Surface water versus ingress
A reel rained on with sealed ends is a surface problem: the jacket dries and the cable is unaffected. Water that entered a cut end travels along the strands by capillary action and reaches the insulation from the inside, where no photograph can see it.
What the standards say
Wet-location ratings such as THWN, XHHW-2 and RHW-2 describe continuous immersion performance, not tolerance of a flooded conduit with an open end. A rating does not repair moisture that has already entered the conductor.
How a wet reel is reviewed
Disclose where the cable sat and whether the ends were sealed. Sealed ends with surface wetting are reviewed normally; unsealed ends that sat in water are reviewed as recovery material, and the metal value becomes the relevant number.
Preventing the problem
Cap or tape every cut end the day it is cut, store reels upright on dunnage, and keep them off concrete slabs that hold water. That routine protects more value than any negotiation later.