WWE NXT’s Intention With Leon Ruff North American Title Win

Leon Ruff defeated Johnny Gargano this week on NXT to become North American Champion. The shocking moment brought a lot of attention to the NXT brand for a moment as fans wondered what was going on.

Click here for our complete coverage of WWE NXT from this week.

During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained why NXT made this big title switch. He said it’s the first time NXT has used one of their “key championships as a comedy gag.” There is no real follow-up with Leon Ruff as champion, and it wasn’t designed to necessarily put him over either.

“It’s not like they bring the guy in and he wins the title on the first night and they create a star, which actually, you know with all the people they have that actually wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world, you know and coming in and first night in and winning a championship it’s done rarely and it can be done to get a guy over instantly. This was not designed to make Leon Ruff a star or anything like that.”

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The title change on NXT this week was a big shocking moment, but some fans didn’t appreciate it. Many saw the angle as devaluing the NXT North American Title.

Johnny Gargano’s storyline as a “cursed” champion will continue, and Leon Ruff is the North American Champion. It’s possible that NXT has a big angle planned so this makes sense, but at this time it doesn’t appear that Leon Ruff’s title win was designed to be anything more than a shocking moment.

Transcription by Ringside News