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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Reason for Bliss’ Absence from WWE Programming
Alexa Bliss hasn’t been seen on WWE programming in weeks, but there is reportedly a good reason for her absence.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Bliss and her fiance, musician Ryan Cabrera, are getting married soon, so WWE has held her off television.
After losing a Raw Women’s Championship match to Charlotte Flair at Extreme Rules in September, Bliss disappeared from TV for a few months. She later returned as the subject of several weekly vignettes on Raw.
In the vignettes, Bliss was speaking to a psychiatrist about her change in personality since aligning with The Fiend and the impact her doll, Lilly, had on her.
Eventually, Bliss declared herself cured and entered the Elimination Chamber match to determine the No. 1 contender for the Raw Women’s Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February.
Bliss was one of the final two Superstars remaining, but she was eliminated by Bianca Belair, who went on to beat Becky Lynch for the Raw women’s title at WrestleMania 38.
Alexa was not part of the WrestleMania card and hasn’t been seen since Elimination Chamber, which has led to speculation regarding whether she has fallen out of favor or WWE simply doesn’t have a creative plan in place for her.
Instead, it could be a case of Bliss taking some time off around her wedding, allowing WWE to make preparations for when she is able to make a full-time return to television.
Breakker Set to Be Called Up Soon?
NXT champion Bron Breakker reportedly may not be staying in developmental for too much longer.
According to Meltzer (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), Breakker is receiving some “serious looks” for an eventual main roster call-up, and the plan is for him and Gable Steveson to get “Superstar pushes” when they become part of the main roster.
Breakker has been on the fast track to stardom ever since NXT transitioned to NXT 2.0 in September. Breakker beat L.A. Knight in his first match and has been dominant ever since.
The son of WWE Hall of Famer Rick Steiner and nephew of WWE Hall of Famer Scott Steiner is already a two-time NXT champion despite the fact his career is less than a year old.
He failed to win the NXT title back from Dolph Ziggler at NXT Stand & Deliver last weekend, but he got back at DZ on Raw the night after WrestleMania, beating Ziggler for the championship.
It seems obvious that WWE had him win the title back on Raw so the biggest possible audience could get eyes on the company’s star of the future.
Breakker then defeated Gunther cleanly in a title match on Tuesday, and he has seemingly started a storyline with Joe Gacy.
That means Breakker probably isn’t in line for an immediate call-up, but it would be somewhat surprising if he isn’t on the main roster by the end of the year at the latest.
Bellator’s Loureda Takes Part in WWE Tryout
A well-known MMA fighter was reportedly part of a WWE tryout during WrestleMania week in Dallas.
According to Meltzer (h/t Mukherjee), Bellator’s Valerie Loureda was among the many athletes who were present for WWE’s tryouts.
Loureda is a 23-year-old from Miami, Florida, who has built up a 4-1 professional record since making her Bellator debut in 2019.
Most recently, Loureda scored a split-decision victory over Taylor Turner at Bellator 271 in November.
WWE has seemingly changed its focus in recent months regarding the types of prospects it is pursuing and grooming for an eventual career in the company.
For quite some time, NXT was a haven for veteran independent wrestlers, but when many of them failed to enjoy the same success on the main roster as they did in NXT, a change was made.
Once NXT transitioned to NXT 2.0 in September, WWE started gravitating more toward young athletes, many of whom are in college since new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules allow them to be pursued now.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg reported that 53 athletes took part in the tryout. All of them were athletes and aged 25 or younger.
Loureda undoubtedly has the athletic ability, youth and look WWE is searching for, and the fact that she already has a following could aid in her landing a job with the promotion.
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