In an interview with USA Today’s “For The Win” section, WWE SmackDown superstar Alexa Bliss discussed her early days as part of the WWE NXT roster, how she came up with her ring name, being called up to the main roster and more.

Highlights of the interview are below:

On her early days in WWE NXT and coming up with the Alexa Bliss ring-name: “It was one of the names that I pitched. At the time, I was playing around with being a Southern Belle-type character in NXT and always say, Bless Your Heart.’ For a Southern woman to say that, it was kind of in an insulting tone. It ended up more like, ‘Bliss Your Heart.’ It became a play on words and not meaning a good thing, and there are so many ways to take it, ‘Blissed Off’ and ‘Bliss Slap.’ I know if it got approved, it would be so much fun to play with.”

On being called up to the WWE main roster: “Obviously, it’s working in front of a bigger crowd, but the bigger adjustment has probably been switching schedules. We kept a very busy schedule in NXT, but it was more group oriented. You just assume everyone in NXT is going everywhere. Now everyone gets their own schedule with where to be on what day. I like it better. It’s a lot easier to work on my own schedule in when I’m working out, when I’m getting in the ring and training on off days. We also do more live television. It’s a little nerve-wracking but also exciting. It makes me think more about what are the things I can apply in the ring, but I am comfortable without having a safety net.”

The interview is available in full at this link.