Childhood & Early Life
Alexa Bliss was born Alexis Kaufman on August 9, 1991, in Columbus, Ohio, USA, to Bob Kaufman and Angela Kaufman. Despite limited income, her family made annual trips to places like ‘Walt Disney World.’
She started showing interest in sports and physical activities from the age of five. Her parents supported her passion, hoping that her interest in sports would lead to a better future. They enrolled her at gymnastics classes. She also played softball, practiced kickboxing, and excelled at various other sports, including swimming.
She attended ‘Providence High School’ in North Carolina, USA. During her school days, she became a cheerleader and performed with ‘Hilliard Davidson High School.’ At the age of 15, she suffered from an eating disorder, which eventually became life-threatening. Alexa’s interest in bodybuilding helped her overcome the condition. Subsequently, she started spending time in competitive bodybuilding.
She attended the ‘University of Akron’ and the ‘Columbus Community College’ in Ohio, USA. While pursuing her studies at the ‘University of Akron,’ she reached ‘Division I’ status as a cheerleader.
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Career
She pursued professional bodybuilding for a brief period. She was one of the youngest females to earn an ‘International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness’ (IFBB) pro card. She also participated in the annual ‘IFBB Arnold Classic’ bodybuilding championship.
She was signed as a professional wrestler by the ‘World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.,’ in 2013. As a rookie, she was assigned to WWE’s developmental brand, ‘WWE NXT.’
She made her on-screen debut in the July 24 episode of ‘WWE NXT,’ which was taped on June 20, 2013. During her debut appearance, she congratulated the first ‘WWE NXT’ women’s champion, Paige.
In August 2013, her ring name ‘Alexa Bliss’ was added to the official ‘NXT’ roster page on WWE’s website. In one of the subsequent episodes of ‘NXT’ she posed as an unnamed ring announcer. Her first televised appearance after entering the main roster was broadcast on April 6, 2014. In the episode, she was part of wrestler Triple H’s entrance in ‘WrestleMania XXX’ at the ‘Mercedes-Benz Superdome’ in New Orleans, Louisiana.
She made her televised debut as a wrestler on May 8, 2014, when she competed in a tournament for the ‘WWE NXT Women’s Championship.’ She defeated Alicia Fox in the first round of the tournament, but lost to Ric Flair’s daughter Charlotte Flair in the semi-finals.
She defeated Carmella in an ‘NXT’ match, which was televised on March 11, 2015. In the subsequent week, she defeated the reigning ‘NXT’ women’s champion Sasha Banks through count-out. As a result of this victory, she was granted a title match against Banks, which she lost in the episode aired on March 25.
On May 20, 2015, she helped the team of Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake retain their ‘WWE NXT Tag Team Championship’ against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. She once again helped Murphy and Blake defend their title against the team of Aiden English and Simon Gotch (The Vaudevillians) in the episode aired on July 29, 2015.
She continued to appear in ‘NXT’ until August 2016. She competed in her last ‘NXT’ match on August 17, 2016, in a ‘tag team’ match along with Mandy Rose and Daria Berenato. Her team lost the match to Nikki Glencross, Carmella, and Liv Morgan.
Alexa was drafted into the ‘WWE SmackDown’ brand in July 2016 as part of the ‘WWE’ draft. She achieved her first victory on the main roster on August 9, 2016, when she defeated Irish wrestler Becky Lynch. She teamed up with Natalya and Nikki Bella to win the 2016 ‘SummerSlam’ match against the team of Becky Lynch, Carmella, and Naomi.
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On September 11, 2016, she lost against Becky Lynch in a ‘six-pack elimination challenge,’ which was to determine the inaugural women’s champion at ‘SmackDown.’ On December 4, 2016, she defeated Lynch in a ‘tables match’ in the ‘TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs’ event to become the ‘SmackDown Women’s Champion.’
She successfully defended her ‘SmackDown Women’s Championship’ against Lynch on January 17, 2017, in a ‘steel cage’ match. However, she lost the title to Naomi on February 12. She regained the title on February 21, 2017, and became the first woman to win the ‘SmackDown Women’s Championship’ twice.
On April 10, 2017, she was drafted into the ‘WWE Raw’ brand as part of the ‘Superstar Shake-up’ (non-traditional draft). She fought against the ‘Raw’ women’s champion Bayley in her inaugural fight at ‘Raw.’
On April 30, 2017, she once again fought against Bayley as part of the ‘WWE Payback’ event and defeated her to clinch the ‘WWE Raw Women’s Championship.’ With this win, she became the first wrestler to win women’s championships at ‘SmackDown’ and ‘Raw.’ On June 4, 2017, she defeated Bayley in a re-match to retain her title.
She lost her ‘Raw Women’s Championship’ to Sasha Banks on August 20 at the 2017 ‘SummerSlam’ event, but regained it eight days later. She went on to defend her title against Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax, and Emma in a ‘fatal five-way’ match at ‘No Mercy’ on September 24.
She lost her title to Nia Jax on April 8, 2018, at ‘WrestleMania 34.’ Her loss ended her championship reign of 223 days. On June 17, 2018, she won the ‘Raw Women’s Championship’ for the third time by defeating Nia Jax.
