Alexa Bliss
Alexis Cabrera is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss.
In 2013, Bliss signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to their 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 then transferred to the Raw brand in 2017, where she went 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 the first two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, 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.
Bliss was a main cast member on the reality television series Total Divas. She appeared as a contestant on the ninth season of the competition series The Masked Singer.
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 and field, 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 the July 24 episode of NXT, 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 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 the 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 legit 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. Bliss had an altercation with Carmella backstage on the 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 the 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 had 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 the 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 ringside for the duration of this match. Bliss won this encounter by securing a Roll-up and grabbing the second rope for additional leverage. On the July 29 episode of NXT, Bliss helped Blake and Murphy retain the NXT Tag Team Championship against The Vaudevillains 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 the 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 the 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 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 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 the August 17 episode of NXT, Bliss competed in a six-woman 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 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. 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, 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 legit 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, 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, 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's partnership with Mickie James dissolved shortly after and the two would face off in a match on SmackDown, 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 the April 4 episode of SmackDown, 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. 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 defeated her 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 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 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.