Botch causes inadvertant title change on WWE NXT
A botch led to a new champion on NXT.
Thea Hail walked away with the Women’s North American title on Tuesday, with Bryan Alvarez reporting it was not planned and only happened due to a botched spot. The finish had Hail hit a springboard senton off the middle rope on Blake Monroe, then going for a cover. The referee counted three, with Monroe getting her shoulder up right after the referee counted to three. After a bit of confusion and Monroe’s music played, Hail’s music then started and she was announced the winner.
When the show returned from commercial break, a replay was shown with announcers affirming Monroe didn’t get her shoulder up until after three. She had held the title for 51 days, defeating Zaria at NXT Halloween Havoc. Zaria was a substitute for Sol Ruca, who in storyline was injured and unable to compete in the scheduled title match.
On last week’s NXT, Monroe insisted on holding an open challenge for her title, causing many of the NXT talent to come out and accept. But it was Hail who attacked from behind with a kimura, leading Monroe to tap out. Despite this, the bell never rang and Monroe escaped with her title. Later in the show, Ava made a title match for next week.
Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.