Thea Hails unexpected championship win on the December 16 episode of WWE NXT wasnt just a surprise to fans it caused total creative mayhem behind the scenes.
According to a new Fightful Select update, WWEs production crew was blindsided by the botched finish, which resulted in Hail defeating Blake Monroe for the NXT Womens North American Title in an unplanned pinfall. The timing couldnt have been worse NXT was just wrapping up its final tapings of the year ahead of the rosters Christmas break.
The fallout from the botched finish wasnt just internal. WWEs website briefly listed Blake Monroe as the winner after the match aired an error that was quickly corrected once the real finish was reviewed.
The original plan for the match was for Monroe to retain the title. But during the final moments, Monroe had the wind knocked out of her after a move from Hail. She struggled to lift her shoulder in time, and the referee instructed to call the match like a shoot counted to three.
In the confusion, Monroes theme was mistakenly played before production quickly cut it off and switched to Hails. WWE is now expected to address the incident during the upcoming NXT tapings at the Performance Center. Theres speculation the company may try to walk back the title change, possibly returning the belt to Monroe before 2025 kicks off.
For now, Thea Hail is still officially recognized as champion but the botch has turned what was supposed to be a routine finish into one of the most disruptive NXT moments of the year.
How do you think WWE should handle this? Should Hail keep the title or should they fix the mistake on TV? Sound off in the comments and let us know what youd do.
