In the most recent round of releases in World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE removed many different Superstars from the roster, including Javier Bernal, Gigi Dolin, and Shotzi Blackheart.
Behind the scenes, Bernal is the husband of NXT's Tatum Paxley, who was also in a faction called Chemical X alongside Dolin and Shotzi. Needless to say, this was a big blow to all happen at the same time, and it's now being utilized in storylines for NXT.
Paxley, who has struggled in kayfabe to make friends over the years, was pretty much bullied by Ivy Nile to even get into The Diamond Mine, and it continued even into their partnership in a lot of ways. She then became obsessed with Lyra Valkyria, forming a partnership, then a feud, and an eventual reuniting, but Valkyria went off to the main roster. Wendy Choo was also her friend until Choo betrayed her. She was bullied by Fatal Influence and others, and now, lost her latest set of friends, too.
Backstage, after seeing Karmen Petrovic thank Thea Hail for having her back last week, and Hail talking about that's just what friends do, Paxley flipped out, upset over watching a new friendship form while she's lost everything. She wrecked her dollhouse and had a breakdown over how friends just leave you and that eventually, Hail and Petrovic would do the same to each other, too. She then stormed off in tears, and apparently requested a match against Hail.
In that match, Paxley started to gouge Hail's eyes, and got herself disqualified. She wouldn't even stop when the bell rang, and continued going after Hail until multiple officials stepped in and pulled her off while she had a meltdown.
Needless to say, Paxley is now a heel, and it would be interesting to see if anyone does become her new friends down the line.
As far as friends go, one set in NXT that is going strong is Wes Lee, Tyriek Igwe, and Tyson Dupont, who now have a name for their faction.
Igwe and Dupont had previously gone by the TNT name as a tag team for a bit, but over the past few months, this stable didn't have a moniker. Going forward, they'll be known as The High Ryze.
What do you think of Tatum Paxley's heel turn and the faction name The High Ryze? Drop a comment below!