Early in his WWE career, Paxley leaned into his powerlifting as a member of Diamond Mine, a group filled with many strong performers. Once WWE allowed him to bring his own character vision to life, he took on a much darker look that has now carried over to the main roster.
“They listened to me like that. That’s what I’ve been asking for over and over again. I always knew it was what I wanted. This is how I imagined myself. But at the time I didn’t really know how to present it… So we started with this, I hate to say ‘strong’ gimmick because I was very strong, but I just knew it wasn’t. It wasn’t my personality. That was not me at my core,” Paxley said.
“One thing I’ve struggled with my whole life is representing who I really am. WWE gave me a platform to really find myself because it’s also, hey, if you don’t show us who you are a million times, we’ll see you (bye). Did you get it or not, so I knew I really had to find it. I was able to really dig in and start showing these weird sides of myself.
To demonstrate the evolution of his successful persona, Paxley noted that he first introduced himself to the WWE Universe by showing off his natural brown hair. That later changed when the former NXT Women’s North American Champion dyed her locks black. Her heavy eyeliner and dark eyeshadow remained intact, but it wasn’t until she hugged a bottle of hair dye that Paxley believed her confidence and relationship with her fans had truly blossomed.
Paxley’s current presentation, while different in hair color, is otherwise similar to the presentation Bliss presented in 2020 and 2021. In her case, Bliss portrayed a twisted, otherworldly character who worked alongside Bray Wyatt and, like Paxley, liked to play with dolls.
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit “No Holds Barred“ with ah/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.
