The current iteration of Bliss' character started to take shape about one year ago when she became entranced by "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and aligned herself with him.
Bliss' new dark character opened a lot of doors for her, including having a match of sorts against Randy Orton at Fastlane in March, which she won thanks to interference from The Fiend.
Alexa turned on The Fiend at WrestleMania 37, and since Wyatt has since been released from WWE, Bliss is a solo act aside from the presence of her possessed doll.
Bliss' character ranges from happy-go-lucky to deranged and is often showcased on Raw in "Alexa's Playground" segments.
While Bliss is coming off a feud against Eva Marie and Doudrop that wasn't particularly well-received, she beat Eva at SummerSlam and may now be in line to enter the Raw Women's Championship picture.
Bliss interrupted a promo by Raw Women's champion Charlotte Flair on Monday night's episode of Raw, possibly setting up a rivalry between them.
While utilizing her popular Goddess character, Bliss won the Raw Women's Championship three times, the SmackDown Women's Championship twice and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships twice.
Bliss' current character may not be for everyone, but it seems to be connecting with the younger portion of WWE's fanbase, which often tends to result in big-time profits for WWE from a merchandising perspective.
As long as people continue to purchase the Lilly doll and Alexa's other merch, her gimmick is likely here to stay.
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Former WWE, AEW Star Awesome Kong Announces Retirement from Pro Wrestling
Aug 29, 2021
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 04: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Professional wrestler and actress Kia Stevens, also known as "Awesome Kong" visits SiriusXM Studios on October 4, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
Longtime professional wrestling star Awesome Kong announced her retirement from professional wrestling on Saturday night.
During the all-women's NWA EmPowerrr pay-per-view, Kong made a surprise appearance when former TNA rival Gail Kim was about to get attacked by Taryn Terrell, Jennacide and Paola Blaze.
Kong made the save, said she wanted her final act in wrestling to be an in-ring segment with Kim, announced her retirement and embraced her greatest opponent, as seen in this photo courtesy of Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp:
Awesome Kong announces that she's done with wrestling, and wanted to go out with Gail Kim. This was a really special moment. pic.twitter.com/SYHfQ761NA
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) August 29, 2021
Kim described the emotions she felt when Kong retired during an interview with FITE TV's Josh Shernoff after the fact:
The 43-year-old Kong is likely best known for her run in TNA, which later became known as Impact Wrestling. She was part of TNA from 2007-10 and again from 2015-16.
During both stints, Kong had several memorable matches against Kim with the Knockout Championship on the line. All told, Kong was a two-time Knockouts champion and one-time Knockouts Tag Team champion in TNA.
Kong also had a brief but memorable run in WWE under the name Kharma. In May 2011, Kong wreaked havoc on the WWE Divas division, but her run was cut short when she announced she was pregnant.
Her only official match as a WWE wrestler came in January 2012 when she made a surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble match, becoming only the third woman to ever be in a men's Rumble match at that time.
The latter part of Kong's career was spent in AEW where she wrestled a handful of matches in 2019 and early 2020. At Double or Nothing 2019, Kong competed in a four-way match against Britt Baker, Allie and Nyla Rose, which Baker won.
Other major companies Kong worked for include Ring of Honor, NWA, Shimmer and several promotions in Japan.
Kong held both the NWA Women's World Championship and All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling's top title once, plus she was named the No. 1 women's pro wrestler in the world by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 2008 as part of its Female 50 list.
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John Cena Doesn't 'Have Any Beef' with Batista for Not Wanting to Work with Him, Rock
Aug 28, 2021
John Cena has no hard feelings after Dave Bautista's recent declaration that he'd prefer not to star in movies alongside Cena or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Bautista, who enjoyed great success in WWE under the ring name Batista, responded with the following tweet in June after someone suggested he should do a movie with Cena and The Rock:
Cena was asked about Bautista's comments in a recent interview with Esquire (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Sai Mohan), and he made it clear that he doesn't hold any ill will toward his former WWE colleague:
"Dave is one of the nicest and generous guys you'll ever meet. I don't have any beef with Dave and I genuinely think he doesn't have beef with me.
"He really just wants to be identified and recognized for his work. And I cannot fault him for that. I applaud him for it. To be brave enough to say something like that kind of allows him to go forth on his own and I appreciate that."
Cena did admit to being disappointed about not having the opportunity to work with Bautista in Hollywood, though, saying:
"I'm super sad about that, because Dave Bautista is an unbelievably gifted actor. He's done some amazing work. But I think when someone makes a statement like that, I think the important thing is to try and look at things from their perspective.
"Dave has worked so hard on his craft, and he is so dedicated to his characters, and really wants to put forth a body of work that gives him his own identity. I 100 percent understand that."
Bautista and Cena worked together plenty during their time in WWE, including a match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 26 in 2010.
Both Bautista and Cena worked with The Rock at WrestleMania before as well. Bautista teamed with Ric Flair and Randy Orton to beat The Rock and Mick Foley at WrestleMania 20, while Cena and The Rock traded wins at WrestleMania 28 and 29.
Arguably no three former wrestlers have enjoyed more success as actors than The Rock, Cena and Bautista.
The Rock has starred in myriad action movies, including the Fast & Furious franchise; Cena has done plenty of action and comedy and most recently starred as Peacemaker in Suicide Squad; and Bautista is perhaps best known for his role as Drax The Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy and the Marvel Universe.
None of them have needed each other in order to reach their current standing in Hollywood, and it appears as though Bautista is content with the three of them continuing to enjoy their own individual success.
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WWE Rumors on Roman Reigns Face Turn, Brock Lesnar, Becky Lynch, Nakamura's Contract
Aug 27, 2021
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 30: In this screengrab released on November 08, Roman Reigns presents the award for Best Pop at the MTV EMA's 2020 on October 30, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. The MTV EMA's aired on November 08, 2020. (Courtesy of MTV via Getty Images)
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Reigns Reportedly Remaining Heel for Foreseeable Future
Despite the return of Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, there are reportedly no plans for WWE to turn Universal champion Roman Reigns face.
According to PWInsider (h/t Jack Waynick of Ringside News), Reigns will remain in his heel role on SmackDown as The Tribal Chief.
After Reigns beat John Cena in the main event of SummerSlam to retain the Universal title, Lesnar made his long-awaited return to WWE, appearing for the first time since WrestleMania 36 in April 2020. Lesnar confronted Reigns and Paul Heyman, who is currently Reigns' special counsel and formerly Reigns' advocate.
Lesnar has been a heel for the vast majority of his career and has had Heyman by his side as well. If the plan is for him to feud with Reigns', however, Lesnar will likely be the de facto face, and he will have to go up against Heyman instead.
Still, Heyman provides a built-in security blanket for Lesnar, since he will still be heavily involved in his storyline and can do plenty of talking as well.
Being a babyface isn't completely foreign to Lesnar, but he hasn't done much of it during his career, especially since returning in 2012.
Reigns is firing on all cylinders and doing the best work of his career, though, meaning it would likely be a poor decision on WWE's part to turn him heel after only one year as a face.
WWE is best off letting both Reigns and Lesnar do what they do best, and it promises to lead to a great feud and match in the process.
Rumors on Lesnar, Lynch Returns at SummerSlam
WWE made a huge splash at SummerSlam with the returns of Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch on the heels of CM Punk debuting for AEW on Rampage one day earlier.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), Lesnar's return, in particular, was put together "at the last minute" for a number of reasons, including the desire to combat Punk's AEW debut.
Meltzer also reported that both Lesnar and Lynch have been positioned to be on SmackDown as a means of appeasing Fox executives who are unhappy WWE didn't make a bigger play for Punk.
Fox getting two huge stars in Lesnar and Lynch reportedly isn't sitting well with USA Network, which airs Raw.
Per Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), USA Network and NBC executives have "a little bit of an issue) with WWE stacking the SmackDown roster.
Even before Lesnar and Lynch returned, SmackDown was considered WWE's "A" show due to the presence of stars such as Reigns, Bianca Belair, Sasha Banks, Edge and Seth Rollins, among others.
While the Lesnar return was universally celebrated among fans, Lynch's return received more of a mixed reaction since she replaced Banks as Belair's opponent and beat her in seconds for the SmackDown Women's title after hitting The EST with a cheap shot.
That was reportedly the start of a heel turn, and Meltzer (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News) noted that Lynch was inspired by Reigns' success as a heel to be a heel in her own right.
It was a heel turn that helped take Lynch to the next level and aided in the development of her "The Man" character, although she became so popular that it necessitated a face turn.
Something similar could happen this time around, and if it does, Lynch has a chance to be a bigger star than ever.
Nakamura Reportedly Signs New WWE Contract
Intercontinental champion and king of WWE Shinsuke Nakamura has reportedly signed a contract extension with WWE.
Zarian (h/t H Jenkins) reported the move, although the terms of the deal were not revealed.
Nakamura, 41, signed with WWE in 2016 after a highly successful career in Japan. As part of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, The King of Strong Style was a three-time IWGP Heavyweight champion and five-time IWGP Intercontinental champion.
Upon arriving in WWE, Nakamura quickly became a top star in NXT, holding the NXT Championship twice.
Nakamura then won the Royal Rumble early in his tenure on the main roster, although he fell short in his bid to beat AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34.
Still, Nakamura has enjoyed a great deal of success on the main roster, including being a two-time IC champ, two-time United States champion and one-time SmackDown Tag Team champion with Cesaro.
Currently, Nakamura is paired with Rick Boogs, who has played a role in Nakamura beating Baron Corbin for his crown and Apollo Crews for the Intercontinental title.
Nakamura is a key part of the SmackDown midcard, and if he has indeed inked a new deal with WWE, that will likely continue to be the case moving forward.
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Adam Cole Rumors: 'Vince McMahon Definitely Wants to Keep' Star amid WWE, AEW Buzz
Aug 27, 2021
WWE is reportedly working hard to keep Adam Cole in the fold amid rumors that his contract with the company expires Friday.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), WWE Chairman Vince McMahon "definitely wants" to re-sign Cole.
Meltzer confirmed rumors that Cole's WWE contract is up Friday and added that Cole has yet to decide whether to re-sign with WWE or sign with AEW. If he leaves WWE, Cole will reportedly be free to appear for any company immediately since he doesn't have to adhere to a non-compete clause.
Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton) reported earlier this week that the expectation was WWE would make Cole a contract offer before the official expiration of his deal.
It was reported earlier this month by Fightful
(h/t WrestlingInc.com's Joshua Gagnon) that McMahon had a backstage meeting with Cole at a recent episode of SmackDown. McMahon reportedly took a liking to Cole and had the creative team come up with ideas for Cole on the main roster.
Cole lost to Kyle O'Reilly at NXT TakeOver 36 on Sunday in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match, and it has been widely reported and speculated that it was his final NXT appearance regardless of whether he re-signs with WWE.
While remaining with WWE is possible, there is plenty of belief that Cole could go to AEW as well due to his ties to the company.
Cole's girlfriend, Britt Baker, is the reigning AEW Women's World champion. Also, he is friends with AEW Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, all of whom have teased the possibility of bringing Cole to AEW on social media.
Also, AEW has made some big personnel moves lately, including signing CM Punk. It is also expected that AEW is bringing in Daniel Bryan, whose WWE contract expired at the beginning of May.
Cole was the longest-reigning NXT champion of all time and one of the biggest stars in the history of the brand, and while he doesn't possess prototypical size, his charisma, promo ability and in-ring work could make him a top star on the main roster if WWE is able to convince him to stay.
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CM Punk Rumors: Fox Execs 'Very Upset' WWE Didn't Make Big Offer to Prevent AEW Deal
Aug 27, 2021
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 18: Actor Phil 'CM Punk' Brooks attends the red carpet Premiere of "Girl on the Third Floor" at the Chicago International Film Festival on October 18, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Queensbury Pictures / Dark Sky Films)
Fox reportedly wasn't happy that WWE didn't make a greater effort to bring back CM Punk before Punk signed with All Elite Wrestling and debuted on Rampage last week.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), Fox executives were "very upset" with the way the Punk situation went down, especially since Fox had a good relationship with Punk from his time on FS1's WWE Backstage in 2019 and 2020.
Meltzer noted that Fox's unhappiness regarding Punk going to AEW played a role in WWE bringing back Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch at SummerSlam and positioning both of them to be part of SmackDown on Fox moving forward.
Lynch, who hadn't been on WWE programming since May 2020 when she announced she was pregnant, was the surprise replacement for Sasha Banks in the SmackDown Women's Championship match against Bianca Belair.
The Man won the title thanks to a cheap shot, which suggests she will be on the blue brand moving forward.
Meanwhile, Lesnar showed up for the first time since WrestleMania 36 in April 2020 when he came out to confront Universal champion Roman Reigns after Reigns beat John Cena to retain the title in the main event of SummerSlam.
Lynch and Lesnar are two of the biggest stars in wrestling, and their arrival on SmackDown could mean even better ratings for Fox on a show that consistently garners more than 2 million viewers per week.
Given that Punk was one of the biggest stars in wrestling when he left WWE over seven years ago and hadn't been in a wrestling ring since, the initial boosts were expected.
Whether Punk keeps the upward trend going remains to be seen, but there is no doubt he was a huge signing for AEW, as was the re-signing of Lesnar and return of Lynch for WWE and SmackDown on Fox specifically.
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Report: Gable Steveson Met with Vince McMahon; UFC Not Pursuing Olympic Star Like WWE
Aug 27, 2021
CHIBA, JAPAN AUGUST 6, 2021: Gold medalist USA's Gable Dan Steveson celebrates the golden medal after the men's freestyle 125kg wrestling competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo on August 6, 2021. ( (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The battle between WWE and UFC to sign Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson appears to be a one-sided fight.
Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Thirsty For News), Steveson met with Vince McMahon in Las Vegas during SummerSlam weekend.
Meltzer noted that Dana White didn't meet with Steveson, and "UFC has not pursued him at nearly the level WWE has."
White told TMZ Sports last week he was planning to meet with the 21-year-old while he was in Las Vegas.
"[Gable] will be in town this weekend, and I think we're gonna hook up and talk," White said.
WWE is clearly making a hard push to sign Steveson. The company gave him and Tamyra Mensah-Stock, who won gold in the women's 68 kg freestyle at the Tokyo Games, an entrance during SummerSlam to greet the fans in attendance at Allegiant Stadium.
He also told Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com about wanting to become a UFC champion.
“Who wouldn’t want to be the baddest man on the planet? Who wouldn’t want to hold that UFC championship belt? I’m holding the gold medal and I’m the baddest wrestler on the planet. Why wouldn’t I want to go out there and be the baddest UFC heavyweight champion?”
Whichever promotion Steveson ends up signing with, he has the potential to be a major star. The Indiana native is the reigning 285-pound NCAA champion, 125 kg Pan American Championships gold medalist and 125 kg Olympic gold medalist.
Steveson wrapped up his college career at Minnesota with 34 consecutive match wins dating back to the 2019 NCAA championships, in which he finished third in the 285-pound division.
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Brock Lesnar Reportedly Under WWE Contract For 'At Least 8 Matches'
Aug 26, 2021
FILE - In this March 29, 2015, file photo, Brock Lesnar makes his entrance at Wrestlemania XXXI in Santa Clara, Calif. Lesnar, the former WWE and UFC heavyweight champion, was selected Monday, June 27, 2016, as the cover superstar for the WWE 2K17 video game that is set for an Oct. 11 release. (AP Photo/Don Feria, File)
Brock Lesnar made his surprising return to WWE at SummerSlam, and it could just be the start of a busy stretch for the superstar.
According to Fightful Select (h/t Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc.), Lesnar signed a new contract with WWE that will last "roughly a year and a half" and could feature eight matches.
The first bout for the Beast Incarnate is likely to come against Roman Reigns, which makes sense after staring down the WWE universal champion at the end of Saturday's pay-per-view:
Reigns had just defeated John Cena to defend his title, but his celebration was interrupted before the end of the show.
Lesnar's last appearance for the company came at WrestleMania 36 in 2020 where he suffered a loss to Drew McIntyre for the WWE title. The 44-year-old could have another chance at a belt with a feud against Reigns, with WWE Crown Jewel in October potentially setting the stage for his next fight.
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John Cena Says The Rock Has 'Earned the Right' to Not Be Pressured into WWE Return
Aug 25, 2021
Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, enters the ring to talk smack about his upcoming opponent John Cena during the WWE Raw event at Rose Garden arena in Portland, Ore., Monday February 27th, 2012. (Photo by Chris Ryan/Corbis via Getty Images)
John Cena wants to see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson back in the WWE ring, but believes the superstar shouldn't be pressured to return to the sport.
Cena discussed the fellow wrestler/actor on Tuesday with Mona Khalifeh of Entertainment Tonight:
He's earned the right not to be pressured into that choice. I can say he is a fan of the WWE. He is the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. So as a fan do, I want to see one of the greatest performers of all time step back in the WWE ring? Yeah. But in no way am I gonna call him and if I'm gonna talk to him about something, it's not gonna try to be to get him back in the WWE ring. He needs to come to that conclusion by himself.
Cena recently made his own comeback to WWE, competing against Roman Reigns at Saturday's SummerSlam.
The Rock could be right behind him with Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast reporting the wrestler could make an appearance at Survivor Series in November (h/t Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc.). It could feature his own battle against Reigns, with appearances leading up to the pay-per-view to set up the match.
Despite his successful acting career, the 49-year-old has made sporadic appearances on WWE in recent years and could be back before the end of 2021.
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WWE SmackDown Commentator Pat McAfee Announces He's Tested Positive for Covid-19
Aug 25, 2021
WWE commentator Pat McAfee announced on Wednesday he has tested positive for COVID-19.
McAfee, who noted he is fully vaccinated, wrote on Twitter that his at-home test came back positive:
Fully Vax’d.
Very Positive.
Aht Indefinitely.
It’s miserable but thankful that my wife and the boys at the office all took tests and they are all negative..
This is obviously a sign from the universe, probably telling me that I stink & to stay home for a while.
McAfee did host his daily radio show on Wednesday, but he was able to do so from his own home.
The former Indianapolis Colts punter has been working as a commentator for WWE since 2018. He began his tenure with the wrestling promotion as a preshow analyst for NXT Takeover events.
McAfee briefly worked as a wrestler on NXT in 2020. He lost to Adam Cole in a singles match at NXT Takeover XXX in August. The two-time Pro Bowler led the Kings of NXT stable against the Undisputed Era at NXT WarGames in December.
The Undisputed Era won the bout when Kyle O'Reilly pinned Oney Lorcan after hitting a diving knee drop off the top rope onto a chair that was covering Lorcan's body.
Since April 16, McAfee has been partnered with Michael Cole as the commentary team on Friday Night SmackDown.
It's unclear how long McAfee might be off WWE television after testing positive.
