Kelani Jordan Becomes Inaugural WWE NXT Women's North American Champion At Battleground

For an evening that marked the first ever WWE event at the UFC Apex, it was fitting that another first ever opened the show, with Kelani Jordan prevailing over five other competitors in a ladder match to become the inaugural NXT Women's North American Champion. Jordan set Sol Ruca aside when the two hit simultaneous head kicks atop a ladder before nailing a prone Michin with a Split-Legged Moonsault as she lay on top of another ladder and then ascended to the heavens before anyone could do anything about it, pulling down the title belt and securing the victory.

As the match began, all six women — Jordan, Ruca, and Michin, along with Fallon Henley, Lash Legend, and Jaida Parker — appeared spellbound by the gravity of the moment, staring up at the championship hanging from the rafters. Within moments, however, they all got down to business, with Jordan and Ruca hitting athletic dives to the outside in a matter of minutes and Henley dropping Ruca with a swinging kick around the ring post. Jordan carried the most energy of all from the match's onset, escaping the precarious situation of being laid out on a perched ladder between the ring ropes in the corner, even after taking a Bonzai Drop of sorts from Parker. She recovered enough from there to keep things up offensively, never really compromised throughout, and avoiding the danger that all of the others had to endure.

In the end, following a group effort to eliminate Legend from the mix, all five able-bodied competitors eyed the title belt before a wild sequence to finisht things that included a pair of Sol Snatchers from Ruca to Parker and Henley before Jordan neutralized her and took advantage of the surrounding carnage to quickly climb the ladder and grab the gold for the first time in her career.