WWE champion Alexa Bliss opens up on her struggle with anorexia

Published Jan. 25, 2017 9:20 a.m. ET

Nick Schwartz

Alexa Bliss, WWE's smallest female competitor, has quickly become one of the biggest stars in the women's division and has been the SmackDown Women's Champion for the last 50 days since defeating Becky Lynch at TLC.

In her appearances on Talking Smack over the last few months, Bliss has talked about her upbringing as a competitor and athlete long before becoming a wrester. Bliss was a multisport athlete as a child, went on to become a cheerleader at the University of Akron and eventually turned to bodybuilding before making her way to NXT in 2013.

https://twitter.com/alexabliss_wwe/status/626531815826845696

In an interview with the Akron Beacon-Journal before Tuesday night's show in her home state of Ohio, Bliss revealed that she suffered from anorexia multiple times in her life, and while in college she dropped 40 pounds in less than two months.

Via Ohio.com:

"I had gone through it first in high school. Then when I joined college cheer, we had a very strict workout regimen that we had to follow. And I had just recovered from the first eating disorder. We had to sign in to do cardio, BOD PODs [a measurement of muscle vs. fat in the body], the things athletes should do. But it retriggered everything for me. I went from 120 pounds to 80 pounds in about six weeks.

That was the main reason I left Akron. It was after a football game. I was still in my uniform. I told my coach that I needed to go home and get help. I checked into Nationwide Children’s Hospital [in Columbus] and the doctors were amazing and helped me get through it all. It was a tough time but it also made me the person I am today."