Alexa Bliss says her WWE return really was a last-minute decision.
Bliss returned to the ring at the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant in the match. This was her first match in WWE since competing against Bianca Belair for the RAW Women’s Championship at the 2023 Royal Rumble event.
In February, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (via Fightful Select) reported that Bliss’s return at the Royal Rumble was a late decision due to contract negotiation issues. During a new appearance on the Nikki & Brie show, Alexa Bliss shared just how much of a late decision it was.
“I got the call at midnight the night before,” Alexa Bliss said. “Yeah, midnight, the night before. So I got the call [then], and it wasn’t fully decided until like 4 am. And then I get a call at 5. They’re like, ‘Alright, we need you on a plane by 10 am.’”
Bliss says she flew to Cincinnati instead of Indianapolis, where the Royal Rumble took place, so no one would see her.
“Drove in, had to cover up. Got snuck into a back room. There was hair and makeup, but I didn’t get there until 4 [pm]. You guys know how this works; I didn’t get there until 4. We were the first match starting at 6,” she explained.
Alexa Bliss made it to the arena two hours before her match
Alexa Bliss said that she was well-hidden, and no one knew she would be there until they saw her. She also shared a humorous exchange about how she had to pack — and tell her husband about her new itinerary.
“So I got there at 4, I have someone in there that’s ready to do my hair. I haven’t slept, because this was an all-night process of figuring out [if I was returning or not]. I hadn’t slept or eaten, I was deliriously tired,” Alexa explained. “I’m in my house at 3 am with a phone light because I’m not trying to wake up the baby. Because my gear is in there, like next to her closet.
“I’m looking through old gear, thinking ‘What would still fit me?’ And I told Ryan [Cabrera, her husband], ‘Hey, I think I’m going to [the Royal] Rumble.’ And he’s like, ‘Huh?’ I go, ‘Do you wanna come?’ He’s like, ‘I’m so tired, what?’ So I said, ‘Nevermind…’ and I just go and get on a plane, go and just… no one knew I was there, not even the girls,” she added. “[They] didn’t know I was there until I was in Gorilla. No one, no one knew I was there.”
Alexa Bliss entered the Royal Rumble match as the 21st entrant, replacing Shotzi in the lineup. Shotzi’s Royal Rumble weekend was also a whirlwind, as she recently shared when she got called to fly to Indianapolis, and how she found out Bliss was replacing her.
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