WrestleMania 42 in Jeopardy? Bianca Belair Set for Surgery After Year-Long Injury Nightmare

Bianca Belair is going to stay out of in-ring action for an extended period of time after the revelation of her finger surgery.

WrestleMania 42 in Jeopardy? Bianca Belair Set for Surgery After Year-Long Injury Nightmare

Bianca Belair set to undergo surgery [via- WWE]

For those who were hoping for Bianca Belair to return by WrestleMania 42, it’s not happening. ‘The EST’ has provided an unfortunate update that will keep her out of action indefinitely. The 36-year-old took to Instagram Stories to notify everyone that she would be undergoing finger surgery on Monday. Belair used the folded hands emoji to seek the blessings of her fans.

In July 2025, the Tennessee native told Shakiel Mahjouri of SHAK Wrestling that some of the broken fingers she suffered during that incredible triple-threat bout with Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY at WrestleMania 41 had healed up by that point, but one finger didn’t. She said she was waiting to see if it could get better on its own without needing to be surgically operated on.

Many months later in November, Belair confirmed the nature of her injury, which was that she broke her knuckle. The longest-reigning WWE women’s champion initially thought it would require anywhere between 8 and 12 weeks to heal.

Belair talked about the spot that caused the injury. It was a high-risk maneuver where ‘The EST’ bore the brunt of Ripley‘s head hitting hard on her left hand while crashing down on the mat.

That ugly landing of Ripley on Belair’s hand messed up a great deal for ‘The EST’. Last week, a report from BodySlam said that Belair’s name internally had no tag attached to it in regard to a return date for her. Moreover, she has had many complications along the way, and that’s something the people within WWE had never seen before.

The report noted that the former women’s tag team champion was said to have maintained a positive attitude throughout the course of her injury layoff. A few days ago, Self Made reported that ‘The EST’ was expected to be at this year’s WrestleMania. But with Belair’s latest finger surgery bombshell, it has started to look bleak for her as far as returning to the ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’ is concerned.

How does the women’s title picture look like for WrestleMania with Bianca Belair not in play?

Over a month ago, Bianca Belair was a favorite to win this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match, with Liv Morgan staying in touching distance.

The fans were convinced that ‘The EST’ would directly return in the Royal Rumble match to punch her ticket to WrestleMania in Vegas. It seemed like the easiest layup for her to finally take on Jade Cargill in one of the most anticipated matches that could’ve happened at Mania.

Bianca Belair
Bianca Belair (via- WWE)

However, the finger injury that Belair was and is still dealing with wasn’t revealed to be as severe back then as it actually turned out to be. The hype around a Belair vs. Cargill match has been there for a long time now. It started burgeoning with The Storm’s arrival in WWE in September 2023. The fans will now have to wait even longer for this showdown to come to fruition.

Now that Bianca Belair is headed for surgery, she’s all but certain to miss her first WrestleMania since joining the main roster. Since Belair isn’t medically fit to take the gauntlet to Cargill, someone else will have to step up.

Liv Morgan was at ringside on this week’s SmackDown for the former AEW star’s title defense against Jordynne Grace. Cargill came out unscathed and later got into Morgan’s face. Could that be the WrestleMania match?

Despite the teases, the Judgment Day member is expected to pick Stephanie Vaquer in the weeks to come. Meanwhile, the winner of the women’s Elimination Chamber match will then get to have a crack at the Cargill-held WWE women’s title at WrestleMania. While the company was still undecided on the winner as of a few days ago, Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair were considered as potential choices.

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