This week’s episode of NXT featured a big title change as Thea Hail challenged Blake Monroe for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. The match had an awkward finish as Hail pinned Monroe while Monroe struggled to get her shoulder up, and there was a long pause before the bell rang after the referee counted the pin. Blake Monroe’s music also briefly played after the match and it was reported shortly after that the title change was unplanned.
PWInsider is reporting that Blake Monroe got the wind knocked out of her when Thea Hail came off the ropes and landed on her, so Monroe struggled to get her shoulder up when the referee counted the pin, and she wasn’t able to get it up in time. It was noted that because Thea Hail is so young she likely didn’t realize that Blake needed a moment to catch her breath.
Blake Monroe did try to get her shoulder up and WWE later used that as a storyline point during the show. The referee had no choice but to count the pin as referees are instructed to call pinfalls as if they are legitimate.
Fightful Select reports that the title change wasn’t intentional and original plans called for Blake Monroe to retain her NXT Women’s North American Championship. According to the report there was said to have been a scramble behind the scenes after the title change happened.
The title change caused issues as there was creative in place that involved Thea Hail not being the champion, so creative was immediately changed to adjust for the situation. The change affected creative plans for multiple people over the next few weeks. There’s no word on who was blamed for the situation as most involved were working to make changes to what needed to be changed.
Stay tuned for updates.