Massive BOTCH Leads To Accidental WWE Title Change (WWE News)

Thea Hail accidentally becomes the new NXT Women's North American Champion.

by Andrew Pollard
Thea Hail Blake Monroe
WWE

Rising WWE prospect Thea Hail is your new NXT Women's North American Champion, though that wasn't meant to be the case...

Last night's NXT episode saw Thea pin Blake Monroe to win the NXT Women's North American Title, pinning the Glamour after hitting a springboard backdrop for the 1-2-3. That finish was not without confusion, though, with Monroe getting a hand up - but not a shoulder - and there being a delay before Hail's music started playing. In fact, Blake's music even briefly played initially.

Per Fightful Select, this was not meant to be the finish to the match, and Blake Monroe was not meant to lose the NXT Women's North American Championship. The outlet notes that there was a "scramble" backstage after this botch, with issues caused due to creative plans already being in place that didn't include Thea Hail having that title.

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Fightful adds that this unintentional title win has ended up affecting "multiple people's creative" that was pencilled in for the coming weeks, and steps could be taken as soon as "tonight" to make creative adjustments. As for "tonight", NXT will be taping the next two weeks of television later today so that talent and staff can have some time off over the holiday season.

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Already, Blake Monroe is lining up a rematch, as shown in a backstage segment that interestingly also featured Jordynne Grace, with the Juggernaut congratulating Thea Hail and saying how Thea was able to win gold before Grace was.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.