Zaria & Tatum Paxley just tried to steal match of the weekend

Considering how she came in, I thought Zaria would have been near the top of the mountain already. But she’s taken the scenic route on her run in WWE, only just recently winning the North American championship. She took it from the plucky Tatum Paxley, herself on a wild ride through the developmental promotion. When they got together for the second bout at tonight’s (Sun., June 28, 2026) Great American Bash premium live event on The CW, I wasn’t expecting all that much. They absolutely tore the house down with pure effort and intensity. The big sequence to point out here, with Paxley blitzing the champion and setting up what sure looked like the finish to me: HOW did Zaria kick out?!?! 🫢 pic.twitter.com/5gMqrc1TiT — WWE (@WWE) June 28, 2026 Not long after, Zaria returned fire with another big spear and an F-5 that also sure looked like the finish but got a two count and a “holy shit” chant from the PC faithful. The actual finish: The champ RETAINS 👏 Zaria is STILL NXT Women's