Alexa Bliss not medically cleared to compete at WWE Money in the Bank

Alexa Bliss has not been medically cleared to compete at WWE Money in the Bank this Sunday, and will be replaced in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

The bad news keeps coming for Alexa Bliss due to her ongoing medical issues. Bliss sustained back-to-back concussions last year and was subsequently pulled from her highly-anticipated match at WWE’s first all women’s pay-per-view, Evolution, against Trish Stratus and Lita.

It took some time for Bliss to be medically cleared to return to the ring, which happened earlier this year at The Royal Rumble. Bliss looked strong and posted videos of her at the WWE Performance Center learning new skills with Mike Quackenbush.

Now it seems old injury is catching up with her. Earlier today the WWE announced via their website that Bliss was not medically cleared and would be pulled from her spot in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. It’s yet to be revealed as to why Bliss hasn’t been cleared for this Sunday’s event, but considering what happened on the “go-home” episode of Raw this past Monday it seemed WWE was preparing for this inevitability.

Raw saw Nikki Cross step in for Bliss during a four-woman match featuring the Raw side of the women’s ladder match participants. Cross appeared more docile than her usual amped-up character and many wondered exactly what was going on with Cross and Bliss. Was this a friendship? Would Cross cause Bliss to lose in the Money in the Bank match and thus start a program with the two? Now it seems like this was just preparation in case Bliss wouldn’t be able to compete.

As it stands, the Money in the Bank match has Naomi, Dana Brooke and Natalya from the Raw side. SmackDown‘s representatives are Bayley, Carmella, Mandy Rose and Ember Moon. It’s a safe bet that Cross will be substituting for Bliss at Money in the Bank. Question is: was Bliss supposed to win this Sunday? If so, how will the match play out from here?

Update: The WWE confirmed on Twitter on Thursday that it will indeed be Cross who will replace Bliss in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match:

The main thing is that hopefully Bliss’ injury isn’t too serious and she can return to action soon.