Blake Monroe’s First WWE Title Defense Officially Confirmed

Blake Monroe is the current NXT Women’s North American Champion.

AEW’s Mariah May made a big splash in WWE after leaving AEW earlier this year. She joined WWE in June 2025, debuting unexpectedly on NXT, under her new ring name, Blake Monroe, a tribute to her niece.

At WWE Halloween Havoc on October 25, 2025, she challenged Zaria, who was defending the title because Sol Ruca was injured. She defeated Zaria to become the NXT Women’s North American Champion. This marked her first big championship in WWE, just four months after her debut.

Blake Monroe made her first appearance as the NXT Women’s North American Champion on this week’s edition of NXT in a video package where she revealed that her first title defense will take place at NXT Gold Rush. The event will take place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on November 18, 2025.

Blake Monroe Wanted To Return To Japan After AEW Departure

A few weeks ago, Blake Monroe had an interview on the Busted Open Radio podcast where she revealed that she hadn’t thought about joining WWE after her AEW contract expired. She wanted to return to Japan, but after talking to some people, she found out that WWE was interested in her.

I had a fantastic experience, and I did things that I’m so proud of and cherish. I had a really short contract and when it came to an end, there were positives and negatives. It got to the point in wrestling where I did have an amazing story, but that was the one thing. I didn’t have much else. I just thought, ‘Is this everything I want?’ I also considered going to Japan, which nobody knows.

It’s something I talked to them about. When my deal was up, people were like, ‘Just talk to WWE and see.’ I wasn’t considering it. That’s not an insult to WWE. I always just try to focus on one thing at a time and I just hadn’t considered it.

When I talked to them and they cared so much about The Glamour and all these different things. I was like, ‘Okay, now I do have a big choice to make.’ I sat and thought about it. It was a really tough decision. It just came down to, I did everything I needed to do.

I feel like I told a great story, and I made people feel something, and it’s time to close that chapter and start a new one. Getting a new name and a whole new experience. There are so many women here. Women’s wrestling is very important in WWE. As a woman, that’s something I want to be a part of. All these different matches and possibilities, to me, it was a great deal. It was a challenge, and I want a challenge. H/T Fightful

Make TJR Wrestling your choice for news by clicking here.