10 Embarrassing NXT-Era Creative Failures You Totally Forgot About

7. Alexa Bliss: Pixie Cheerleader

Becky Lynch
WWE

Renee Young probably didn't mean to be so patronising when she referred to Alexa Bliss as "oh...like a little fairy" as she made her first steps onto the NXT stage in 2014, but felt forced to qualify it with an "...I love her", particularly with commentator Rich Brennan forced to add that she was "a graduate from The University of Bliss with a Major in Bedazzling".

The skeleton of her second entrance theme is just about the only thing about that gimmick that remains intact to this day.

A pixie dust-chucking cheerleader had a shelf life, not least with a superlative heel laying dormant underneath. Bliss did plenty with the little she was given by the creative team at the time, but that spoke loudest to her necessary resilience at such a young age. And that presumably spoke to management about her potential and will to (eventually) win.

A heel turn to join up with then-Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy in 2015 wasn't just a escape hatch from the misplaced pixie - it was richly rewarded and almost immediately vindicated.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.