This week on NXT, Thea Hail shocked the world when she defeated Blake Monroe and became the NXT Women’s North American Champion. As seen on TV, Hail and Monroe were both surprised and shocked. The officials didn’t ring the bell immediately. It seemed like things didn’t happen the way they were supposed to.
In fact, winning the WWE NXT North American Women’s Championship was not the originally planned finish. The plan going in was for Monroe to retain. She had the wind knocked out of her when Hail came off the ropes and tried to recover to get her shoulder up, but wasn’t able to do it in time.
AND NEW WOMENS NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPION pic.twitter.com/TgfBN6om6G
— Thea Hail (@theahail_wwe) December 17, 2025
What Happened?
Since Hail is young, she likely didn’t realize she needed to give Blake a moment to catch her breath and went right for the pin. The referees have to call pinfalls as if they are legitimate. So, the referee had no choice but to count the three-count. Monroe did try to get her shoulder up, which WWE later used as a storyline point. WWE played Monroe’s music at the finish, then stopped it and played Hail’s music.
Sources indicated that there was a “scramble backstage” during the botched finish and following. The change caused issues, as there were creative plans in place that revolved specifically around Hail not being the Champion. NXT Officials made the necessary changes immediately. The situation led to several people’s creative plans over the next couple of weeks being affected.
Este segmento improvisado entre Thea Hail, Blake Monroe y Jordynne Grace, tras lo sucedido con la coronación de Thea, puede molar para hacer una triple threat entra las tres.
A ver cómo juegan con ello. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/fUtYfrBeMi
— LuigiWrestling (@LuigiWrestling) December 17, 2025
What’s next?
The show featured a segment later in the show where Hail was emotional over the win. Jordynne Grace showed up to congratulate her and said Hail seemed to have figured it out before she did. Monroe then appeared and said that she would get a rematch and win the title back. She blamed the referee and said that he should be fined.
WWE taped two episodes of NXT last night at the WWE Performance Center. A rematch will take place at NXT New Year’s Evil on January 6, 2026. Established on April 6, 2024, the NXT Women’s North American Championship was the first secondary Women’s Championship in the company’s history. At NXT Halloween Havoc, on October 25, Blake Monroe defeated Zaria, who wrestled on behalf of an injured SolRuca, to win the title.
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