“It’s good to know that all my weirdness and differentness, it’s got me to basically live out my dreams.” – Montez
One relative narrative “advantage” that Love & WWE: Bianca & Montez enjoys versus other fellow reality TV docuseries is that it has an intense focus: the show – along with Bianca and Montez – never lose sight of the fact that this season – and the WWE stars’ lives – are constantly focused on one goal*: WrestleMania.
* This is also why another reality show that’s in the same general ballpark as this one, Netflix’s “Cheer” – with its focus on the massive preparation that a high end cheerleading program at a junior college takes to get ready for “nationals” – works so well.
It’s now 56 days until WrestleMania. Bianca and Montez get up at 4:30 a.m., and in addition to learning that Montez loves singing in a high operatic voice while blending up his breakfast, we find out that the couple is also training for a bodybuilding competition. On top of all that, wouldn’t you know it, the parents are coming to visit. Lots going on in Bianca and Montez land.
Travonda and Leonard, Bianca’s parents, arrive and Leonard seems to be recovering well from back surgery. Travonda teases him for not resting up as much as he should.
Bianca talks about how this is her third WrestleMania, but the stakes are even higher than ever as she’s defending her title this time around. I’m going to just interpret that as… her celebrity profile has never been higher, professional wrestling-wise, and leave it at that, if you can dig.
Bianca also displays a novel way to lose weight, which is to smell something rich in calories, like a doughnut, while eating something super healthy, like a cucumber. That would take… discipline to pull off for most, I’d say.
Meanwhile, Montez finds out that his first solo match on WWE Raw is coming up (this is termed as a “qualification event for the elimination chamber”). This could lead to a WrestleMania opportunity for Montez, so it’s a big deal for him. As it happens, his Street Profits tag team partner, Antonio Dawkins, also has a solo match on WWE Raw.
Side note that I like that Montez refers to WrestleMania, which has been his dream to perform in since he was a kid, as the “show of shows.”
Bianca has mentioned a number of times how worn out she is, and Travonda sits her down to advise her to slow things down a little bit. Perhaps, she suggests, Montez can perform in the bodybuilding competition himself and Bianca can support him in that. Later in the episode, she tells Montez that she’s pulling out of the bodybuilding competition, and Montez happily says that he’s thrilled to bail on it as well. Dinner’s on!
In Orlando, Florida, Montez takes on Elias in his solo match. Montez’s moves in the ring look truly impressive, but it’s disappointing that we don’t get any real flavor for the drama or narrative of the match. He defeats Elias, and therefore has gained entrance to whatever the all-important elimination chamber is. Damian Priest meanwhile beats Montez’s tag team partner, Dawkins.
Three episodes into Love & WWE: Bianca & Montez, I’m realizing that while there’s a narrative drive toward WrestleMania and that the stars, Bianca and Montez, are charismatic enough, this show lacks the conflict or compelling situations that make reality television compulsively watchable.
I understand why for various reasons that Love & WWE: Bianca & Montez won’t or can’t show the full wrestling matches that the pro wrestlers perform in, but my strong feeling is that the producers should vastly increase the time that we see the two perform in the ring so that, at the very least, some drama (such as it is with regard to professional wrestling) can be layered into a show that, let’s face it, is targeting WWE fans in the first place.
Some stats and info about Love & WWE: Bianca & Montez, “The Training Game”
TV SHOW – Love & WWE
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 3
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Hulu
RELEASE DATE – February 2nd, 2024
GENRE – Reality TV, Docuseries
STARRING – Bianca Belair, Montez Ford
HULU EPISODE DESCRIPTION – While training for a fitness competition, Bianca struggles with some old demons. Montez is conflicted over the idea of performing as a singles competitor and leaving Dawkins behind. Bianca’s parents visit and worry that she is taking on too much.