Despite making her in-ring return at Elimination Chamber back in February, Alexa Bliss disappeared from our screens immediately afterward, and didn’t make it on to the WrestleMania 38 card. In fact, she wasn’t present at the event in Dallas at all, with fans having to make do with a cardboard cut-out for photo ops instead.
There was speculation she might make an appearance on Raw, as a handful of debuts and comebacks have historically been saved for the night-after-Mania, in order to keep momentum going and book-end a weekend of high drama.
But Raw came and went with no mention of Little Miss Bliss, and she was nowhere to be seen on Smackdown or NXT either. It’s thought she is set to get married to partner Ryan Cabrera this weekend, which could account for her absence, but her general lack of screen-time over the past six months begs the question; how do you solve a problem like Alexa?
Twisted Bliss
For the majority of Bliss’s WWE career (or at least the more successful portion of it) she portrayed her ‘Goddess’ persona. Dubstep entrance music, vibrant blonde hair with pink tips, a smile on her face and a chip on her shoulder.
Then a few years ago she went in a different direction, becoming besotted with The Fiend and eventually transforming into “Twisted” Alexa Bliss. As someone who really loved The Fiend gimmick, I liked where Alexa was heading and thought the partnership had real potential.
In reality it never really got off the ground, and a year ago at WrestleMania 37 Bliss cost The Fiend his match against Randy Orton and went it alone, choosing to replace him with a doll called Lily.
Whatever the plan was for this demonic duo, it didn’t seem to work and following Extreme Rules 2021, where Charlotte Flair tore the doll to pieces, Bliss took an extended hiatus from WWE programming.
In January, short pre-recorded packages started to play showing Bliss in therapy. Trying to get over the loss of her friend, the sessions looked to be transforming her back to her former self.
By the final session Bliss had shed almost all signs of her Fiend-inspired garb, and looked to be back to being The Goddess. So it came as quite a surprise when she walked out at Elimination Chamber like nothing had changed, and took a seat upon a swing in her pod.
Over a month of promo videos seemed to have been for naught, and Bliss’s losing effort in this match turned out to be the last time we saw her on TV to date.
Going Goddess
It’s hard to know what the future holds for Alexa. She still has a couple of years to run on her WWE contract, and the Raw and SmackDown rosters aren’t particularly stacked at the moment, so it would be bizarre if we didn’t see her again.
Perhaps the plan was to have Alexa fully embody the Bray Wyatt/The Fiend literal split personality thing, and have her appear as one or the other depending on the situation. That may still may be the plan too, but it seems odd that it wasn’t made more clear at Elimination Chamber if that is the case.
Much as I love a good supernatural gimmick, it just hasn’t worked out and feels like the ship may have sailed. Creative have already laid the groundwork for Bliss to switch back to her previous character, so for me the best plan would be to pull the trigger on it and sweep all the Lily business under the carpet.
A Different Direction for Alexa Bliss
A change in character is one thing, but regardless of which Alexa Bliss returns to our screens, there is also the question of WHERE she returns.
As far as we know Bliss is still a member of the Raw roster, and there are some interesting rivalries she could be thrown into on the red brand. Her history with Nikki A.S.H would be the obvious route to go, with Nikki now being an out-and-out cartoon villain, but there would be potential in a rivalry with Bianca Belair for the title, or even against Becky Lynch or Rhea Ripley.
A move to SmackDown seems less likely, however some are speculating that Bliss might find herself at home on NXT.
Why? Partly down to her lack of involvement on Raw despite being match fit (although the aforementioned marriage to Ryan Cabrera would explain that) but also because of a recent tweet Bliss put out:
If the sticky wheel's always gettin' the grease
I'm totally devoted to disturbing the peace
& I'll do it all again when I get it done
Until I become your number one.
No method to the madness and no means of escape
Gonna break every rule I'll bend 'em all outta shape pic.twitter.com/kmbZ0ulOic— Lexi Kaufman (@AlexaBliss_WWE) April 4, 2022
This is a tenuous link for sure, but the lyrics are from a song initially used in “A Goofy Movie” called “Stand Out”. Of all the places Bliss could resurface, she would definitely stand out most on NXT, where she could look to revive her career much in the way Mandy Rose has done.
What Next for Alexa Bliss?
It’s most likely Bliss WILL return to Raw following her honeymoon.
The photo op at Mania was themed around Alexa’s Playground, so she will probably be using the supernatural gimmick too, at least until someone in the writing team figure out where the whole therapy angle was supposed to be heading.
Personally I hope they come up with something good for her soon. Bliss might not be the best wrestler in the women’s division but she IS entertaining, and adds another dimension to what has become quite a small group of title contenders on Raw.
