WWE: Why the Alexa Bliss criticisms are misplaced

The criticisms that always seem to abound regarding the consistent push WWE gives Alexa Bliss are inaccurate and misguided.

Alexa Bliss’ main roster run in WWE has been without question a success.

Alexa was a superstar who didn’t exactly light the world on fire during her NXT run, no-doubt in part to spending an extended tenure as a “lovable fairy” character. However, Alexa would indeed find some success portraying a heel character alongside Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake as a valet/manager for their NXT Tag Title ascension.

Notwithstanding this, the main roster success of Alexa Bliss on paper is staggering. Since getting the nod to join the SmackDown Live brand in the summer of 2016, Alexa has attained: 3 x RAW Women’s Titles, 3 x SmackDown Live Women’s Titles, 1 Women’s Tag Team Title (alongside Nikki Cross) and she also won the Money in the Bank back in 2018.

Despite this success, there are a lot of criticisms that are directed towards Bliss. Comments range from “Alexa isn’t a very good worker” to “Alexa has just attained success because she’s blonde”. These comments are consistent, and seemingly appear every time she appears on TV. Do these criticisms have any weight? Let’s dig deeper.

Firstly, Bliss has only been wrestling for six years, which is not a very long time in the grand scheme of things, especially for someone who was fast-tracked to success very quickly. So in-turn, for someone who has been wrestling for that short time frame, are the criticisms toward her in-ring work fair?

I acknowledge that she isn’t one of the stronger female talents from an in-ring perspective. Yet, those who may be more talented in-ring wise may struggle in other areas such as a character and promo work. Alexa’s character work and promo ability are up there with some of the best female talents of all time.

Think about it for a minute. Which female is able to deliver such a strong heel promo to the degree that Alexa can? You could argue AJ Lee, but that’s the only name I can remotely recall.

The criticisms directly aimed towards Alexa regarding her in-ring work, in my view, are misplaced too. There is always a bigger picture, especially on the grand stage that is WWE. Alexa not so long ago uploaded a video to her Twitter page, where she shows off some of her in-ring abilities, featuring moves we’ve never seen her do on TV before.

The Twitter post seemed to be a direct message to her critics who state she can’t wrestle, and is simply in the established position she’s been awarded because of her looks.

Another key issue in relation to this debate is that Bliss is not the only stakeholder in her character and performance. Vince McMahon and WWE agents have a huge say in how she should perform, so there is a strong chance that Vince and the aforementioned agents would prefer Alexa to work the more cowardly heel style instead of the obvious babyface style that she was showing off on her Twitter page.

If you look at what value Alexa Bliss offers WWE from their perspective, you’ll get why they position her in the manner they do as well. Bliss constantly gets huge reactions from all demographics (whether you like it or not), so in-turn why wouldn’t WWE position someone who gets these kinds of reactions in a featured role?

From WWE’s perspective, Bliss is someone they can guarantee will get a reaction and deliver scripted dialogue convincingly and effectively. She, in essence, is everything they want a top star to be. Are her matches underwhelming? Maybe that argument has some weight, but they clearly impress Vince, who is allegedly known to prefer character work over match quality in any case.

It makes business sense to put Bliss in the position she’s in. Over the past 3 years, she has become a household name for WWE, and in-turn their marketing. She is heavily promoted, which in-turn shows equitability in her character and her performances in question.

The comments concerning Alexa Bliss being in the position she’s in because of her hair color and appearance are also misguided. Vince no doubt has a history of preferring appearance over ability, but is this really the case here?

WWE is a brand that relies on character work and promo work as much (if not more than) the actual wrestling ability of its talents. If Bliss wasn’t able to deliver in the avenue of promo work and character work, then the argument would have some weight, but fortunately, she is able to deliver in that aspect.

If Alexa was to turn babyfaces, maybe these criticisms would die down. She would be able to show off her in-ring abilities, and hopefully convince the critics that their complaints were misguided.

I feel it’s paramount to realize that Alexa Bliss is not the only stakeholder in how she performs, and that the majority of her work is going to be directed to come across a certain way. No doubt this is frustrating for some, and maybe even Alexa. But no doubt, the criticisms towards her are misplaced and frankly, unjust.