Alexis Kaufman

**Alexis Kaufman** (born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler 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 was 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.

## Early Life

Alexis Kaufman was born on August 9, 1991, in Columbus, Ohio. 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. She spent time in competitive fitness competitions, and has competed in the Arnold Classic. At the age of 15, she suffered from a life-threatening eating disorder, but turning to fitness competitions helped her overcome it.

## 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 the 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 the May 8 episode of *NXT*, playing a glitter fairy gimmick, 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.

After a hiatus due to a legitimate injury, Bliss returned on the 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 the March 25 episode of *NXT*, which she lost. On the May 13 episode of *NXT*, Bliss defeated Carmella after the NXT Tag Team Champions Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake 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 in the process. On the 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. This led to a match between the two, where Bliss would go on to defeat Blue Pants in a singles match on the September 2 episode of *NXT*.

Throughout October and November, Bliss was involved in a feud with Bayley over the NXT Women's Championship. The two faced off in the main event on the November 18 episode of *NXT*, where Bliss was unsuccessful in capturing the title. On the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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. 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 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 the October 30 episode of *Raw*.

On February 25, 2018, at Elimination Chamber, Bliss won the inaugural women's elimination chamber match, after she successfully retaining 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 the 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 the 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 May, Bliss was supposed to compete in the annual Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view, however, just days before the event, she was pulled off the match as she was not medically cleared and instead was replaced by Nikki Cross. 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 the 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 the 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. 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 the 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 the 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–present)

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 the 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. On the October 2 episode of *SmackDown*, Bliss aligned herself with The Fiend after he attacked Kevin Owens.

As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Bliss and The Fiend were drafted to the Raw brand. Bliss then began a feud with Randy Orton as she wanted Orton to face the repercussions after Orton had set The Fiend on fire. Bliss began to constantly interfere in Orton's matches and harass him. Thus culminated to an inter gender match against Orton at Fastlane. During the match, The Fiend made his return and attacked Orton, allowing Bliss to defeat Orton. On Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, Orton and The Fiend had another match. At the event, The Fiend emerged from inside a Jack-in-the-box as part of his entrance. Later in the match, Bliss would also appear from the box, black liquid pouring down her face. The Fiend would be distracted enough to allow Orton to hit an RKO and pick up the win. After a brief staredown between The Fiend and Bliss, the lights would go out and the pair disappeared. On the following episode of 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.

## 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 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 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*, 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.

## Filmography

 2015–2018
Main cast (season 7): 15 episodes

 2020

## 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. 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. As of February 2020, she had started dating American musician Ryan Cabrera. They became engaged on November 14, 2020.

## Championships And Accomplishments

* ***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 with Nikki Cross
* ***Sports Illustrated***
	+ Ranked No. 6 in the top 10 female singles wrestlers in 2018
* **WWE**
	+ WWE Raw Women's Championship (3 times)
	+ WWE SmackDown Women's Championship (2 times)
	+ WWE Women's Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Nikki Cross
	+ Money in the Bank (Women's 2018)
	+ Second Women's Triple Crown Champion