Alexa Bliss On Being Open About Her Eating Disorder, Coming Close To Dying, WrestleMania 33 (Videos)
Above is video from this week's "Off The Top Rope" segment on ESPN SportsCenter with Jonathan Coachman looking back at this week's WWE RAW and SmackDown shows.
In the videos below, Coach is joined by now two-time SmackDown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss. In regards to being the champion, Bliss said she's always known she deserved to be champion. She said the women on SmackDown have dominated the WWE women's division over and over again, and their whole division is on fire. Bliss said nothing else can compare to the blue brand. Bliss gave praise to WWE's Sara Amato (Sara Del Rey) for helping her grow over the past 3.5 years. Bliss told Sara on her first day that she had no idea what she was doing, and needed help. Sara told her it's a sprint, not a marathon. Bliss added that she owes so much to Sara, who helped her in so many ways. She also mentioned watching WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus growing up and looked up to her. Bliss said she's tried to model some of her styles after Trish.
Coach brought up how Bliss has been very open about a life-threatening eating disorder she overcame. Bliss said when she was diagnosed, she was told by doctors that she was 24 hours away from dying. She was hospitalized and wasn't allowed to fall asleep because they feared she would go into cardiac arrest. Bliss went through two episodes before fighting through it. She said, "That's kind of why I've really been open about it because I remember looking through magazines and watching TV, wondering why I can't look like those girls. Like, 'What's wrong with me, why cant I look like that?' I want to be that person that shows it's okay. I'm 5 foot, I've got a thick body, I love it. I'm curvy, I'm strong. I would trade that for being the 80 pounds that I was and being afraid if I was going to wake up the next morning. Like Sara says, it's not a sprint – it's a marathon. It's a day by day process. You have to know your life means more than a number on a scale."
Regarding WrestleMania 33, Bliss said it's going to be amazing to go into Orlando as SmackDown Women's Champion. She will have family there as they're from the city. She plans on ending 2017 as champion. She also joked about sending the injured Naomi a ticket to come watch as everyone gets to see what a real champion looks like.
Bliss also talks about her bodybuilding career, suffering from back pain the first day she had to run the ropes, participating in several sports when she was younger and more.