Alexa Bliss

Alexis Cabrera (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to their Performance Center and developmental brand NXT. She made her main roster debut on the SmackDown brand in 2016, later becoming a two-time SmackDown Women's Champion and the first woman to hold the title twice.

Bliss transferred to the Raw brand in 2017 and would go on to become a three-time Raw Women's Champion, with her initial reign making her the first woman to win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's titles. She and Nikki Cross are also the first two-time Women's Tag Team Champions in WWE history, making Bliss the second Women's Triple Crown Champion. In 2018, she won both the second women's Money in the Bank ladder match and first women's Elimination Chamber match. On the July 18, 2022, episode of ''Raw'', she captured the WWE 24/7 Championship.

Early life

Alexis Kaufman was born on August 9, 1991, in Columbus, Ohio, to teenage parents who were still in high school at the time of her birth. She has been involved in sports since the age of five, competing in track, kickboxing, softball, and gymnastics. She was also a cheerleader at Hilliard Davidson High School and reached Division I status at the University of Akron, where she graduated with an M.A. in medical dietetics. She spent time in competitive fitness competitions, and has competed in the Arnold Classic. At the age of 15, she had a life-threatening eating disorder, but turning to fitness competitions helped her overcome it. With her parents' permission, she also received breast augmentation when she was 17 to help overcome her eating disorders by making her feel more feminine, as her breasts stayed small naturally when she finished puberty and helped contribute to her eating disorders.

Professional wrestling career

WWE

NXT (2013–2016)

Having no prior wrestling training, Kaufman was signed by WWE in May 2013 and reported to WWE's developmental territory NXT. On July 24 episode of ''NXT'' (which was taped on June 20), she made her first televised appearance, congratulating the inaugural NXT Women's Champion Paige. In August, she was added to WWE.com's NXT roster page and assigned the ring name Alexa Bliss. She acted as an unnamed ring announcer for the November 20 episode of ''NXT''. Her first televised appearance on the main roster came at WrestleMania XXX on April 6, 2014, when she played a part in Triple H's entrance. She made her televised in-ring debut on May 8 episode of ''NXT'', playing a glitter fairy gimmick with her ring entrance set to the theme track "Bling Bling," competing in a tournament for the vacant NXT Women's Championship. She defeated former Divas Champion Alicia Fox in the first round, but lost to Charlotte in the semi-finals. On September 25 episode of ''NXT'', a new ring entrance theme track "Blissful" was debuted for the first time with her match against Bayley. After a failed Double-Knees attempt, Bliss lost to a Bayley-to-Belly Suplex.

After a hiatus due to a legitimate injury, Bliss returned on March 11, 2015, episode of ''NXT'', where she defeated Carmella. The following week on ''NXT'', she defeated NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks by countout in a non-title match, which led to Bliss being granted a title match against Banks on March 25 episode of ''NXT'', which she lost. Bliss had an altercation with Carmella backstage on April 29 episode of ''NXT''. After being slapped, Bliss was consoled by NXT Tag Team Champions Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake who were standing in the background. On May 13 episode of ''NXT'', Bliss landed a Sparkle Splash and defeated Carmella after Blake and Murphy set up a distraction. On May 20 at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Bliss helped Blake and Murphy retain the NXT Tag Team Championship against Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore, forming an alliance with them and turning into a villainess character for the first time in her WWE career. On May 27 airing of ''NXT'', in a non-title tag team match against Elias Samson and Mike Rallis, Blake and Murphy were accompanied to the ring by Bliss, who has now changed the blue in her hair to red, as well as changed her ring attire to a red two-piece with matching name and markings to the Blake and Murphy ring gear. For this match Blake and Murphy won, and as an act of humiliation Bliss hit a Sparkle Splash to the incapacitated Elias. With the effects of Takeover: Unstoppable still fresh, Bliss had a singles match with Carmella on June 3 episode of ''NXT''. Starting with this match, "Opposite Ends Of The World" would be the theme track that was also used for Bliss to make her entrances, and she was accompanied by Blake and Murphy, who remained at the ring side for the duration of this match. Bliss won this encounter by securing a Roll-up and grabbing the second rope for additional leverage. On July 29 episode of ''NXT'', Bliss helped Blake and Murphy retain the NXT Tag Team Championship against The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) and slapped both English and Gotch after the match. The Vaudevillians were granted a rematch for the NXT Tag Team Championship against Blake and Murphy at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn on August 22, which they won after Blue Pants stopped Bliss from providing a distraction during the match. For this Takeover appearance, Bliss incorporated her signature skeleton gloves for the very first time on air. The interruptions at Brooklyn led to a match between the two, where Bliss would go on to defeat Blue Pants in a singles match on September 2 episode of ''NXT''. For this match she added her signature hand gesture to her entrance that she went on to use extensively for the next five years.

Throughout October and November, Bliss was involved in a feud with Bayley over the NXT Women's Championship. On November 18 episode of ''NXT'', while cutting a promo about her upcoming main event match with Bayley, a referee came by to say that per William Regal, Blake and Murphy would be banned from ringside for this match. When it came time for Alexa's entrance, a brand new theme track, "Spiteful" was introduced for the first time. Bliss was unsuccessful at capturing the title as Bayley slapped bliss, then hit a Bayley-to-Belly Suplex to retain. On January 13, 2016, episode of ''NXT'', Bliss competed in a number one contender's battle royal, but lost. On May 18 episode of ''NXT'', Bliss and Blake abandoned Murphy, officially disbanding the trio. On May 25 episode of ''NXT'', Bliss competed in a triple threat match against Carmella and Nia Jax to determine the number one contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Jax. On July 6 episode of ''NXT'', in a match against Bayley, Bliss debuted the Goddess ring attire. The match ended when Bayley executed a Bayley-to-Belly Suplex and secured the pinfall victory. On August 17 episode of ''NXT'', Bliss competed in a tag team match along with Daria Berenato and Mandy Rose, in which they were defeated by Carmella, Liv Morgan and Nikki Glencross in what would be also her last match in NXT.

SmackDown Women's Champion (2016–2017)

On July 19, Bliss was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2016 WWE draft. She made her main roster debut on July 26 episode of ''SmackDown Live'' in a segment involving the brand's women's division. Bliss achieved her first victory on the main roster by defeating Becky Lynch on August 9 episode of ''SmackDown Live''. On August 21 at SummerSlam, she teamed with Natalya and Nikki Bella in a winning effort against Lynch, Carmella and Naomi. On September 11 at Backlash, Bliss competed in a six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion, in which she was unsuccessful and was won by Becky Lynch.

On September 13 episode of ''SmackDown Live'', Bliss won a fatal five-way match to earn a title match against Lynch at No Mercy on October 9. However, due to Lynch suffering a legitimate injury, the match was rescheduled for the November 8 episode of ''SmackDown'', where Lynch successfully defended the title against Bliss. Bliss participated in the Raw vs. SmackDown Women's elimination tag team match at Survivor Series on November 20, where her team lost the match. On December 4 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Bliss defeated Lynch in a tables match to become the new SmackDown Women's Champion.

On January 17, 2017, episode of ''SmackDown Live'', Bliss successfully defended her title against Lynch in a steel cage match following an interference by the returning Mickie James, who aligned herself with Bliss. On February 12, Bliss dropped the title to Naomi at Elimination Chamber. On February 21 episode of ''SmackDown Live'', Bliss defeated Lynch to capture the title for the second time after Naomi was forced to vacate the title due to injury, becoming the first two-time SmackDown Women's Champion. Bliss' partnership with Mickie James dissolved shortly after and the two would face off in a match on ''SmackDown Live'', with James defeating Bliss. On April 2, Bliss lost the title to Naomi in a six-pack challenge also involving Carmella, James, Lynch and Natalya at WrestleMania 33. Bliss and Naomi faced off in a rematch on April 4 episode of ''SmackDown Live'', where Bliss was once again defeated.

Raw Women's Champion (2017–2018)

On April 10, 2017, episode of ''Raw'', Bliss was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up, confronting Raw Women's Champion Bayley. A week later, Bliss won a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender for the title. At Payback, on April 30, Bliss defeated Bayley to become the new Raw Women's Champion, becoming the first woman to win the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships in the process. In a rematch between the two, which took place on June 4 at Extreme Rules, Bliss retained her title over Bayley in a kendo stick- on-a-pole match. Bliss then started a feud with Sasha Banks, whom she defeated on July 9 at Great Balls of Fire via count-out before losing the title to Banks on August 20 at SummerSlam, ending her reign at 112 days. She regained the title eight days later on ''Raw''.

Bliss went on to defend her title on September 24 at No Mercy in a fatal five-way match against Bayley, Nia Jax, Emma, and Sasha Banks. Bliss was then confronted the following night on ''Raw'' by Mickie James due to remarks Bliss made about her. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Bliss defeated James to retain the title, and did so again on October 30 episode of ''Raw''.

On February 25, 2018, at Elimination Chamber, Bliss won the inaugural women's elimination chamber match, after she successfully retained her title. In parallel to her activities as a singles wrestler, she took a part of the Mixed Match Challenge tournament with Braun Strowman as her partner, and the duo was able to qualify to the semi-finals of the tournament, where they were defeated by the eventual winners Asuka and The Miz. On April 8 at WrestleMania 34, Bliss lost the title to Nia Jax, ending her reign at 223 days. On May 6 at Backlash, Bliss invoked her rematch clause and challenged Nia Jax for the title; however, she was unsuccessful and suffered a shoulder injury during the match.

Shortly after losing the title, in mid-May, Bliss won a triple threat match against Bayley and Mickie James to earn a spot at the Money in the Bank ladder match, which she would go on to win at the event on June 17. That same night, Bliss cashed in her contract on Nia Jax and defeated her, after attacking both Jax and Ronda Rousey, winning the Raw Women's Championship for a third time. This made her the first woman, and third wrestler overall, to cash-in the Money in the Bank contract the same night after winning it. At Extreme Rules, Bliss retained the championship against Jax in the inaugural women's extreme rules match, thereby ending their feud. At SummerSlam, on August 19, Bliss lost the championship to Ronda Rousey, ending her reign at 63 days. She failed to regain the title in a rematch at Hell in a Cell the following month.

Limited in-ring competition and hosting roles (2018–2019)

In October, Bliss and Mickie James started a feud with WWE Hall of Famers Trish Stratus and Lita, which eventually led to the announcement of a tag team match between the two duos at WWE Evolution, the first ever all women's pay-per-view. Just three days before the event, however, on October 25, it was announced that Bliss was pulled off the match due to a concussion she suffered during her match with Ronda at Hell in a Cell and she was replaced by Alicia Fox. During that time, it was also revealed that Bliss would be taking time off from in-ring competition to heal from various injuries that she had sustained.

A few weeks later, Bliss was announced as the team captain of Team Raw in a non-wrestling role for the traditional interbrand women's five-on-five tag team elimination match at the Survivor Series event, in which they were victorious. The following night, on November 18 episode of ''Raw'', Bliss was named the new head of the Raw women's division by Acting Raw General Manager Baron Corbin. In December, Bliss' role as well as those of other authority figures on Raw and SmackDown were removed after the McMahon family announced they were taking charge again.

On January 7, 2019, episode of ''Raw'', Bliss debuted an interview segment titled A Moment of Bliss, where she interviewed various guests as the segment's host. At Royal Rumble on January 27, after a nearly five month in-ring hiatus, Bliss competed in her first women's Royal Rumble match, lasting 12 minutes and eliminating Ember Moon and Sonya Deville before she was eliminated by Bayley and Carmella. In April, Bliss hosted the WrestleMania 35 event. The following night on ''Raw'', Bliss defeated Bayley in her first singles match since her hiatus from in-ring competition in late 2018. At The Shield's Final Chapter event, Bliss teamed up with Lacey Evans to defeat Dana Brooke and Nikki Cross in a dark match. Shortly thereafter, Bliss was announced as a participant of the annual Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view. However, she was not medically cleared to compete in time for the event and therefore removed from the match.

Teaming with Nikki Cross (2019–2020)

In June, Bliss reignited her rivalry with Bayley after she won a triple threat match to become the number one contender for Bayley's SmackDown Women's Championship at Stomping Grounds, where Bliss failed to win the title from Bayley. Following the loss, in her first attempt at capturing the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, Bliss teamed up with Nikki Cross to challenge The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), during which Bliss and Cross were unsuccessful. Bliss and Cross would challenge Bayley to a two-on-one handicap match at Extreme Rules, where Bayley once again retained the championship by pinning Bliss.

On August 5 episode of ''Raw'', Bliss and Cross would win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship from The IIconics in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match also involving The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), and Fire and Desire (Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville). Bliss and Cross retained their titles against Fire and Desire at Clash of Champions. At the Hell in a Cell on October 6, they lost the titles to The Kabuki Warriors after Asuka spat green mist in Cross' face, thus turning them face in the process. This would be Bliss' first time as a face on the main roster. Although drafted separately instead of as a team during the 2019 Draft, Bliss and Cross remained on the Raw brand, but the team was then traded to the SmackDown brand. At Starrcade, Bliss and Cross competed in a fatal four-way tag team match for the Women's Tag Team Championship, but the match was won by defending champions The Kabuki Warriors. At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2020, Bliss entered the namesake match at number 1, lasting 27 minutes and eliminating Kairi Sane, Mia Yim, and Chelsea Green, but was eliminated by Bianca Belair.

Leading up to WrestleMania 36, Bliss and Cross reignited their feud with The Kabuki Warriors, as Bliss went on to defeat Asuka on March 27 episode of ''SmackDown'' to earn a match for the Women's Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania. At the event, the duo defeated The Kabuki Warriors to win the titles for a second time, becoming the first multi-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. On the following ''SmackDown'', they defeated them again in a rematch for their titles, and were subsequently challenged by Carmella and Dana Brooke, against whom they defended the titles on ''SmackDown'' two weeks later. On May 18 episode of ''Raw'', Bliss and Cross retained their titles against The IIconics via disqualification, after losing to them in a non-title match the week prior. On June 6 episode of ''SmackDown'', the duo lost their titles to the team of Bayley and Sasha Banks, making their reign end at 62 days yet again. At Backlash, Bliss and Cross were unsuccessful in regaining their titles in a triple threat tag team match also involving The IIconics, as Banks managed to roll up Bliss for the win.

Alliance with "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt (2020–2021)

At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, Bliss appeared during the cinematic match between Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt. Wyatt used Bliss' image as Strowman had an affection for her. Bliss then became involved in the storyline between Strowman and Wyatt, as she was attacked by Wyatt's alter ego, The Fiend, on July 31 episode of ''SmackDown''. Bliss' involvement with The Fiend would continue in the coming months, with Bliss going into trance and using his finisher, Sister Abigail.

As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Bliss and The Fiend were drafted to the Raw brand. On October 26 episode of ''Raw,'' while hosting ''A Moment of Bliss'' with special guest Randy Orton, a feud was set off that involved The Fiend as well. During the opening of that segment, Bliss was also given a new ring entrance theme song "The Fury". After the Fiend was written off television, Bliss then took over the feud with Orton, as she wanted him to face the repercussions of his actions at TLC.

At Royal Rumble, she competed in the Women's Royal Rumble match, entering at number 27, but was eliminated by Rhea Ripley after about a minute in the ring. From January to March 2021, Bliss' appearance continually shifted darker as she began to constantly interfere in Orton's matches. This transformation ramped up for her scheduled intergender match against Orton at Fastlane. During the match, she attacked Orton with supernatural powers like making a lighting rig fall and almost land on him and launching a fireball at him. At the end, The Fiend made his return and attacked Orton, allowing Bliss to defeat Orton. At Wrestlemania 37, Bliss was in The Fiend's corner for his match with Orton, but eventually betrayed him by distracting him, allowing Orton to defeat him. On the following RAW, Bliss declared that The Fiend was her mentor, but now she no longer needed him. She then introduced her new friend, a demonic looking doll named Lilly.

Various storylines (2021–present)

On May 31 episode of ''Raw'', Bliss would begin a feud with Shayna Baszler with Baszler claiming that Bliss was the reason why Baszler and Jax lost the WWE Women's Tag Team titles. A match between Baszler and Bliss would then be announced for Hell in a Cell. At the event, Bliss would defeat Baszler. Throughout the month of June, Bliss would take on an ever increasingly darker appearance, and for the June 21 episode of ''Raw'' it was announced that Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross would be in a Money in the Bank Qualifier tag team match against Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Bliss and Cross ended up securing the victory when Cross pinned Baszler with a cradle in the middle of the ring. This was the first team win for Bliss and Cross since the May 12, 2020 ''Raw'' taping (May 18 airing). On July 12 episode of Raw, Bliss would then begin a feud with Eva Marie. A match between Bliss and Marie was announced at SummerSlam on August 16 episode of ''Raw''. At the event, Bliss would defeat Marie. At Extreme Rules, Bliss failed to win the Raw Women's Championship from Charlotte Flair, and after the match, Flair would tear up Lilly. At Elimination Chamber, Bliss entered contendership Elimination Chamber match for Raw Women's Championship; eliminating Liv Morgan and then eliminated by Bianca Belair. On the May 9, 2022 episode of ''Raw'', Bliss made her return by defeating Sonya Deville after the latter's contract as a WWE official got terminated. During a six-woman tag team match on the July 18 episode of ''Raw'', Bliss won the 24/7 Championship for the first time by pinning Nikki A.S.H before immediately losing the title to Doudrop.

On the October 31 episode of ''Raw'', Bliss and Asuka defeated Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky) to win WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. In a rematch at Crown Jewel, Bliss and Asuka lost the titles back to Kai and Sky due to an interference from Nikki Cross.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Bliss began her career using a fairy gimmick, which saw her wearing a cheerleading uniform and blowing glitter during her entrance. In hindsight, she has spoken negatively about her early characterization and blamed her inexperience for creating it, noting that it was "a very unrelatable character" and "basically Tinker Bell in a wrestling ring". The glitter also would stick to her and her opponents, and would be hard to remove, resulting in it being banned by the WWE. She eventually altered her gimmick to that of a cruel, calculating, unhinged, bullying villain, taking inspiration from the comic book character Harley Quinn in personality, and appearance. This gimmick led to her breakthrough into the main event scene and turned her into one of the biggest female stars in WWE. Furthermore, she is known to sport ring gear inspired by pop culture icons such as Iron Man, The Riddler, and Freddy Krueger, among others.

As her primary finisher, Bliss uses a diving barani flip from the top rope dubbed ''Twisted Bliss'', which originates from her background in gymnastics and was initially called the ''Sparkle Splash''. As an alternate finisher, she also employs a snap DDT known as the ''Twisted DDT''. During her alliance with "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, she adopted his finishing move, a swinging reverse STO called ''Sister Abigail''.

Other media

Bliss is a playable character in ''WWE 2K17'', ''WWE 2K18'', ''WWE 2K19'', ''WWE 2K20'', ''WWE 2K22'', and '' WWE 2K Battlegrounds''.

On July 24, 2017, it was announced that Bliss would be joining the seventh season of ''Total Divas''. She is also a recurring guest on Xavier Woods' YouTube channel UpUpDownDown, where she goes by the nickname Miss Bliss. In November 2019, she defeated Cesaro, Rusev, and The Miz in the finals of a ''Brawlhalla'' tournament to win Cesaro's UpUpDownDown Championship, but she immediately lost the title to Tyler Breeze in ''Saturday Night Slam Masters''.

In early 2020, Bliss appeared in the music video for a song by Bowling for Soup, having previously cited them as her favorite band.

On June 23, 2020, Bliss confirmed her long rumored WWE podcast, which is titled ''Uncool with Alexa Bliss'' and debuted on September 22, 2020.

On 2021, Bliss made a guest appearance on ''Punky Brewster'' as her wrestling persona alongside fellow professional wrestler Charlotte Flair.

Filmography

Personal life

Kaufman has been an avid fan of Disney since the age of three, which she attributes to her family's annual trips to Walt Disney World despite their low income at the time. She enjoys cosplaying, which has inspired many of her wrestling outfits such as Freddy Krueger, Harley Quinn, Iron Man, The Riddler, Supergirl, and Chucky. She also supports her hometown, Columbus Blue Jackets. She has cited Trish Stratus and Rey Mysterio as her influences in wrestling.

Kaufman was previously engaged to fellow professional wrestler Matthew Adams, better known by the ring name Buddy Murphy, and now known by the name Buddy Matthews. They ended their engagement in 2018, but remained friends. She had a pet pig named Larry-Steve, whom she shared with Adams, but the pig died on May 25, 2021.

In February 2020, Kaufman began dating musician Ryan Cabrera. They got engaged on November 14. The couple were married on April 9, 2022, in Palm Desert, California, upon which she adopted her husband's last name Cabrera.

Championships and accomplishments

file:Alexa Bliss SD Women's Champion.jpg, 175px, ...and a two-time SmackDown Women's Champion, making her an overall five-time Women's World Champion in WWE
* ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''
** Ranked No. 2 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the ''PWI Women's 100'' in 2018
** Ranked No. 22 of the top 50 tag teams in the ''PWI Tag Team 50'' in 2020
* ''Sports Illustrated''
** Ranked No. 6 in the top 10 female singles wrestlers in 2018
* ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''
** Worst Feud of the Year (2021)
** Worst Gimmick (2021)
* WWE
** WWE Raw Women's Championship ( 3 times)
** WWE SmackDown Women's Championship (2 times)
** WWE Women's Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) – with Nikki Cross (2) and Asuka (1)
** WWE 24/7 Championship ( 1 time)
** Money in the Bank ( 2018)
** Second Women's Triple Crown Champion

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Alexa
1991 births
American female professional wrestlers
American female bodybuilders
American women podcasters
American podcasters
Living people
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Sportspeople from Columbus, Ohio
Professional wrestlers from Ohio
21st-century American women
21st-century professional wrestlers
WWE 24/7 Champions
WWE Raw Women's Champions
WWE SmackDown Women's Champions
WWE Women's Tag Team Champions