Tatum Paxley Discusses WWE Main Roster Mentor

Tatum Paxley is living out a full-circle experience in WWE. Not only was the former powerlifter a recent WWE Women's Tag Team Champion, but her partner is the very woman who inspired her to pursue pro wrestling in the first place.

During a recent interview with "No Holds Barred," Paxley spoke glowingly about her time learning under, and now partnering with, that co-champion, Alexa Bliss.

"Alexa Bliss has been a huge inspiration for me," Paxley said. "She was the one that got me interested in pro wrestling and the one that kind of opened my eyes to seeing their story to be told here. She was a huge inspiration, so to be working alongside her now, there's no word for it. It's insane."

Paxley and Bliss first crossed paths in 2025 as the former challenged the latter and Charlotte Flair for the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles at "WWE NXT Homecoming." Less than a year later, Paxley officially aligned with Bliss and Flair during her WWE main roster debut. Now, she considers both of them major mentors, helping her adjust to the new life and demands as a "WWE SmackDown" roster member.

"I have the best people that have kind of taken me under their wing," Paxley said. "Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss. So even though two months is a pretty short time, I just feel like I've been there a lot longer, I just feel like that's where I was meant to be. I'm with the right people."

Paxley and Bliss captured the Women's Tag Team Championships earlier this month by defeating Fatal Influence's Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid on WWE's blue brand.

At the start of her WWE career, Paxley leaned into her powerlifting background as a member of Diamond Mine, a faction filled with multiple strong performers. Once WWE allowed her to bring her own character vision to life, however, she took on a much darker appearance, one that she's now carried forth to the main roster.

"They were hearing me like, 'Okay, you want to be this dark stalker character.' It's what I kept asking to present. I always knew it's what I wanted. It's how I visualized myself. But at the time, I didn't really know how to present it ... So we started off with this, I hate to say 'strong' gimmick because I was very strong, but I just knew that wasn't it. That wasn't my personality. That wasn't me to my core," Paxley said.

"Something I struggled with my whole life was presenting who I really am. WWE gave me the platform to actually find myself because it's also, hey, if you don't show us who you are times one million, see you [bye]. You got it or you don't, so I knew I had to really find that. I was able to really dig deep and start showing these weird sides of myself."

To illustrate her successful character evolution, Paxley pointed out that she initially introduced herself to the WWE Universe with her natural brown hair showing. That later changed when the former NXT Women's North American Champion dyed her locks black. Her heavy eyeliner and dark eyeshadow remained intact, but it wasn't until she embraced the hair dye bottle that Paxley believes her self-confidence and relationship with the fans truly blossomed.

Paxley's current presentation, while different in hair color, is otherwise similar to one that Bliss donned in 2020 and 2021. In her case, Bliss portrayed a twisted, otherworldly character that worked alongside Bray Wyatt, and, like Paxley, enjoyed playing with dolls.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "No Holds Barred" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.