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Alexa Bliss’ Rise from Glitter Girl to Dynamic Heel in WWE NXT

By Rob Wolkenbrod

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In short time, WWE NXT star Alexa Bliss has gone from wearing glitter and skirts to making a name for herself and stealing titles.

When Alexa Bliss debuted on May 8, 2014, she was this sweet, innocent girl under a sparkle and glitter gimmick. She would blow the glitter out of her hands at the beginning of every entrance and put a smile on younger viewer’s faces.

It’s no secret that Bliss was green in the ring when she first came up. Her moves in the ring weren’t fluid and the Glitz Flip didn’t look so good when performed. The sparkle babyface character wasn’t doing the former Arnold Classic competitor any good, either. Her promos were very flat and she looked uncomfortable talking.

However, this would all change with some character development.

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During the late spring, Blake and Murphy were still the NXT Tag Team Champions. They won the belts in surprising fashion at a Jan. NXT taping. The duo then turned heel but weren’t very interesting. They needed a valet—someone to give them a spark.

In a backstage segment on an episode of NXT in Apr., Alexa approached Carmella after Blake and Murphy tried wooing her. Bliss called out the Princess of Staten Island on how she was carrying herself, showing some sass as B & M looked on.

Then at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Bliss came to ringside to attack Carmella, who was watched Enzo Amore and Big Cass take on the champs for the NXT Tag Team Championship. This led to Blake and Murphy getting the pinfall win and aligning with Bliss.

From there, Bliss’ look completely changed. She recolored the end of her hair red instead of the light blue, dropped the skirt and started wearing a fiery red and white attire. She also joined Blake and Murphy in their EDM-like entrance. Alexa’s presence in the walk-down fit really well with her boys.

Over the summer, Bliss led Blake and Murphy through their feud with the Vaudevillains. She smacked Aiden English and Simon Gotch multiple times and added an extra layer to an otherwise average feud. Despite Blue Pants getting the moment at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn by helping English and Gotch win the match, if it wasn’t for how well Alexa played her role in this program, we would have never got to that point where the pop was so loud at the Barclays Center.

From there, the direction of Blake and Murphy seemed like it hit a dead-end. The same went for Bliss. However, she continued to win matches and provide a punch in her promos.

Then came this moment on a recent episode of NXT.

This was microphone and character mastery from Bliss. You could easily buy that she was happy for Bayley, but when she snatched that title, it was so cold-blooded that the ice in her veins was visible.

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This moment was the turning point for Bliss as a performer. While she had made steady progress in the ring over the months, her speaking constantly improved. Alexa seemed very comfortable as a heel being able to show some personality and put life in her promos. While babyface women have shown to cut some passionate speaking segments (see almost every Bayley promo), Alexa just never seemed in her place with these.

Now she’s getting a real chance at the NXT Women’s Championship. Not the one-off match from the brief feud she had with Sasha Banks earlier this year, but as a rising contender who fans believe has a shot at taking Bayley’s title away.

If Bliss doesn’t win the NXT Women’s Championship, she’ll still be on the rise in the NXT women’s division. How far she’ll go will be interesting, and fun to follow.

You can follow Rob Wolkenbrod on Twitter @RealRobWolkey. If you would like to send a report from a live event, email us at robert.wolkenbrod@gmail.com.

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