Tatum Paxley Is WWE’s Next Big Women’s Star

WWE

This year alone, we have seen a number of new faces make the move up from NXT to the WWE main roster to varying degrees of success.

The latest name joined the SmackDown women’s roster coming out of SummerSlam 2026, when Alexa Bliss would return to aid Charlotte Flair against Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab with former NXT Women’s Champion Tatum Paxley by her side.

Coming off a successful run in NXT, Tatum Paxley is set to make her official main roster in-ring debut tonight against Michin, which could be the start of a long legacy for Tatum.

Here is why Tatum Paxley is WWE’s next big women’s star.

Finding Her Character

Coming in with a cheerleading and powerlifting background, 24 year old Natalie Holland signed with WWE in August 2021 as part of a class of Performance Center recruits which included other women’s stars such as Nikkita Lyons and Maxxine Dupri.

It wouldn’t be until February 2022 when Holland, now under the ring name Tatum Paxley, would compete in her first match, teaming with Ivy Nile on the February 15 episode of NXT Level Up against Fallon Henley and Kiana James.

Tatum would team with Ivy Nile for over a year after her initial debut until their break up in March 2023, though Tatum wouldn’t become a regular on NXT until November of that year.

In the meantime, Tatum had finally started branching out her character work, which she has previously spoken about in interviews, with her slowly finding the unhinged gothic version of Paxley we see today.

Alliance With Lyra Valkyria

Tatum wouldn’t really get frequent TV time on NXT until November 2023, when she appeared backstage with then-NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria, where she would ‘stalk’ the champion.

Lyra and Tatum’s relationship continued to blossom, with their perfect dynamic taking Tatum from the sporadically featured lower card woman to a fan favourite in NXT.

Tatum and Lyra would unsuccessfully challenge the Kabuki Warriors for the Women’s Tag Team Championship at NXT Roadblock in 2024, with Lyra then moving up to the main roster following WrestleMania 40, leaving Tatum alone once again.

There is also a conspiracy theory that Tatum turned heel on Lyra during this time, but rest assured any footage you see of that is AI generated.

Reaching The Top In The Culling

After another year of various storylines and failed title shots against Roxanne Perez, Tatum would find her next friend in the form of Izzi Dame, who recruited her to be part of the Culling with herself, Shawn Spears and Niko Vance.

Tatum’s time in the Culling, while met with some scepticism from fans when she first joined, led to her finally reaching the mountain top when she upset Jacy Jayne to become NXT Women’s Champion at Halloween Havoc 2025.

Tatum’s reign would only last for three weeks however, as Jacy would regain the title at NXT Gold Rush after Dame turned on Tatum to cost her the title.

After Izzi Dame won the NXT Women’s North American Championship, she would go on to drop the title to Paxley at NXT Vengeance Day to end their rivalry, with Tatum holding the title until her loss to Zaria prior to her call up.

The Future

Tatum’s over four year journey in NXT took her from being a very vanilla powerlifter with no real connection to the fans to one of the most beloved women in the brand’s recent history, with her being only the second woman to hold both the NXT Women’s and NXT Women’s North American Championships.

Tatum’s main roster success is immediately looking promising, with her being paired up with two of the division’s most popular stars, reportedly at the request of Charlotte herself, meaning she will likely be featured strongly.

Tatum will become an almost instant fan favourite on the main roster, as she no longer has to find herself, the whole world already knows who Tatum Paxley is, and if you don’t you’re about to find out.

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