Tatum Paxley has made no secret of how meaningful her WWE NXT association with Lyra Valkyria was, and she is now hopeful the two friends and former on-screen partners can eventually cross paths again under very different circumstances.
Speaking on Off The Ropes, Paxley discussed the version of Valkyria currently appearing on Monday Night Raw. Paxley said she always believed there was another side to Valkyria’s personality and would love the opportunity to spend time with, and potentially interact with, this newer incarnation of her former NXT counterpart.
“I knew she had it in her,” Paxley said. “That’s exactly why it was her all along. That’s why she had my heart. I just knew that she had this little quirk to her. I just knew it, okay? I love every second of it.”
The response is notable because the Paxley-Valkyria relationship was one of the more emotionally distinct pairings to emerge from NXT in recent years. Their bond was not presented as a simple alliance built around mutual competitive interests. Instead, it developed through Paxley’s intense attachment to Valkyria, giving the story a tone that was at times heartfelt, uncomfortable, unpredictable, and deeply personal.
For more background on this topic, read Tatum Paxley Reveals Suzu Suzuki Inspired Her Cemetery Drive Finisher.
That history gives Paxley’s interest in Valkyria’s current direction additional weight. Rather than framing the new Raw version of Valkyria as unrecognizable, Paxley sees traits she believes were there all along. She described wanting an extended chance to reconnect with her.
“I would love to have a long playdate with this Lyra Valkyria and get to know her,” Paxley said. “Because I just feel like it was in her this whole time, and I couldn’t get it out. But now that it’s out there, oh my gosh, I would love to just have a long sit-down with her.”
A Defining NXT Relationship
For Paxley, the storyline was more than a memorable chapter of NXT television. She said it was foundational to the position she has reached in WWE. That is a significant assessment from a performer who has continued to evolve well beyond the original dynamic, developing her own identity while moving from NXT to the main roster.
Valkyria and Paxley were closely linked during their time in NXT, with the relationship moving through multiple emotional turns. Their connection did not remain static, and the changing nature of their bond gave both performers material that went beyond a conventional friendship or rivalry. Even after Valkyria’s path took her away from NXT, the shared history remained a meaningful part of Paxley’s character journey.
Paxley specifically recalled a later moment when Valkyria returned to NXT to support her. The occasion followed Paxley’s Battle Royal victory, which earned her the opportunity to face Jacy Jayne on the road to the title. Paxley called the Battle Royal one of her first major wins and explained that the prospect of Valkyria appearing after a lengthy period without the pair being together had an immediate emotional effect on her.
“I won the Battle Royal to go against Jacy Jayne to get to the title and it was one of my first big wins of my career,” Paxley said. “We hadn’t seen Tatum and Lyra together for a while and I’m not even kidding you, when they told me Lyra was coming back for that episode, I cried.”
That reaction illustrates why the moment resonated beyond the immediate result. In wrestling, a return can be designed to create surprise, deliver a dramatic save, or shift the momentum of a rivalry. In this case, Valkyria’s appearance also carried the accumulated emotional history of two characters who had once been inseparable on NXT programming.
Paxley said simply envisioning Valkyria running out after her win was enough to “warm” her heart. The return was not merely an appearance from a familiar face; it represented the continuation of a story that had helped establish Paxley in front of the WWE audience.
Valkyria’s Return Meant More Than a Save
Paxley revealed that she learned about the plan directly from Valkyria. The exchange, as Paxley remembered it, was brief, but it made the planned reunion even more personal. Valkyria asked her what she was doing on Tuesday before indicating that she expected to come see her. Paxley said she was immediately overjoyed and began tearing up.
“I owe so much of my career and where I am right now to that storyline that I had with her,” Paxley said. “I’m even getting goosebumps just talking about it and talking about her.”
That sense of appreciation is central to Paxley’s recollection of the angle. Wrestling stories can have a major effect on how audiences understand a performer, especially when the character work provides room to display vulnerability, intensity, humor, or a more unusual side of a wrestler’s presentation. Paxley’s work with Valkyria provided exactly that kind of platform.
It also gave Paxley an emotional reference point that has continued to matter as her career has advanced. Her comments make clear that she does not view the NXT run as an isolated period that ended once the two performers were no longer regularly paired. She sees it as a key part of the route that brought her to her current role on WWE’s main roster.
The fact that Paxley still speaks about the reunion with such enthusiasm underscores the impact of the connection. “It was beautiful, beautiful,” she said while looking back on Valkyria coming to NXT to support her.
Where Paxley Stands Now
Paxley’s career has moved into a new phase since those NXT events. She is now on the main roster and currently holds the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship alongside Alexa Bliss. The championship position reflects a major step forward for Paxley, whose path has included distinctive character work, high-stakes NXT moments, and the ability to make unconventional relationships feel important to the audience.
Her current partnership with Bliss is naturally a different situation from her connection with Valkyria. The two relationships occupy different points in Paxley’s WWE story, and there is no indication that a reunion with Valkyria has been announced or scheduled. Still, Paxley’s comments leave little doubt that she would be eager to explore what such an encounter could look like.
There is obvious story potential in the contrast between their history and Valkyria’s present-day personality. Paxley remembers someone she felt always had a hidden “quirk” waiting to surface. If the two do meet again on WWE television, that shared past could give the interaction an immediate layer of familiarity. Paxley would not be meeting a stranger; she would be encountering someone she believes she understood before others did.
At the same time, their past is complicated enough that any future interaction would not need to be a straightforward reunion. Their NXT history featured ups and downs, and Paxley’s intense emotional investment in Valkyria was a defining part of the relationship. A renewed connection could invite warmth and nostalgia, but it could just as easily create tension depending on how both women have changed since they last stood together in NXT.
An Open Door for a Future Encounter
For now, Paxley is enjoying Valkyria’s current work from afar while continuing to build momentum as one-half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Her remarks were not a confirmation of an imminent WWE angle, but they did provide a clear indication of her creative interest in revisiting one of the most important relationships of her career.
More importantly, Paxley’s reflections highlight the personal significance of the NXT storyline. Her Battle Royal win, the path toward Jacy Jayne, and Valkyria’s return all remain vivid memories because they represented meaningful milestones in Paxley’s growth. She was not only celebrating a planned surprise or a dramatic run-in. She was looking back at a period that she believes helped make her into the WWE performer she is today.
Whether a future meeting happens on Raw, NXT, or elsewhere in WWE, Paxley has made her position clear: she would welcome time with this new version of Lyra Valkyria. And given how strongly she credits their earlier work together, any eventual reunion would arrive with a built-in emotional foundation that few WWE pairings can match.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.