“I am the color Red in a world full of Black and White -Bray Wyatt”
Originally, I thought Alexa Bliss costing The Fiend his WrestleMania match against Randy Orton was brilliant. While many lambasted booking the moment on the biggest show of the year, I was praising it for opening Pandora’s box. I was accepting of the short match if the next few months were promising. Shortly after, Lilly made her debut, and again I accepted the new direction in a positive light. I was open to giving it a chance, while others weren’t and dubbed it dead on arrival.
After following the lore of Bray Wyatt for so long, I felt the turn seemed logical. It’s important to remember The Fiend grows in strength by feeding off his victims fears and insecurities before using the negative feelings against them. In Alexa Bliss’ case, she had become so absorbed by his spell that he had no qualms of her turning against him. However, something he didn’t foresee was Alexa’s ruthless former (Goddess) self gradually surfacing after learning how to harness his power.
Unbeknownst to Wyatt, he was being drained because his feelings for her became a chink in his armor. Remember how weak The Fiend appeared against Randy Orton? This was because Bliss had chipped his power away during moments like when he saved her from being burned alive. From this point in the story, I was hoping it would lead to a mighty power struggle. A supernatural feud between two omnipotent beings which I admit sounds way out of this world, but at least it makes sense. Alexa Bliss had tried breaking The Fiend’s spell for ages, but the only way she could was to use The Fiend’s power to vanquish it forever. There was no other escape.
When you think about it, Alexa is the Babyface in this narrative because she never asked to be his puppet. It’s only right for her subconscious to look for a way to free itself from The Fiend’s clutches. Fast forward to the next Firefly Fun House, we saw a dejected Bray Wyatt doing everything to steer away from confrontation. Although deserving of his fate, Bray was fishing for sympathy. He wanted us to feel sorry for him and labelled Alexa the evil force without outright saying it. Wyatt was a shadow of his former self and we haven’t seen him since. Recent news reports claim that WWE has nothing for him.
Alexa Bliss & Lilly have done what they can to be a different version of The Fiend. At first, I theorized Bliss made Lilly because she was missing Nikki Cross. WWE would later reveal that the doll represented her loneliness and longing for her friend. Surprise, surprise! Creative had no such plan and Lilly is just another puppet with no purpose. So, there wasn’t much to this new form of Alexa Bliss. It didn’t take long for the WWE Universe to grow tired and conclude that while Bray Wyatt is an acquired taste, at least he suits the gimmick. You expect the unexpected from him, but fans haven’t accepted Bliss doing the same on her own over the long term.
Alexa has wrestled only 7 times since moving to Raw, and one probably didn’t count because it was against Randy Orton. There isn’t much to remember from these encounters as they explained nothing. After introducing Lilly, Bliss followed Wyatt’s path by targeting babyfaces before turning her attention to heels like Reginald, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. As fans, we’re left scratching our heads because we don’t know if we’re supposed to cheer her, or if her targets become de facto faces. Are we meant to like her now, or Baszler? We don’t know! It’s pretty confusing. Also, I’m sure Lilly’s purpose is to be unsettling in some fashion, but you’d have to be a toddler to do anything but laugh hysterically at how cringing it is.
It feels like WWE keeps the charade going so when Bray Wyatt returns from whatever (it can’t be because they have nothing for him), it’s like the movie villain returning at the worst possible moment. The Bliss Goddess transformation has to build towards a feud with Wyatt soon, otherwise it’s the grandest waste of time. All it does is prove Alexa can do something different, which is commendable, yet damaging if they keep it going too long. It has already run its course in my eyes.
Patience is wearing thin on this character because it has no obvious potential, and it doesn’t help when Alexa is doing things on Twitter like a normal human being. At least when Wyatt posts he’s in character, but Bliss posts about men not wearing engagement rings, appearing on cameo for $600, along with complaining about doctors doing nothing for her dying pig (RIP). The gimmick is a dud going nowhere as it swims pointlessly upstream. They could fish it up, but it’s WWE. The chance of creative saving it is nigh impossible without Bray Wyatt’s involvement. No one’s tuning in for this because Alexa’s Playground is far from a highlight of Monday Night Raw.
The Bray Wyatt quote at the beginning is a reference to him being a creative risk for WWE. It has flopped occasionally, but it’s safe to say it hits the mark more often than not. In his case, we can at least compliment WWE for trying something different. With Bliss, she’s nothing more than a shade of gray, a cheap carbon copy blending in to the mediocrity we expect from Raw’s three arduous hours. I applaud her for doing all she can with the material, but it isn’t clicking. Her story flower has withered away under its own weight, and direly needs watering before its leaves fall and blow away in the gusts of time.
With that said, what do you think of Alexa Bliss & Lilly? Can WWE save them? Do we think a Bliss vs. Wyatt feud has potential? Or is it time we stick the puppets on a bonfire and light it so we can watch the gimmick burn away in to ashes? Please let me know in the comments, and as always, thank you for reading.
