Shawn Michaels has announced that a championship match originally scheduled for NXT Deadline had to be changed on very short notice.
The match originally planned for the show would see Wes Lee challenge Dominik Mysterio for the North American Championship, with Lee hoping to win back the title that Mysterio originally snatched away from him thanks to help from The Judgment Day. However, as announced on the December 5th broadcast of NXT, Lee is not cleared to compete.
Speaking on the media call ahead of NXT Deadline, Shawn Michaels described how it was Lee who made the call to pull out of the match:
“Well, the decision with Wes was pretty darn close to last minute. Wes has been struggling for quite some time, I certainly didn’t know the depth of it,” Michaels said. “Obviously, we get medical reports, but it was a decision that Wes made on his own, as he should.
Clearly, he’s a young man that goes out there and performs like few others and he had a huge match already going into this premium live event looking for the North American Championship, but just a day or two before, we had a long talk and he just did not think he could make it through the match with the pain that he was in.
That was a decision that he and our medical team made, it is the best decision for Wes and that is the only thing in my mind that’s important right now. All of this was last minute, Wes, to his credit, was doing everything he could do to get himself ready for this, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Michaels continued, confirming that Dragon Lee was confirmed to be the replacement on short notice and admitted he wished that the SmackDown star could have been in NXT a little longer:
“So, we made the last-minute decision I guess less than 24 hours with Dragon Lee,” he continued. “I’ll say this, there’s obviously story there from before with Dragon Lee. From a selfish standpoint, for me, I was so looking forward and enjoying having him in NXT, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I didn’t have him as long as I wanted to.
He’s something that, again, I felt like would be a fantastic match. He’s somebody that I happen to personally enjoy and like, not just as a performer, but as a human being. I know there were matchups that were still on the table for me in NXT, so I thought that if there was any possibility of those matches being able to happen, that Dragon Lee would be the best fit. It’s great to have him in NXT, even if it’s for just a little bit longer.”
On December 5th an emotional Lee made his way to the ring held up with a crutch and announced that he would require back surgery, putting him on the shelf indefinitely. It was later announced on commentary that the former North American Champion would be out for 8-12 months.
BREAKING: Due to an injury, @WesLee_WWE will be unable to compete this Saturday at #NXTDeadline and will be out indefinitely. #WWENXTpic.twitter.com/J8ISQ9tAiP
— WWE (@WWE) December 6, 2023
Shawn Michaels Finds Replacement For WWE NXT Deadline
Following the injury announcement, Rey Mysterio appeared on the big screen during the broadcast and announced that his son would still be defending the championship at the PLE. The Hall of Famer confirmed that he would also be at Deadline and would be in the corner of the new challenger.
Dragon Lee went on to defeat Dominik Mysterio to become the new North American Champion.
Everyone at Inside The Ropes would like to wish Wes Lee a full and speedy recovery.
H/t to Fightful.