Did WWE fumble Tatum Paxley's NXT Women's Championship reign?

Overview

• Tatum Paxley's NXT Women's Championship reign lasted for just 24 days, which is officially the shortest in the history of the promotion
• On NXT's Gold Rush 2025, The Culling's Izzi Dame and Co. turned their back against Tatum, which cost her the title
• Paxley's reign was short-lived, and Jacy Jayne managed to reclaim the title

Tatum Paxley's NXT Women's Championship reign lasted for just 24 days, which is officially the shortest in the history of the promotion. On NXT's Gold Rush 2025, The Culling's Izzi Dame and Co. turned their back against Tatum, which cost her the title. Paxley's reign was short-lived, and Jacy Jayne managed to reclaim the title.

Before becoming the NXT Women's Champion at Halloween Havoc 2025, Tatum had never featured in a singles match at PLE, which was already a sign of how bad her booking was. The star wrestler, however, benefited by joining the Culling, as she got thr much-needed better screen time and leverage to win the title.

All of it was washed away due to a poor booking. Paxley won the NXT Women's title at Gold Rush after beating Jacy Jayne. Her only successful defense after that was against Lola Vice on NXT. As per Kayfabe and story, Tatum decided to defend the title on her terms and did not listen to The Culling.

Did WWE not have plans for a long title run for Tatum Paxley?

Tatum did not even give a shot at the title to Izzi, which probably annoyed the latter. In fact, at Halloween Havoc, it seemed as if Dame was about to cost Paxley, but accidentally hit Jayne with the belt and indirectly helped Lyra Valkyria's best friend to claim the biggest win of her career, so far.

It seemed as if the creative team wanted to move away way too quickly from her title reign, as they pushed forward the betrayal story from the Culling. If there was a genuine plan for Paxley's title run, the Culling's turn would have taken place later or wouldn't have affected her much.