WWE's Tatum Paxley's Dad Thought She Was Getting 'Scammed' When She Tried Out

Breakout WWE star Tatum Paxley's quick rise to fame has come with a bit of a learning curve for her parents.

"I've had to introduce them to the world completely," Paxley, 30, exclusively told Us. "You can't imagine the phone call to my dad, who had never heard me mention pro wrestling in my life. I said, ‘Hey, WWE called and they're paying for my hotel room in Vegas. I'm gonna go tryout.' He went, ‘The hell you are! You're getting scammed and I'm never going to see you again.'"

She continued, "He had to trust me, and thank God he did."

Now, with a tag team title victory on her resume and a spot in the upcoming women's WarGames match on the horizon, Paxley said her parents are "such big fans."

"They're trying to keep track of all the storylines," Paxley gushed. "They'll call me and they'll be like, ‘What's gonna happen?' I'm like, ‘You just gotta watch!' They're so excited and they're just such big supporters now."

Paxley will team with Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, Stephanie Vaquer and Bayley at WarGames on Saturday, November 18, going up against Jade Cargill, Michin and Fatal Influence.

As Paxley explains it, she probably wouldn't be wrestling if it wasn't for Bliss.

"I was watching YouTube videos of her about two years before I ended up coming to WWE, which is when my interest was piqued about pro wrestling," she told Us. "Not that I could have ever seen myself coming to WWE. When you're sad at home in Texas at your retail job, you don't really think that's possible. But I remember watching [Bliss] and she was the one that really showed there's more to pro wrestling than the in-ring work."

Paxley continued, "There's character, there's emotion, there's feelings, there's a look, there's aesthetic. I've always been somebody that has struggled showing my personality and finding a style and look. It was somewhere deep in me, but I always just felt like a blank page."

Over time, Paxley theorized that wrestling "might be something that actually helps me figure out who I am."

"Now I feel so comfortable and confident in myself and I was not," Paxley reflected. "So watching Alexa Bliss do all that work, it really was just like, ‘Wow! I think this might be something I can do. Not only did I think I could be good at it, I thought it could actually help me as a person just be comfortable in my own skin."

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This story was originally published November 14, 2026 at 7:30 AM.