WWE Champion Collapses in Ring After Winning Title Match and Is Reportedly Hospitalized, But Fans Are Split on What Really Happened

Drama extended after the match at Tuesday night’s WWE NXT Roadblock event, but it left some fans wondering if it was all part of the show. Roxanne Perez held on against Meiko Satomura to keep her women’s championship. After she was declared the winner, Perez tumbled down and appeared to faint, according to Fox News. Fox noted that Satomura had landed a number of headshots against Perez during the match. Satomura called for help to assist Perez. NXT commentator Booker T and NXT senior vice president of talent development and creative Shawn Michaels both checked on her.

EXCLUSIVE: After successfully defending the #WWENXT Women’s Championship against @satomurameiko, @roxanne_wwe suddenly collapsed and had to leave the arena in an ambulance.#NXTRoadblock pic.twitter.com/a1ATPD2Kfl

— WWE (@WWE) March 8, 2023

@WWENXT Released Statement regrading #RoxannePerez update report. pic.twitter.com/r1VqEUss53

— ECW Figure Wrestling (@ECWFigWrestling) March 8, 2023

She was loaded onto a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance. “Roxanne Perez will be kept overnight in the hospital for observation and continued testing,” WWE NXT tweeted. Twitter was replete with concern, with a few questions. For the initiated, “a work” is WWE fan slang for something that is fake.

What just happened?!?!

The stunned silence as Roxanne Perez collapsed in the ring! Cameras stayed rolling, so this is obviously supposed to happen. But it still feels scary! The audience was silent! Oh my God! #WWENXT — Christian Maracle (@MaracleMan) March 8, 2023

We still have some wondering if the Roxanne Perez incident Last night was real or a work. Wwe wouldn’t have filmed it if it was real the show would have abruptly ended

— WrestlingFan84 (@WrestlingFan84) March 8, 2023

I believe it could be a work. But we can’t say WWE won’t stop filming. Did you forget what happened to Big E. I mean they practically showed the replay of his neck breaking for 3 weeks straight.

— BigMigzGaming (@BigMigzGaming) March 8, 2023

However, one fan with a memory noted that during his career, Michaels was also once part of a storyline that featured a faint.

Roxanne Perez faints post match after a grueling battle against Meiko Satomura. Paramedics come carry her out on a stretcher.

A nice callback to 1995 when Shawn Michaels fainted during a match against Owen Hart. For those who know their WWE history. 🙂#NXTRoadblock pic.twitter.com/x6wzvlZXXi — Just Alyx (@JustAlyxCentral) March 8, 2023

Over at WrestlingInc, Sean Neumann wrote that the collapse was part of a “storyline with vignettes showing Perez enduring weeks of exhaustive workouts in preparation for the Satomura bout that appears to have caught up with her.” Perez, whose actual name is Carla Gonzalez, took the NXT Women’s Championship originally from Mandy Rose and has defended it against Gigi Dolan and Satomura, according to Fox. This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.