At end of Roadblock, the first NXT show of the month of March, fans watched on in horror as Roxanne Perez, the current NXT Women's World Champion, collapsed onto the mat after successfully retaining her title in a match against Meiko Satomura and had to be taken away from the performance center in an ambulance.

Was Perez injured? Did she pass out due to dehydration? Or was this all a Kayfabe tribute to Shawn Michaels, who famously had a match end in the very same way? Though NXT did provide the occasional update on the situation, first noting that Perez would need to stack overnight in the hospital before declaring that she was discharged, but with no clear diagnosis, Shawn Michaels took to Twitter to provide an update on his female champion, a message that was relayed to the NXT Universe on the show too.

“As of Friday Morning, Roxanne Perez was discharged from the hospital. However after numerous tests Roxanne’s health is still in question. With Stand and Deliver in less than three weeks I have the obligation to announce we possibly have to crown a New NXT Women’s Champion, Michaels wrote. “Starting tonight there will be a series of qualifying matches with the winners advancing to Stand and Deliver to compete to become the NXT Women’s Champion in a Ladder Match.”

So what's the deal? Will Perez be inserted into the Ladder Match if she is cleared for Stand and Deliver on April 1st in Los Angeles, or will the winner of the match secure one woman a chance to wrestle the current champion for the title at a future date, either as an interim champion AEW-style or as a number one contender? Only time will tell, but based on the comments of Perez's doctor, it sure doesn't sound like her issues come with a clear timeline.

Roxanne Perez's doctor doesn't have a clear timeline for her NXT in-ring return.

After announcing Perez's absence, NXT played a video package featuring an interview with Dr. Warren Becker, who is helping to oversee Perez's recovery process. After initially evaluating her situation, Becker doesn't necessarily know if Perez's issues are physical.

“My team and I have been carrying out a variety of different tests on Miss Perez,” Becker said. “When it comes to Roxanne’s situation, we checked potential areas, the head, the heart, the vessels in her body. All of Miss Perez’s bloodwork came back reassuring, she was not identified as being dangerously dehydrated, her initial CT scan showed no abnormalities on the brain, and furthermore, Miss Perez’s EKG showed no heart arrhythmia. At this moment, Roxanne is systematically stable.

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WWE's Natalya with Bianca Belair on her left and Jade Cargill on her right with the SmackDown logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Roxanne Perez with a text bubble reading "I don't need Natalya" next to Natalya with the 2024 NXT Stand and Deliver logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Triple H with a text bubble reading "Alright then, well, I'm glad I didn't get you" next to Will Ospreay with a text bubble reading "Bruv" with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

“While this is all very encouraging, it does, however, unfortunately, present us with a difficult issue in that we are unable to identify what caused Miss Perez to collapse. It is my recommendation that we conduct further testing and consult with other professionals, possibly including a clinical psychologist, to investigate this issue further. As a result, I am unfortunately unable to provide an estimated date for Miss Perez to return to in-ring action.”

Will Perez's issue, let's call it “Kayfabe-itus,” be resolved in time for her to run in during the Ladder Match at Stand and Deliver and save her title reign as the Los Angeles crowd goes wild? Or will Perez see another one of her championship reigns come to an end in a flukey way a la her tag team run with Cora Jade? Fans have a little over two weeks to find out.