Alexis Cabrera (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler.
This article delves into the life and career of Alexa Bliss, exploring her journey from her early days to becoming a prominent figure in WWE.
Early Life and Background
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.
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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.
Joining WWE and NXT Beginnings
Having no prior wrestling training, Kaufman was signed by WWE in May 2013 and reported to WWE's developmental territory NXT.
In August, she was added to WWE.com's NXT roster page and assigned the ring name Alexa Bliss.
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.
She acted as an unnamed ring announcer for the November 20 episode of NXT.
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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 hiatus due to a legit injury, Bliss returned on the March 11, 2015, episode of NXT, where she defeated Carmella.
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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 (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.
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.
Main Roster Debut and Championship Success
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.
Bliss was a main cast member on the reality television series Total Divas.
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.
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.
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.
As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Bliss and The Fiend were drafted to the Raw brand.
On the 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.
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's 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.