Javier Bernal may no longer be part of the WWE roster, but the former NXT star walked away from the company with something far more meaningful than a title run—he found love.
During an interview with Scott’s Scoop, Bernal opened up about the emotional rollercoaster of his release and the bond he formed with fellow WWE talent Tatum Paxley, who is now his wife.
Bernal was signed alongside Paxley after both attended a WWE tryout in Las Vegas. That first meeting may have been short, but something clicked between them.
“So me and my wife actually met at the tryout in Las Vegas. We were signed together. Didn’t have very much interaction other than like we saw each other, we said hi and you know congrats and all that. But we were—I felt like we were very drawn to each other.”
Their connection grew stronger throughout the year as they started spending time together outside the ring.
“Later down the line that year, we’d go to concerts together and hang out and stuff like that. And then one day, we were together.”
Today, the couple lives a quiet, grounded life far removed from the chaos of wrestling storylines. Bernal described their low-key lifestyle with their pets—a dog named Gorgeous and a cat named Hansen.
“The thing about us is that we’re both very similar in the sense that we’re kind of boring in a lot of ways. Like, we stay home. Right now, we have the dog that we just got—his name’s Gorgeous—and we have Hansen the cat. And that’s our little family right now.”
Bernal, who describes himself as straight edge, credits the calm lifestyle and shared values for keeping them close.
“I’m straight edge, so I’m already boring enough as it is. She doesn’t drink or do anything either. We just go to work and then come back. That’s kind of who we are as people. We don’t really find trouble—we don’t go looking for trouble.”
Despite being upset over his WWE release—admitting he cried for an hour—Bernal remains grateful for the good that came from his time in the company.
“I’m very blessed to have met my wife in WWE. It’s one of the many reasons I was thankful for my time there.”
Javier Bernal may be entering a new phase outside WWE, but the foundation he built with Tatum Paxley is clearly what matters most to him now.
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What do you think about Bernal and Paxley’s story? Should more WWE couples share their journey like this? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.