Alexa Bliss On WWE's Main Roster Making Her Nervous At First, Wanting To Be Booed And Hated, Nia Jax
Alexa Bliss spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated earlier this week and talked about how she was nervous coming to the WWE SmackDown roster in 2016 because while she was coming from WWE NXT, she had no indie experience. Bliss said she still has wrestling in her soul.
"I did it my way, and I couldn't ask for anything better," Bliss said. "I knew what I was getting into when I joined WWE. There were girls who wrestled on the independent circuit, there were girls who were generational, and I came not really knowing anything. I remember telling my mom, 'These girls are so good, I don't think I can make.'
"I knew I'd be an underwhelming draft pick to SmackDown [in 2016]; I wasn't [one of the] Four Horsewoman, I wasn't given the opportunity to have a TakeOver match, I'd never held a title. Being smaller in stature, especially at the start of our Women's Revolution, I've worked extremely hard over these past three years. I went into my first WrestleMania as SmackDown women's champion and my second WrestleMania as Raw women's champion. It's been a very fun journey, and I'm still enjoying the ride."
Bliss credited her time on the yellow & black brand as being the force that shot her into superstardom on the main roster.
"When I first got onto SmackDown, I remember being so nervous," said Bliss. "In WWE, if you're given an opportunity but you don't deliver, that opportunity may never come back. I remember my very first promo on SmackDown, and I remember knowing I had to deliver. The microphone has been my saving grace throughout my career, giving me opportunities like hosting WrestleMania. This is coming from the same person who cried in her first promo class at NXT. Dusty Rhodes and Ryan Katz helped enable me to do this, and I'm very grateful for my time with NXT."
Bliss said hosting WrestleMania 35 this year was a career highlights, but another career high came at WrestleMania 34 in her RAW Women's Title match with Nia Jax. Bliss said her feud with good friend Jax was fun, but hard and the most fulfilling.
"I had so much fun working with Nia," Bliss said. "It was the hardest but most fulfilling because we did this body shaming/bullying angle, and we've both dealt with body issues in the past. I've dealt with eating disorders off and on throughout my life, and I almost lost my life to it, so it was hard to say these things to my best friend. But we wanted to make that story as real as possible, and we felt very passionate about highlighting that and telling that story."
Bliss also revealed she prefers to play the heel. She might have one of the biggest hearts in WWE, but she said loves playing the cruelest character.
"I love portraying a bad guy," she said. "I can go the extra mile with all the creativity. Plus, you can expect a lot of sass. WrestleMania 35 was my WrestleMania. You didn't know what was going to happen. It was all about me, because I was the host."
Bliss continued, "I want to be booed and be hated. That dictates my style in the ring. If I were a good guy, I'd use a whole new arsenal of moves in the ring. The biggest thing for me is telling the story as a character, both in the ring and on the mic."