The backstage reaction to the accidental WWE title change has been revealed. Last week on NXT, Blake Monroe defended her North American Women’s championship against Thea Hail. The finish of the match came abruptly and left everyone confused.
Hail hit a Springboard Back Senton on Monroe and went for a pinfall. Monroe was unable to kick out on time as the referee made the three count. This led to Hail being crowned the new WWE NXT North American Women’s champion; however, this was not the original finish.
The Glamour was meant to get her shoulder up and eventually retain the title. This accidental title change led to a creative scramble backstage. While reports have been coming of behind-the-scenes chaos, WWE’s NXT and Evolve talent, Kendal Grey, shed light on what the reaction was on the locker room to this unplanned finish.
Speaking on Going Ringside, she said that the people in the locker room were left stunned with the unexpected outcome.
“We were all shook, speechless, all of us. But yeah, big upset for Thea. So happy for Thea, you know, and we’ll just have to see what happens next,” she said.
When asked whether everyone was shocked that Hail won the championship, she said that no one expected this to happen.
“We were shocked. I mean, Thea is a good wrestler, so we knew she had it in her, but Blake’s also a good wrestler, and she was really doing good. And so, no one expected it, and it happened, and now we’ll have to see,” she added.
WWE referee reportedly has real heat over NXT North American title finish
After Thea Hail hit the Springboard Back Senton on Blake Monroe, the referee made the three count and called the match as a shoot. Reportedly, Monroe had the wind knocked out of her, which made it difficult for the WWE NXT star to kick out on time.
According to a report from Fightful Select, the ref, Felix Fernandez, received props backstage for his actions and going ahead with the title change. However, the outlet then reported that some people pushed back on this report.
The report mentioned that people claimed that Fernandez got heat backstage for not checking on Monroe when she was perceived to be hurt.
