Bully Ray Defends Thea Hail’s Controversial NXT Win: “She Beat Blake Monroe Fair-and-Square”

There’s been no shortage of debate surrounding Thea Hail’s victory over Blake Monroe for the WWE NXT Women’s North American Championship—but WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray thinks the controversy is overblown.

During a recent episode of Busted Open After Dark, Bully Ray weighed in on the title bout and made it clear where he stands:

“As far as I’m concerned, and from what we saw tonight, Thea Hail beat Blake Monroe fair-and-square!” he said. “There were no mistakes. The referee didn’t screw up. Thea beat Blake.”

While much of the industry has dissected the botched finish that led to Hail’s win, Bully argued that the presentation on this week’s NXT reinforced the legitimacy of her victory. He pointed to Hail’s promo, the crowd response, and how Blake Monroe came across on-screen.

“Monroe seemed to be a wreck during the segment,” Bully noted, “in the way of a classic heel.”

He went on to recap the post-match interaction between the two women, which ended with Hail issuing a challenge to Monroe for a rematch at NXT: New Year’s Evil, where she’ll defend the championship. Despite the looming rematch, Bully Ray made it clear that NXT should not walk back Hail’s title win.

“With all of the controversy surrounding this match and the finish from last week, in my opinion, the best thing that NXT could do is leave that championship right where it is,” he said. “Don’t fix it. Leave it alone. I think it’s really good. I think you run with it. I think there’s a definitive victory from Thea Hail.”

Bully’s take stands in contrast to others calling for the title change to be reversed or recontextualized at New Year’s Evil. But as far as he’s concerned, Hail’s momentum is too valuable to throw away — even if her win wasn’t as clean as some expected.

Do you agree with Bully Ray — should Thea Hail’s win stand as is? Or should NXT course-correct at New Year’s Evil? Share your thoughts in the comments.