Fans witnessed a surprising championship change tonight on the Dec. 16, 2025, edition of WWE NXT with Women's North American Champion Thea Hail. In the opening match of the night, Hail faced off against Blake Monroe for the Women's North American Championship.

However, things took a surprising turn when Hail pinned Monroe to win her first major title in the promotion. Hail walked away with the championship after hitting a springboard senton off the middle rope onto Blake Monroe. She followed it up with a pinfall attempt as the referee completed the three-count, despite Monroe raising her shoulders.

The moment left fans in the arena and across the globe confused about the finish. The confusion continued amid WWE's management team as Monroe's music initially hit, before transitioning into Hail's theme song.

Later, when the show returned from commercial, replays were played of the moment as announcers affirmed that Monroe didn’t get her shoulder up until after three. Blake Monroe, formerly known as Mariah May, won the NXT North American Championship after defeating Zaria at NXT Halloween Havoc. She held the title for 51 days.

More details on Thea Hail's botched WWE NXT title win

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Shortly after the championship victory, Bryan Alvarez of WON noted that the finish to the match was indeed a botch. Later, Fightful Select also dropped a detailed update on Thea Hail's victory tonight.

The report from Fightful Select noted that Hail was not supposed to win the championship yesterday. The media house confirmed with its NXT sources that the victory was not intentional and Monroe was instead supposed to retain it.

The report further claimed that the surprising title change led to a “backstage scramble.” It also caused issues because there were creative plans in place with Hail not winning the championship. While no one was officially blamed for the incident, Fightful Select reported that several steps were taken yesterday to make creative adjustments.

Later, a backstage segment also featured Jordynne Grace involved in a verbal spat between Monroe and Hail, signalling toward a future storyline.