Julia Hart grew up watching Alexa Bliss in WWE.
And she couldn’t help but be influenced by what she saw.
During a recent ITR Wrestling interview, the AEW star spoke about being influenced by Bliss, as well as her own transition from cheerleading to pro wrestling and how her character has evolved over the years in AEW.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where she touches on these topics with her thoughts.
On leaving her cheerleading in the past as she grew into her pro wrestling career: “I think it just needed to happen because I was so hung up on cheerleading. That’s all I knew for six years so I was trying too hard to put a cheerleader in wrestling instead of being a wrestler and just happen to be a cheerleader kind of thing. So I think this character shift really helped me become my full self as a wrestler and kind of leave cheer behind and really helped me get to the next level. I started to feel more confident because I wasn’t trying to be a cheerleader, ‘A cheerleader wouldn’t that, a cheerleader wouldn’t do this.’ Okay, but you’re not a cheerleader, you’re a wrestler. It definitely helped me, I needed that character shift.”
On being influenced by Alexa Bliss: “I didn’t look at her career and think, ‘I want to do exactly that.’ She definitely was a big influence and I definitely grew up loving her and watching her. So, I would go back and use her as a reference, but I never directly went like, ‘This is what I was going to do.’ I wanted to be a cheerleader because I was a cheerleader in real life in high school and I had no other character ideas.”
On wanting to be on TV more and her character shift to her current darker persona: “We were then put in a program with Malakai (Black) and I was like I want to be on TV more and I wanted to ask like, ‘How can I make this a story?’ And he was fully on board with me and worked with me and helped me and Brody (King) and Buddy (Matthews) helped as well. And then Tony (Khan) brought it to life. It was just trying to figure out how can I get out of this loop and get to the next level.”
She's back, and she's ready to pierce…
Watch #AEWCollision on TNT!@TheJuliaHart pic.twitter.com/CmwKIkBNqF
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) November 10, 2024
"The Hart always wiiiiiiiins!" Will @TheJuliaHart be victorious against a returning @ThunderRosa22?!
Watch #AEWCollision LIVE on TNT & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/9wy4TA4rqG
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) February 22, 2026
