Sam Roberts Rips Bianca Belair On NXT Takeover Pre Show, Belair Responds (Videos)

By Marc Middleton

Sam Roberts received a ton of heat from fans online for his rant on Bianca Belair during Saturday's WWE NXT "Takeover: Phoenix" Pre-show. Roberts said Belair didn't deserve to be on a Takeover special as she didn't stand a chance to NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler.

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Roberts' somewhat-bizarre rant left co-hosts Charly Caruso and Pat McAfee a bit shocked. Roberts seemed lost for a few seconds but that could have been because someone was communicating with him in the headset.

"We're going to get to see Shayna Baszler be dominant as she always is. We get to see Bianca Belair finally step up and get the opportunity to challenge for the women's championship," Roberts said. "It's... I j... it's not... I mean, I don't think it... it's not Take-Takeover worthy. Bianca Belair, she's a good athlete but look at the list of women champions. You got Shayna Baszler, you have Charlotte, you have Sasha Banks, you have Asuka, you have Kairi Sane. This is a list of the elite women in wrestling and Bianca Belair is nowhere close to that list. Takeover has become what Takeover has become. There's only 5 matches on this card and we're going to sit here on the panel and act like there's a possibility that one of the most skilled women in the history of NXT needs to worry about another woman hitting her with her ponytail."

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Caruso then defended Belair and said she prides herself on being the strongest, toughest, and the fastest. Roberts wasn't done. The SiriusXM Satellite Radio host and longtime wrestling fan said the match was a waste because Belair just isn't ready.

"She's not," Roberts said. "She's not going to win. She doesn't have a chance to win the match. You know she doesn't have a chance. Even you [McAfee], with those rocks clinging in your head, you know Bianca Belair does not have a shot at beating Shayna Baszler. And when we walk into a Takeover knowing that the challenger doesn't have a shot to win the championship, we're wasting a match. Bianca Belair is a great athlete. I would love to see this match on NXT TV. Put it on NXT TV. She'll be champion one day, but you know what day she won't be champion? Today. She's not ready."

Belair, who went into Takeover with an undefeated TV singles streak but lost to Baszler by submission without tapping out, responded in a WWE YouTube video and said Roberts can kiss her backside. You can see her response in the video above.

Belair said, "You know what? Mr. Sam can say what he wants to say because I literally just pushed Shayna to her limit. So, Mr. Sam, you can kiss me ass."

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Belair also talked to Sarah Schreiber about the match. She said, "You know what? Being undefeated is not just a record. Being undefeated is a mindset, and I just had my first NXT Takeover match, and the title was literally in my fingertips. So, Shayna knows that one day I'm going to take that title from her because I'm undefeated."

See Also:
Triple H Praises Bianca Belair After Takeover

Below is the video of Roberts ranting along with some reactions from Twitter. Fan reactions were all over the place, with some fans agreeing with Roberts and others accusing him of being racist for not supporting Belair. Others called him out for his appearance and his earlier comments on new NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano, who he called a loser. Some of those opinions changed after the match actually took place.

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