Blake Monroe retained her Women's North American Championship over Sol Ruca at "WWE NXT: Gold Rush."
Monroe was defending the title against the former champion, having beaten her injury-forced stand-in Zaria at Halloween Havoc in October, with Ruca having status as both challenger and undefeated champion of 189 days.
They exchanged back-and-forth action at the early stages of the match, with Ruca getting the better end of pure exchanges of athleticism and Monroe only finding her way back in with a more spiteful, bending-of-the-rules offense.
The champion snapped the challenger's legs against the ring post and sent her crashing to the outside, but once again Ruca got the better of her opponent and cinched in a surfboard stretch, which only she relinquished to lay a kick into Monroe's back.
Monroe fought back into things, once again targeting the knee and getting a near-fall before going straight back to the injured joint. But the challenger mounted another comeback, seeking the Sol Snatcher, and although she could not connect with that finisher, she followed up with a moonsault to the outside.
When they got back in the ring, Monroe hit a chop block to take out Ruca's knee, cinching in a single-leg Boston Crab in the middle of the ring and only letting go so she could beat at the knee and remove the brace; Ruca rolled up Monroe once she had thrown the brace away, getting a two-count before being cinched in the Boston Crab yet again.
Monroe wrenched at the exposed knee with the submission, prompting Zaria to grab a towel and despite Ruca pleading with her not to throw it in the ring to call the stoppage. Thus, Monroe retained her North American title and removed the asterisk of the never-beaten lineal champion.
