, but one of Belair's fingers broke in three places, which completely damaged the joint. In a recent interview with "SHAK Wrestling," Belair expressed her frustrations with the injury, but admitted she needed time off after having been wrestling full-time for five years straight.

"It's been very challenging just because I wasn't even anticipating how difficult and long this process was going to be when I broke my finger. I've broken fingers before playing basketball, but the way that I broke it, trying to figure out if it required surgery ... I've learned so much about fingers and they're complicated," Belair explained. "I really did feel like I needed this break. I've been going for the past five years just non-stop in the title picture, filming reality TV shows, appearances. I mean, I think at one year I had over 300 appearances and we have 365 days in the year. So, I feel like mentally I did need this break." 

Belair revealed that her finger has completely healed, but is still unable to bend, stating that she still can't enter the ring due to being at risk of injuring it again. That said, the "EST" is thankful for her brief appearances on television since being injured, as she took on the role of special guest referee at WWE Evolution and returned to "WWE SmackDown" in her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee this past May.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "SHAK Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.