Report: WWE Had Very Little Planned For Alexa Bliss' Return
Bliss' wedding this month apparently had little to do with her lack of activity.
Stop us if you've heard this one before: After filming and airing a series of vignettes touting Alexa Bliss' return to Raw, WWE apparently did not have much in terms of creative plans for the former women's champion to do, including a lack of options for WrestleMania 38.
Fightful Select reports that despite the therapy sessions filmed and Alexa's involvement in the women's Elimination Chamber match in February, WWE had "no substantial creative direction for Bliss. Several wrestlers and backstage employees at WWE told Fightful that Bliss herself wasn't happy with the lack of creative plans for her after Elimination Chamber and spoke up about this, including to Vince McMahon. In particular, she was frustrated that despite being out of action since September 2021, nothing had been planned for her return, no creative direction given.
The report indicates that Bliss was willing to work WrestleMania despite it apparently being determined before March that she would not be featured at the show or that weekend. (That didn't stop WWE from setting up an "Alexa's Playground" display for fans to cavort in and take pictures -- with a cardboard cutout of Bliss.) Fightful reports that pitches were made to involve Bliss in the Raw Women's Championship match between Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair, though it's unknown whether these rejected pitches came from Alexa or someone in creative.
Perhaps the most damning -- but not surprising -- thing about the report is that WWE's "priority of booking Bliss shifted significantly after the [therapy] vignettes," which means that WWE invested a ton of time to film a series of videos to try to do logical storytelling rather than just have Bliss return, aired the segments, and then threw their hands up at some point.
Bliss wed singer Ryan Cabrera earlier this month and is currently on her honeymoon (and congratulations to the happy couple!), but she's still reportedly listed on Raw's internal depth charts as the #2 babyface on the roster.