AEW’s Julia Hart says Alexa Bliss ‘definitely was a big influence’
In her AEW career, Julia Hart has taken some inspiration from WWE star Alexa Bliss.
Hart spoke with ITR Wrestling and addressed the character transformation she went through when she went from playing a cheerleader to the darker persona she has today. It was a necessary shift for Hart as she grew into her wrestling career and left her cheerleading past behind.
“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,” Hart said. “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.”
Growing up, Hart was a big fan of Bliss and has looked to her character for inspiration without directly imitating her.
“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,” Hart said. “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.”
Hart credited her former House of Black teammates — Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews & Brody King — and Tony Khan for guiding her character shift and helping her get more television time.
“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,” she said. “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.”
Hart began her AEW career in 2021 and soon joined The Varsity Blondes as a cheerleader. A run-in with Black later that year led to the darker transformation and eventual alignment with House of Black. She has since risen through the women’s division, which ultimately led to the formation of Triangle of Madness with Thekla & Skye Blue.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.