Blake Monroe Blames WWE Referee For Embarrassing Thea Hail Botch

Blake Monroe isn’t taking the blame for that botch in her WWE title match with Thea Hail.

Thea Hail was given a shot at the NXT Women’s North American Championship against Blake Monroe on the December 16th 2025 edition of NXT. But few expected Hail to win the match, and that includes those booking the show.

During the bout, Thea Hail attempted a pin on Monroe after hitting a springboard senton, and instead of kicking out to lift her shoulder off the mat, Monroe simply lifted her hand. The referee called the action as if it were real, counting the fall and declaring Hail the winner and the new NXT Women’s North American Champion.

Thea Hail gave her reaction to the shock title win, but it seems those backstage in WWE were forced to take action. It was reported that the unplanned title change caused creative chaos, with two weeks’ worth of shows being taped to air over the holiday season.

Blake Monroe Happy To Be Talked About

Speaking on Notsam Wrestling, Blake Monroe admitted there was an upside to the controversy, but she laid the blame squarely at the feet of the match referee:

Yes. I mean, look, the negative is Thea Hail will always be attached to me now. I have to wrestle her next week and you’re lucky I’ve shown up today. I was going to go to therapy, but I decided to be a company woman and show up.

But no, I mean, I think the theme of my career is people will talk about me and who are you if you’re not talked about, to be honest. And it was definitely shocking and I feel like the ref was clearly in a rush to get home. I mean, he counted that quick, but no, it was definitely very exciting and I’m going to get my revenge next week in under three minutes.