Alexa Bliss has revealed that her match against Randy Orton in 2021 is one of her favourite matches she’s ever taken part in. The former Women’s Champion is not overly familiar with intergender matches, wrestling almost exclusively women through her decorated career in the WWE.
With Rhea Ripley recently channelling the spirit of Chyna with her current run as part of the Judgement Day, thoughts have turned back to the controversial match between Randy Orton and Alexa Bliss at Fastlane 2021. Rhea Ripley has recently competed against men in the ring, defeating Akira Tozawa on Monday Night Raw in a historic match that established her as a threat, not just to the women’s division, but the men’s too.
While Alexa Bliss does not have the dominating physique that Ripley does, she still managed to be part of a memorable feud with future WWE Hall of Famer Randy Orton during the pandemic era of wrestling. During this era of no fans in attendance, WWE got creative with their characters and storylines, utilising the potential for pre-taping and camera tricks to make some memorable moments for the fans at home.
During this time, Alexa Bliss turned heel and joined up with Bray Wyatt‘s “The Fiend”. Adopting her own supernatural persona, she became an evil witch-type character, with haunting images of black sludge gushing from her mouth not long forgotten by the fans who had the displeasure of seeing it. She also teleported around the ring in the darkness, transformed from a normal girl to a monstrous powerhouse and even utilised fire in her attacks to great effect.
While the Fiend took some time off after being set alight by Orton, Bliss took the reigns in their long-time feud. This led to a match between the two – a first intergender singles match in WWE for decades – at Fastlane 2021, pitting the 14 time world champion against the supernatural Bliss.
The match was barely a match, however. Alexa Bliss vs Randy Orton barely lasted minutes and neither Bliss or Orton hit each other with any moves. Bliss used her powers to force the black goo to flow from Orton’s mouth, much to his disgust, before The Fiend – burnt beyond all recognition from Orton’s earlier actions – hit him with the Sister Abigail. Bliss pinned the Legend Killer (with a very suggestive pin which Orton’s wife was not thrilled with) to win the match.
Speaking to BT Sport, former Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss revealed that her match vs Randy Orton may be the the “favourite match I’ve ever done”. Bliss spoke glowingly about the bout and confirmed that it was “pretty cool” to say she has taken an RKO from the Legend Killer himself.
“Never in a million years did I ever think I’d have a match with Randy Orton, “I have to say, this might be one of my favourite matches that I’ve ever done. This was cool, this was a fun, super fun match. I feel like this has to be one of my favourites. I will tell you, taking an RKO is not fun, but it’s pretty cool to say you’ve taken an RKO before.”
The storyline and Bliss’ connection to The Fiend ended at Wrestlemania 37, when Orton would defeat the Fiend with an RKO after a distraction by Bliss. This potential Bliss vs Wyatt rivarly was never explored however, as he was released later that year and would not return to the company until October 2022, at Extreme Rules.