NXT Women’s Champion Tatum Paxley was a guest on SiriusXM’s The Nikki & Brie Show, where she discussed her journey to the title and what she wants her championship reign to represent.
When asked by Nikki Garcia about her goals as champion, Paxley explained how the title’s meaning can change with its holder. “I feel like something that I’m really enjoying with me specifically, me being on top of my game right now, I’m still heavily flawed. You know, sometimes I’m so high, I’m so low, I’m so unpredictable and I just, I really feel like me having this title kind of shows people that you can overcome your own thoughts because our thoughts are our own worst enemy, right?”
Paxley referenced her on-screen character’s struggles. “And I feel like just, you know, a couple weeks ago on NXT, I cost me and my friends a match and I freak out. I can’t control it. I just get so out of control, but I’m a champion, you know? And we’re used to champions being 100%, you know, on top of their game at all times, but I’m not, you know, that’s who I am. Still, I think that’s what’s so interesting about me being champion is because at the end of the day, I’m still going to be able to overcome those thoughts and those flaws that I have. Still, they’re always going to be there because I’m human and I’m kind of taking it back to what I said earlier, I just want to relate to people and that is relatable.”
She concluded, “We don’t win all the time, but we’re going to try our best to come out on top, and I feel like that’s me holding this title. That’s what that represents and what I want to keep representing is I’m never going to be 100% or perfect, but I’m still going to try my best to be the best I can be”.
Later in the interview, Paxley revealed which move she would love to steal. “You know, this is one of the first things that comes to mind because I got to do it in my title match against Jayci. Her finish is so smooth and so incredible. It’s her rolling on court, a rolling forearm, and it is deadly, and I love it because you can just pop up and do it to anybody out of nowhere, and she uses so much force and she makes it so uniquely hers. I try to do it against her, and I couldn’t put her down, but if she does it to me, I’m out, so it’s such a perfect simple move when she does it so well and so deadly, so right now, I’ll say the rolling encore.”
