Backstage News On Wes Lee Being Pulled From WWE NXT Deadline

A late change was made to the WWE NXT Deadline card earlier this week as Wes Lee announced he was dealing with a back injury and would not be able to challenge for the NXT North American Championship on Saturday, December 9. Lee will be out of action for eight to twelve months.

Shawn Michaels discussed Lee pulling out of Deadline on the pre-PLE media call and the WWE Hall of Famer revealed Wes Lee's decision was close to being last minute but the former NXT Tag Team Champion had been suffering from back issues for some time.

"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. I knew -- obviously we get medical reports. It was a decision that Wes made on his own, as he should. I mean, clearly, he's a young man that goes out there and just performs like few others. And he had a huge match already going into this premium live event looking for the North American Championship," Michaels stated.

"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 he was in. And so that was the decision certainly that he and our medical team made. It is the best decision for Wes, and that's the only thing in my mind that's important right now, So look, all of this was last-minute. Wes, to his credit, was certainly doing everything he could do to get himself ready for this. But it just wasn't meant to be."

Wes Lee has been replaced by Dragon Lee (no relation) in the match at Deadline and he will challenge Dominik Mysterio for the NXT North American Championship.

Wes Lee has thanked fans for their well wishes, tweeting: "Thank you all for the get well wishes. Warms my heart to see the love from y’all. Truly hurt to have to deliver the message but I promise to also deliver on my claim to return and rep the WesSide proudly. Love y’all"

H/T F4WOnline