WWE: Controversial finish sees top champion retain title with assist from referee [WATCH]

A top champion retained his title at a WWE event after a controversial assist from the referee.

Ever since Wes Lee won the NXT North American Championship, he has been a fighting champion. He has wasted no opportunity to defend his title against anyone. In fact, Lee has the most title defenses for the North American Championship.

Over the past several weeks, Lee found himself an ally in Tyler Bate. However, after Mustafa Ali showed up in NXT a couple of weeks ago, he suggested that Bate and Lee should face each other for the title.

Hence, tonight Lee faced his toughest challenge since winning the North American Championship when he face one-on-one with Bate at WWE NXT Gold Rush with Ali as the special guest referee.

Early on in the match, Ali's role was questionable when he attempted a fast count which caught Tyler Bate off guard. Then, later on in the match, he performed a slow count on both men which seemed to confuse them.

Both Lee and Bate put on an incredible match that had the crowd on their feet for most of it. During the closing moments of the match, both men fell off the top rope. As Ali was counting Wes Lee out, he stopped and went and motivated him to get back in the match. As Ali did the same for Bate, Lee hit the cardiac kick on Bate to get the pinfall victory.

Weird it’s almost like you can’t trust him… twitter.com/wwe/status/167…

Following the match, both men seemed confused regarding Mustafa Ali's behavior during the bout. It will be interesting to know the reason behind Ali's mysterious actions during the match.

What did you make of the NXT North American Championship match at WWE NXT Gold Rush? Sound off in the comments section.