The dust continues to settle following the WWE Draft with the picks not taking effect until after Backlash this weekend. That means last night's NXT was the final edition of the show on which Superstars called up to the main roster could appear, at least for a while. The NXT Women's Tag Champions, who will be going to Raw, competed in the main event, and Indi Hartwell closed the show by relinquishing the Women's Championship.
One Title Is Staying, Two Titles Are Leaving
Those two examples, in particular, have confused fans somewhat. Even before Tuesday's NXT went live, fans reacted to the news that Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn would be defending the Tag Titles against Kayden Carter and Katana Chance. A somewhat confusing booking decision by WWE as the challengers have also been called up, meaning whoever won, the titles would be leaving the brand.
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Fyre and Dawn did not close the show by leaving the titles in the ring and leaving for SmackDown. Quite the opposite, in fact. A big deal was made of how a Raw team and a SmackDown team were competing for the NXT Tag Titles, and that the champions will now take the belts with them to SmackDown. All of that was made even more confusing when Hartwell came out right after the successful defense to announce she'd be leaving her own championship behind before going to Raw.
Maybe It's Because Hartwell's Injured?
Hartwell's reign ending but Fyre and Dawn's being allowed to continue despite all three of them being called up may well be due to the former's injury. Hartwell was taken backstage when defending the title last week after injuring her ankle, managing to limp back to the ring, finish the match, and retain the title. In hindsight, having her lose the title in that match might have been the right way to go since she has now left the brand.
WWE does tend to be inconsistent when it comes to calling up NXT champions and whether or not they need to give up their titles upon departure. Kevin Owens was allowed to keep the NXT Title when feuding with John Cena, but Solo Sikoa immediately had to hand over the North American Championship after he showed up to help Roman Reigns. Having one call-up give up her title and two others keep theirs in back-to-back segments is a new level of indecisiveness, though.
