Tatum Paxley recently appeared on SiriusXM’s The Nikki and Brie Show.

During the interview, Tatum Paxley discusses her journey to the top and becoming the new NXT Women’s Champion. She also gets candid about married life, mental health struggles that come with being a champion, showing her flaws and more.

Tatum Paxley on married life & meeting her husband (11:25-13:03)

Brie Garcia: How’s married life?

Tatum Paxley: You know, it’s so funny. It feels exactly the same as before. It’s just now we’re married. It’s just everything, you know, my husband Randy, he just, we flow so well together. We’re just into the same things and it’s just so smooth and just so peaceful. You know, it’s like everything felt so right, you know, and after like during, before, after the wedding. I just felt like, you know, “This is the man for me.” He takes such good care of me and I look forward to many more years with him. I really do.

Brie Garcia: Oh my gosh. Did you ever think, coming into NXT, you were gonna marry a wrestler?

Tatum Paxley: No. No way. That was bottom of my priority list, you know, and he was actually, he was a part of my tryout. That’s how we met and I just remember when I saw him, there was just something about him that I was like, he’s just so welcoming and I just like, he was so rememberable too and I was like, “There’s just something about this guy. I don’t know what it is, but I just, I feel like I could tell him every secret I ever have and it would be safe with him.” He just has this presence about him that is just so loving and amazing and I think it took us like about a year until we actually started dating each other, and then he ended up being my forever person. It just was wild and my mom, she was like, “Oh my gosh, you’re going to WWE. I think you’re gonna meet your husband there.” I’m like, “Okay, mom.”

Tatum Paxley on being NXT Women’s Champion, showing her flaws & overcoming her thoughts (16:07-18:18)

Nikki Garcia: What do you want the future to be as Tatum as champ?

Tatum Paxley: Yeah, absolutely. So, I think it’s just so cool about really what this title can represent because it’s almost as if it is something different depending on who has it at that time. Sometimes the title can mean like a fighting champion and everybody’s very, you know, confident. They got it, and it just means confidence or sometimes maybe it’s in the hands of a person that, you know, might have different motives. Maybe, you know, they cheated to get it and just kind of represent something different and 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? 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 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, but 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, but 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. We don’t win all the time, but we’re going to try to 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 in getting to hold this title even if it’s for a short time, a long time. I think that’s what that represents.

Tatum Paxley reveals which move she wants to steal (24:57-25:39)

Tatum Paxley: You know, this is one of the first things that comes to mind because I got to do it in my title match against Jacy. 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.

The Nikki & Brie Show hosted by Nikki & Brie Garcia is available anytime on the SiriusXM app. New episodes every Monday and Thursday. Listen to the full episode here.