Isaiah “Swerve” Scott is no longer the WWE NXT North American Champion, but he wasn’t dethroned by Santos Escobar. Instead, it was Carmelo Hayes.
The title match took place on Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0 during the main event of the show. Hayes and his friend attacked members of Legado del Fantasma to help Scott retain the title over Escobar. However, Hayes attacked Scott after the match.
Hayes cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract for a title match and won the title after hitting a big boot then a leg drop.
This title change was expected as Hit Row (Scott, Ashante Adonis, Top Dolla, and B-FAB) was moved from NXT to the main roster in this year’s Draft. The group will now be featured on the SmackDown brand.
The decision to call Hit Row to the main roster was made “days earlier” before the Draft. This wrapped up the feud between Hit Row and Legado del Fantasma ( Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Raul Mendoza and Elektra Lopez), which has been going on for the past few months.
Scott beat Bronson Reed to become the North American Champion on the May 18, 2021 episode of NXT. Scott held the title for over a 100 days.
