Former AEW Star Just Became WWE Champion

Over the last two years, several wrestlers have switched between WWE and AEW. Many former AEW stars are now performing across all of WWE’s programs, including recent additions like Jade Cargill, Aleister Black, and Rusev. However, none of them had yet won a championship in WWE since arriving or returning. Tonight, that changed as a former top performer from AEW became a champion, joining a select group of wrestlers who have held titles in both companies.

Blake Monroe, formerly known as Mariah May, recently achieved a significant career milestone. After winning the AEW Women’s World Championship by defeating Toni Storm, she made a surprising move to WWE. Tonight, at NXT Halloween Havoc, Monroe defeated Zaria – who replaced the injured Sol Ruca – to become the new WWE NXT Women’s North American Champion.

Monroe immediately rushed at Zaria, but it didn’t go as planned. Zaria quickly responded with several strikes and a powerful throw to the ground. Although Monroe attempted to regain control, Zaria interrupted her progress and forcefully slammed her against the ropes.

Monroe started to gain control of the match by focusing her attacks on Zaria’s arm, repeatedly stomping on it and slamming it into the turnbuckle. She kept bending Zaria’s arm backward and even pulled it painfully over the top rope. While the move clearly hurt Zaria, she managed to kick out of the pin. Monroe continued to target the arm, causing more damage, but Zaria used her strength to turn the tables, flipping Monroe and delivering a series of powerful clotheslines.

Zaria regained the upper hand with a suplex, even with her arm hurting, but Monroe quickly kicked out of the pin attempt. Monroe then tried to target Zaria’s arm again, but Zaria powered through, lifting and slamming Monroe to escape the hold – it was clear, though, that her injured arm was bothering her.

The fight took a turn for the worse when Monroe avoided Zaria’s spear, causing Zaria to crash into the steel steps and dislocate her shoulder. It was a painful injury, but Ruca quickly forced Zaria’s shoulder back into place. Energized, Zaria went on the offensive, appearing to have Monroe beat, until Monroe unexpectedly turned a power slam attempt into a submission hold targeting Zaria’s injured arm.

Monroe struck Zaria in the head with her knee, then secretly used a hair clip – the same one she’d used to win before. Zaria retaliated with a powerful spear, nearly winning and dislodging the hair clip. Monroe tried to escape, kicking Ruca’s cane away, but Zaria quickly intervened, taking Monroe down and then rushing to help Ruca.

Monroe defeated Zaria by delivering a Glamour Shot DDT both outside and inside the ring. This secured the pinfall victory for Monroe, crowning her the new NXT Women’s North American Champion. While Ruca was devastated by the loss, Monroe celebrated the start of her championship reign in NXT.

Once Ruca is able to compete again, a match with Monroe is likely to happen. It’s unclear if this will cause Ruca and Zaria to split as a team – they might simply go their separate ways, or it could lead to a rivalry. Either outcome seems possible and could be interesting.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/list/5-great-wwe-heel-turns-nobody-talks-about/embed/#

Read More

2025-10-26 05:10