The August 7 edition of WWE SmackDown ended with Jade Cargill taking on Charlotte Flair in a WrestleMania rematch. However, nobody expected the cyclone that is Tatum Paxley to invade the main roster. Fans also saw Alexa Bliss once again, and she had Lily in tow.
Charlotte Flair and Jade Cargill put on the best match they could and fans were behind everything they did in the ring. There were counters for counters and fans Wooed after every chop from Flair. The Queen was in rare form as she brought everything she could, but Cargill was there, stepping up to keep the fight going.
Fans saw plenty of signature moves and near-falls. Charlotte Flair eventually got a Figure 8 locked in, but B-Fan and Michin’s distraction broke that up. Then Alexa Bliss came out with an arm brace and Lily in her hand.
Suddenly, the lights went down and when they came back, Tatum Paxley was on the top rope, where she nailed a five on the Baddies. Then Charlotte Flair nailed a Sister Abigail DDT and a Natural Selection off the top rope for the win.
As a fan-favorite in NXT, Tatum Paxley is used to getting love in Orlando. When word broke about her call-up, fans tuned in to see the moment live.
Tatum Paxley is a former NXT Women’s Champion and NXT Women’s North American Champion. She’s also one of the few women in NXT history to have held both major singles titles in the women’s division. Now that she’s on the main roster, only time will tell if she will add to those accolades.
Tatum Paxley took a pretty unusual path to WWE, even though she admitted it was a struggle at times. Before wrestling, she spent years in competitive cheerleading and about five years as a powerlifter. During that stint, she became a two-time USA Powerlifting champion in 2019 and 2021.
The former NXT Women’s Champion’s road to pro wrestling came while she was working as a manager at a supplement store, when she met a wrestler who introduced her to the business. That led to a WWE tryout in Las Vegas just two weeks later. Of course, Tatum Paxley impressed WWE and signed with the company in August 2021, with no prior wrestling experience. Thanks to the WWE Performance Center, we have the Tatum Paxley that fans know today.
What’s your take on Tatum Paxley’s debut on WWE SmackDown? Do you feel good about how she was presented? Let us know what you think in the comments section!
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