Why WWE Reportedly Made the Puzzling Decision to Add Tatum Paxley to SmackDown

The rich got richer this week.

SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis already had the deepest women's roster in WWE, and arguably all of professional wrestling, at his disposal, and on Friday night in Philadelphia, yet another talented superstar made their debut on the Blue Brand.

Former NXT Women's Champion and NXT Women's North American Champion Tatum Paxley closed out the show when she aligned herself with Charlotte Flair and the returning Alexa Bliss, and helped The Queen pick up the victory over Jade Cargill.

I LOVE MY NEW FRIENDS https://t.co/tZDXEayrxv
— Tater (@TatumPaxley) August 8, 2026

The outside interference of B-Fab and Michin were proving to be too much for Charlotte to overcome by herself, but just as her prospects of winning Friday night's main event started to dwindle, "The Fury" blared out across the Xfinity Mobile Arena loudspeakers and Alexa Bliss stepped out onto the main stage.

Her arm was still in a brace due to the steel chair attack of Jade Cargill a few weeks back, but with a twisted look in her eye, Bliss revealed her doll Lilly to the crowd as a distraction. That allowed Paxley to sneak out to the ringside area, climb to the top of the turnbuckle and take out both B-Fab and Michin with a diving crossbody to the outside.

Flair then capitalized by hitting Cargill with a Sister Abigail, a nod to her friend and tag team partner Alexa, and then a top rope Natural Selection to pin the former WWE Women's Champion.

Why add Tatum Paxley to an already loaded SmackDown women's roster?

Many of you probably had the exact same thought that I did after the show went off the air on Friday. Very happy for Tatum, but why is she on SmackDown?

Just from a pure roster depth standpoint, this move makes very little sense. SmackDown, now a two-hour program, has 18 active competitors in the women's division. And that doesn't include WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley, who is expected to miss several months of action after undergoing knee surgery this week.

Over on Monday Night Raw, which is now the longer show, General Manager Adam Pearce has only 13 women total on his roster. The real number, however, is closer to eight with Asuka on extended hiatus, Bayley's contract status uncertain, Nattie primarily working in NXT, Maxxine Dupri now serving as a manager for The Vision and Ivy Nile not being featured on Netflix since February.

Becky Lynch and Stephanie Vaquer returning to the Red Brand last Monday night was a huge boost, but the Raw and SmackDown rosters are still in dire need of a recalibration. Especially when nearly half the active Raw women's roster makes up a majority of the Judgment Day.

The rumored addition of Lola Vice to the main roster will only serve to make the imbalance worse. The former NXT Women's Champion will reportedly join the SmackDown roster, presumably in order to match the travel schedule of her boyfriend Damian Priest.

Despite all of this, Paxley was added to SmackDown. Why? According to the guys over at False Finish, Charlotte Flair requested that Tatum be aligned with Alexa and herself. During a recent interview, The Queen expressed her desire to lead a group and it appears that the creative team is now granting her that opportunity.

Sources indicate to False Finish that Charlotte Flair requested to have Tatum Paxley join her and Alexa Bliss on #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/h52UTO3T5r
— False Finish (@FalseFinishHQ) August 8, 2026

The decision in a vacuum is perfectly fine, but if you'll allow me to use a sports terminology here, there absolutely has to be a corresponding roster move, or moves, in the very near future.

Former NXT Women's North American Champion Blake Monroe was brought up to SmackDown in May, and has yet to even wrestle a match. Former NXT Women's Champion Giulia was beaten in a SummerSlam qualifying match in two-minutes last week due to time restraints, and former TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace hasn't appeared on live television since April.

These ladies are way too talented to keep parked on the bench. Not to mention that if there isn't enough time to feature any of them currently, how is WWE going to find enough time for Paxley and Vice on Friday nights?

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