Image: WWE
Candice LeRae didn’t suffer a broken arm at NXT TakeOver: WarGames after all.
Though it was feared that she suffered a broken arm in the women’s WarGames match earlier this month, LeRae told Sports Illustrated that she didn’t break her arm or wrist.
“My arm didn’t break, my wrist didn’t break, so that’s my Christmas miracle,” LeRae said. “I’ve been having some rib tenderness from when Shotzi landed on me, but I’m surprised and thankful that my arm wasn’t broken.”
Team Candice (LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez & Toni Storm) defeated Team Shotzi (Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley & NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai) in the women’s WarGames match. LeRae’s injury happened near the end of the match when Blackheart hit a senton off the top of a ladder onto LeRae as LeRae had a steel chair on top of her.
“When I went to check my ribs, that’s what I realized I couldn’t move my arm,” LeRae said. “Medical came out to check on me, and this might sound crazy, but I said to myself that I couldn’t leave the cage because technically that would end the match and my team would lose. That’s all I could think about in that moment.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque had said during his post-TakeOver: WarGames media call that it was feared LeRae suffered a broken arm in the WarGames match. Levesque said LeRae was getting X-Rays after the show.
“Candice is the strongest person I know,” Johnny Gargano told Sports Illustrated. “She asked to stay and watch my match despite her arm feeling like it was going to fall off. We were going to go to the hospital together anyway, but then I ended up needing stitches, so we got to be there together. And I was so impressed by her match, especially working hurt, but everything she does in the ring is special.”
Tonight’s episode of NXT will feature “A Very Gargano Christmas” with The Way (LeRae, Gargano, Indi Hartwell & Austin Theory). After Hartwell lost to Blackheart by disqualification on last week’s NXT, LeRae and Hartwell laid out Blackheart with a double Wicked Stepsister stomp. Hartwell had gotten disqualified for hitting Blackheart with the trophy Gargano gave LeRae after TakeOver: WarGames.