Tatum Paxley is the new NXT Women’s Champion after defeating Jacy Jayne at Saturday’s Halloween Havoc event.
The victory came after interference from members of both Paxley’s faction, The Culling, and Jayne’s group, Fatal Influence, who had returned to ringside.
Izzi Dame of The Culling entered the ring with the championship belt. After Paxley moved, Dame appeared to target Jayne instead. Jayne leveled Dame with a forearm, but the distraction allowed Paxley to hit the Cemetery Drive for the pinfall.
The referee had ejected both factions from ringside earlier in the match after a brawl. Fatal Influence’s Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid, along with The Culling’s Shawn Spears, Niko Vance, and Dame, were all sent to the back.
Prior to the finish, Jayne hit a super neckbreaker from the top rope, but Spears put Paxley’s foot on the bottom rope to break the pin. Paxley also hit a 450 splash for a two-count.
During the match, Jayne catapulted Paxley into the exposed steel struts under the ring.
This was Jayne’s fifth title defense. Paxley earned the match by winning a 20-woman battle royal.
This is Paxley’s first championship win since signing with WWE.
Paxley, who trained at the WWE Performance Center, debuted on the February 15, 2022, episode of NXT Level Up. She spent her early NXT career teamed with Ivy Nile, including an unsuccessful entry in the women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
In late 2023, Paxley began a lengthy storyline as a stalker of then-NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria. She later joined The Culling faction after being recruited by Izzi Dame.
Paxley has had several unsuccessful title challenges, including for the NXT Women’s North American Championship, the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship, and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.
