Will Throwing in the Towel Be the Breaking Point Between NXT’s Zaria and Sol Ruca?

For weeks now, Zaria and Sol Ruca haven’t exactly been on the same page. Before Halloween Havoc, Ruca suffered an injury, leading her to be unable to compete at the premium live event. She was due to defend her NXT Women’s North American Championship against Blake Monroe, but that didn’t happen. However, Zaria defended the title in her place, which led to Monroe becoming champion.

She announced she would defend the title at NXT Gold Rush, marking her first championship defense. With Ruca medically cleared, she got her rematch at Madison Square Garden. The match was good, but the ending was very unexpected. With Ruca in a submission hold, Zaria voluntarily threw in the towel for her friend. Afterwards, the two argued backstage over what had just happened. Will the move be looked at as a protective one, or will it be the beginning of the duo’s downfall? 

Zaria was Looking Out for Her Friend

For nearly a year now, Zaria and Ruca have been tag team partners. They know what each other is good at, not good at, and how they’re feeling at any given moment. It’s clear they are successful because of their ability to communicate with each other. Ruca just came off of a leg injury. She probably wasn’t at one hundred percent even though she was medically cleared. That’s why Zaria threw in the towel for her. It wasn’t a malicious move, like Izzi Dame to Tatum Paxley.

No!

Not like this!

Zaria just thew in the towel for Sol Ruca, Blake Monroe is still the Women’s North American Champion… 😔 pic.twitter.com/UW8MXJzKCd

— WWE (@WWE) November 19, 2025

A breakup doesn’t seem to be on the horizon because of Ruca’s injury. If the match would’ve gone longer, Monroe would’ve potentially done some major damage to her knee. There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why Zaria threw in the towel. Avoiding serious injury is much more important than a championship win in the long run. 

The Towel Throw Already Claimed a Faction 

The original Chase University was a faction that had everything going for them at one point. But money issues rocked the university, and Andre Chase lost everything when he lost to Ridge Holland at Halloween Havoc last year. The members of the group threw in the towel not once, but twice.

Duke Hudson did it for Chase, and Chase himself did it for Thea Hail. Doing so cost them some major victories and exposed some awful truths about the university and how it was run. The last time towel throws were seen, the aftermath was terrible. Zaria and Ruca left Gold Rush on not-so-good terms. Ruca didn’t decide the result of the match; her partner did without consulting her. That is a major misstep for a once-strong partnership. If Zaria really doesn’t think Ruca can win, a breakup could be coming real soon. 

What Will Be the Resolution Between Them? 

Right now, Zaria and Ruca both have a lot of questions for each other. Zaria probably wants to know why Ruca agreed to the match right after being cleared to wrestle. Ruca wants to understand why Zaria threw in the towel, letting the match be decided by factors other than her and Monroe. They’ll probably address it either next week or after Gold Rush is over. Doing so could either go really well or really badly.

Their talk could help them understand where each other is coming from, leading to their partnership surviving another day. But it could also escalate into an argument and a breakup of their duo. Throwing in the towel was one of the many factors that led to the original Chase University to go their separate ways. Unless they come to a complete understanding, that will happen between Zaria and Sol Ruca. 

This isn’t good. 😬

Things aren’t going so well between @ZariaWWE_ and @SolRucaWWE right now…. pic.twitter.com/VgMYUtDzX7

— WWE (@WWE) November 19, 2025