NXT – 08.25.26

Words about graps: Evolve | Main Event | Impact | Smackdown | NXT 2.0 | AAA | Raw

NXT presents the go-home show for Sunday’s big Heatwave card tonight from the friendly confines of The Performance Center in Orlando, FL. The announcing team for tonight’s show consists of Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome on ring introductions, and Sarah Schrieber and Blake Howard on news and interviews. Will we finalize the Heatwave card tonight? I believe that’s the goal. Let’s watch some wrestling!

Arrivals include AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix and his opponent and challenger for tonight, EK Prosper. More folks showing up for work include NXT Men’s Champion Tony D’Angelo, WWE Women’s Speed Champion Wren Sinclair, and NXT Women’s Champion Kendal Grey.

Weaponized Steel Cage Match: Saquon Shugars vs Dion Lennox

Lennox hurls a trashcan at Shugars as he enters the cage and the bell sounds. A hockey fight ensues and Lennox manages to kick out of a double leg. Shugars chops Lennox down and Lennox blasts him in the knee with a couple of rights from the mat. Lennox grabs a chair and nails Shugars in the back a couple of times. Lennox covers and gets two. Lennox rams Shugars into the cage repeatedly before pushing him into the cage with both of his boots. Lennox takes Shugars belt and it’s country whippin’ time. Another cover gets two. Lennox powerbombs Shugars onto a chair and then slams him for two. Shugars whips a trashcan into Lennox’s mid-section in response and then puts a trashcan on Lennox’s head for some lid-slams. Shugars hits a missile dropkick on a helpless Lennox and covers for two. Shugars grabs a chair and smashes Lennox in the back before setting up two chairs seat to seat. Shugars misses an enziguri, Lennox can’t yank Shugars over for a belly to back, and the skirmish ends after Lennox re-positions the chairs and slams Shugars on top of them (He somehow managed to have the top chair stand up with the legs on top and this was a GNARLY spot). We go to a break.

Shugars tosses a kendo stick at Lennox when the show returns and then dropkicks the stick into Lennox’s face. Shugars rams Lennox into the cage a few times and then flies off the top rope in a reverse cross-body. Shugars walks into a kendo stick shot and Lennox sets the stick in the cage pointing out. Shugars reverses an irish whip and sends Lennox directly into the stick he just mounted. (That was a quick payoff.) Shugars yanks Lennox up for an atomic drop and then rolls him directly into a chair seat face-first. Shugars covers and gets two. Shugars ascends and Lennox springs up to send him tumbling to the mat. Lennox yanks Shugars into a spinebuster on a trashcan and covers for two. Lennox again sets up kendo sticks in the cage pointing out and mounts a chair on them. Lennox turns to see Shugars holding his bat. Lennox misses a chair shot and eats a few swings of the bat from Shugars including one on his jaw. Lennox whips a chair at Shugars knee and mounts him in a tree of woe. Lennox wallops Shugars knee with a chair and gets two (We’re at like 13 minutes here and it’s starting to feel LONG. Let’s wrap it up, guys.) Lennox takes Shugars bat and ties up Shugars legs in a submission. Shugars breaks out with a trashcan lid but Lennox drops Shugars with another shot to his knee. Lennox sets up the SLIM JIM TABLE. Lennox goes to a corner and Shugars rams his head into a trashcan lid. Shugars misses a sunset flip powerbomb attempt but mashes Lennox with a bat-shot when he pursues. Shugars has to reset the table and places Lennox on top of it with a trashcan on his head. Shugars kick sends Lennox through the table sort of anti-climactically and Shugars ascends. Shugars goes to the top of the cage and crushes Lennox with a cross-body that ends things.

So as mentioned, this got to a point where I thought there were too many near-falls for a weapons cage match. Your mileage may vary. I liked the fact that this is pinfall/submission only because I personally loathe the “escape the cage” rule. Hopefully this is the feud-ender and both of these guys can move on to other things. Shugars gets a positive win here and I guess Lennox will probably act like this didn’t matter and move on, but that was a fairly decisive finish so we’ll see. 3.25*

Winner – Saquon Shugars (Top of the cage cross-body)

Here’s Nattie Neidhart on her way to the ring, and Jaida Parker (accompanied briefly by good pal Thea Hail) is also on her way out. We go to commercials.

Blake Howard wants comments from Tony D’Angelo who seems peeved that his challengers don’t seem to recognize his accomplishments. D’Angelo mentions two ex-NXT champions battling on Raw and reminds everyone that he gave Oba Femi his first loss in NXT. D’Angelo says he beat three men to win the title and he’ll beat three men at Heatwave to keep it.

EARLIER TODAY Sarah Schreiber caught up with The Vanity Project at a local bowling alley. Jackson Drake puts over the groups camaraderie and says “Myles and Tavion” are just pretending in that regard. Drake picks up four pins on a first ball attempt so Myka Lockwood vows to show Drake how it’s actually done. Ricky Smokes and Brad Baylor continue the bad-mouthing of Myles Borne and Tavion Heights while Lockwood picks up seven pins with a between-the-legs style throw. Baylor’s throw nets eight pins, and Smokes decides to use a kid’s bowling ramp for his turn, which drops nine pins. The Project vow to walk out of Heatwave with all the gold.

Here’s Nattie mid-ring with a mic. Nattie says she saw something in Jaida Parker and wanted to fight her, but she also saw wasted potential. Nattie calls Parker soft again and puts over that Parker stepped up after catching Nattie’s attention. Here’s Jaida Parker out to say that Nattie has been trying to prove her words since she came to NXT and hasn’t succeeded. Parker says Nattie trash-talking her shows that Nattie’s bullying has shown Parker who she really is. Nattie wants a submission match at Heatwave and Parker says it’s on. (Parker: “You maybe the low-key legend but at Heatwave I’m gon’ high-key wax that ass.” DAAAAAMNNN). We go to a break.

Kam Hendrix vs Keanu Carver

Carver got this match set up EARLIER TODAY while meeting with NXT GM Robert Stone, with Mason Rook looking on from a distance. Carver grabs an inside cradle for two as the bell rings. Hendrix tries to truck Carver to no avail and then gets back-body dropped for his troubles. Carver nails Hendrix with a cross-body and then waffles him with a right. Hendrix drapes Carver over the ropes and then nails him with some lariats. Hendrix covers for one. Hendrix bullies Carver along the ropes and then works a rear chinlock. Hendrix hits a Showtime Kick and covers Carver for one. Hendrix nails Carver with some kicks and Carver fires up with some rights. Carver yanks Hendrix into several release Germans and a POUNCE. Carver is prevented from going to the floor by the referee and Hendrix uses that distraction to go to Carver’s eyes. Mason Rook flies in from OUTTA NOWHERE to nail Hendrix with a cross-body before firing him back into the ring. Carver yanks Hendrix into a bridging suplex and gets three.

I really hope that one-segment matches continue on NXT, for real. Not everything has to be an epic poem, you know? Obviously, they needed to get to the point, and so mission accomplished in terms of Carver getting his storyline win to keep his momentum going towards a title shot, and Hendrix’s thing with Rook continues on as well. 2.25*

Winner – Keanu Carver (Bridging suplex)

Post-match sees Hendrix and Rook bark at each other while Carver retreats to the back.

THE NXT SPOTLIGHT PRESENTED BY PROGRESSIVE sees Kelani Jordan talking about how she’s a trailblazer for people transitioning sports to join professional wrestling. Jordan is trying to brand herself as “The Standout” and talks about winning her first shot at the NXT Women’s title at Heatwave. We go to a break.

Here’s a look at Zilla Fatu talking about his arrival and how his name is a blessing and burden while correcting his “nympho baby” remark from last week. Fatu mentions his social media views and says after Heatwave everyone will know why they call him THE MAIN ONE.

NXT Women’s North American Champion Zaria vs Kali Armstrong

The stip here is that if Armstrong wins, she’ll be added to this super-weird unification match between Zaria and WWE Women’s Speed Champion Wren Sinclair. Armstrong works a side headlock after some verbals before Zaria finally trucks Armstrong down. Zaria hits a body slam and Armstrong returns one of her own. Armstrong wants a test of strength and Zaria drives her down before head-butting Armstrong. Zaria hits a pump kick and tosses Armstrong over. Zaria whips Armstrong to a corner and back-body drops her on the way out. Armstrong hits a double thrust and starts firing off left jabs. Armstrong sends Zaria to the floor with a lariat and follows with a top rope cross-body. We go to commercials.

Armstrong fires off a superplex when the show returns. They slug it out and Armstrong fights off a headbutt to yank Zaria into a powerbomb that gets two. Armstrong hits a spear but runs into a Zaria knee lift. Zaria fires off a pump kick and destroys Armstrong with a discus lariat that gets two. Zaria blasts Armstrong with a release German but runs directly into an Armstrong rolling powerslam. Armstrong wants the Kali Connection but Zaria mashes her with a spear instead. Zaria wants the F5 but Armstrong rolls through and covers Zaria for three.

Someone had to look like a goober to get to this three-way and Zaria drew the short straw, I guess. Armstrong looked pretty solid here but this was your typical “no one is going to sell anything” type of NXT match that you either learn to accept or have to walk away from. It’s just move after move and none of it really matters until the banana peel finish. So it’s on to Heatwave for Kali and she’ll have a shot at winning two titles in one match or whatever they’re doing with the Speed title. This was fine but you didn’t miss much by not seeing it. 2.5*

Winner -Kali Armstrong (roll up)

NXT Women’s Champion Kendal Grey introduces NASCAR driver William Sawalich to a person in Medical. The medical person advises Grey that while she’s cleared, she needs to really think about continuing to take hits on her damaged ear. Wren Sinclair enters and has a quick snit over Armstrong’s win to set up the triple threat, but Sawalich calms everyone down with a deep breath. Sinclair and Grey agree that it’s going to be a good weekend for all of them.

Birthright make their entrance as we go to commercials.

Birthright (Charles Dempsey, Stacks Lorenzo, Uriah Connors, and WWE Men’s Speed Champion Lexis King) vs Sean Legacy, Dorian van Dux, Noam Dar, and Romeo Moreno

It’s Dempsey and Dar to start and a bunch of grappling leads to a Dar roll-up for two. Moreno grabs a blind tag and hits a double stomp on Dempsey’s back upon entering. DvD tags in and Dempsey dumps him over in the Birthright corner while tagging in King. King nails DvD with a double stomp and slaps him along the ropes. DvD hits an armdrag and Legacy tags in. DvD yanks Legacy onto his shoulders to use as a helicopter battering ram before dropping him on top of Lorenzo for two. Lorenzo fires off some rights and tags in Connors. Legacy hits Lorenzo and Connors with armdrags and Moreno tags in. Connors fires off some chops and Moreno returns fire. Connors nails Moreno with a dropkick but runs into a Moreno sunset flip that gets two. Moreno and Dar slap on ankle locks but Lorenzo and Connors whip them to the floor in response. Lorenzo and Connors get mashed by DvD and Legacy cross-bodies before being ordered to stand down by Arianna Grace. Connors yanks Moreno to the floor for a superkick and we go to a break.

Connors slaps a sleeper on Moreno and Lorenzo tags in. Moreno makes an incredible escape from the Birthright corner and tags in DvD. DvD runs wild on Connors and Lorenzo and then dumps a charging Dempsey and King to the floor. DvD catches a charging Lorenzo and dumps him over the top rope onto the Birthright team. DvD hits a dive onto the Birthright pile before running Lorenzo back in. Legacy grabs a tag and follows DvD’s frog splash with a 450 on Lorenzo. King breaks up the cover at two. Dar and Dempsey get tags and they slug it out mid-ring. Dar wins the skirmish and slaps on an armbar that’s broken up by a Connors swanton. Everyone hits big moves and it ends with a Moreno dropkick on King. Moreno hits a top rope cross-body to the floor and Legacy and DvD combine on a lofted cross-body that crushes a bunch of Birthright. Back in the ring, Dempsey and Dar slug it out until Dempsey manages to drop Dar with a bridging suplex that ends things.

So I wouldn’t call this a “party match” but it had all the earmarks without any of the charm. If no one can actually stand out because there’s non-stop action and zero selling, it just becomes an athletic exhibition. If that’s your thing, then this was your jam. There was at least a semblance of tag wrestling, but zero psychology. I think all of these guys are terrific athletes and everyone’s stuff looked crisp, but there’s no soul to any of it and if we’re going to take shots at one company for “bangOrz”, you have to be willing to call a spade a spade here. 2.5*

Winners – Birthright (Dempsey bridging suplex on Dar)

Robert Stone advises Vicky D’Errico to have her team ready for the end-of-show summit and D’Errico promises to be there if needed before exiting. Stone runs into Keanu Carver and wants to know about Mason Rook’s involvement in his match, but Carver blows it off by saying the ref’s decision is final. Shiloh Hill startles Stone and explains the NARAKU red mist formula to him. Hill gets a match with NARAKU set up for next week. We go to commercials.

AAA Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Fenix (C) vs EK Prosper

Fenix offers a handshake before Mike Rome does in-ring intros. There’s a roll-up exchange before Fenix snaps off an armdrag that sees Prosper land on his feet. Fenix hits a big chest slap and a rope-assisted armdrag. Fenix hits a shoulder but rises up into a Prosper dropkick that sends him to the floor. Prosper ascends and hits a moonsault to the floor. We go to a break.

Both guys are down when the show returns. There’s a slap battle and Fenix fires off a series of kicks that stagger Prosper. Fenix wants a double underhook but Prosper flips through and buries Fenix with a facebuster. Prosper ascends for a springboard Ruff Ryder that gets two. Prosper’s Michinoku Driver gets two. Prosper misses a charge and Fenix blasts him with his rope-walk kick to the head. Fenix ascends for a high cross-body that gets two. Fenix hits a frog splash for two. Fenix runs into a release German and Prosper gets caught with a Fenix cutter as both guys end up on the mat. Fenix yells ANIMO and crushes Prosper with a running knee lift. Fenix wants the Muscle Buster but ends up having to settle for a kaman giri to Prosper’s temple. Fenix ascends and eats a big right from Prosper. Prosper goes up and crushes Fenix with a top rope rana. Prosper ascends and misses his moonsault. Fenix hits a running kick and yanks Prosper into the Mexican Muscle Buster which ends things.

It was good but not as good as I was hoping for. Fenix did a good job leading Prosper through a face vs face title match. I thought Prosper might have had some nerves but he seemed solid once we got through the commercial break. Overall, this was fine for what it was with the “proven champ vs green but rising rookie” story they were trying to portray. 3.25*

Winner AND STILL AAA Cruiserweight Champion – Rey Fenix (Mexican Muscle Buster)

There’s a handshake and show of respect post-match.

Here’s Myles Borne and Tavion Heights chatting with NASCAR’s Sam Mayer in the locker room (Mayer and the other NASCAR dude from earlier will be driving Heatwave-branded cars in Friday night’s race ON THE CW.). Heights once again mentions not knowing what he’ll do if the tag titles are lost. Here’s Hank and Tank in to greet Mayer and they mention wanting a shot at the tag titles after Heatwave. Heights says he and Borne are focused on Heatwave and will see them later. We go to commercials.

It’s time for the MAIN EVENT TITLE SUMMIT. I suspect a huge brawl to end this, so let’s see if I’m right. First out are Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair. Grey talks a bunch about her journey and shoots a little stink at a certain champion by saying that “some folks go hundreds of days without defending their titles” while that’s not her way. Next out Kelani Jordan to tell Grey that the target on her back was placed there by Jordan and she just needs one shot. Sinclair interrupts to say that they’ll be bringing home all the gold. Here’s Zaria out to badmouth Sinclair and she’s excited about ending the Speed title. This brings out Kali Armstrong and she’s reminding everyone of having beaten both of these “delusional heifers” before promising to win both titles. Next out is Grayson Waller wearing a “Nepo Uce” hoodie. Waller says “great to look at, hard to listen to” about the collection of ladies in the ring and mentions being the new highlight of NXT. Waller says the only thing anyone will be talking about on Monday is his new title reign. Here’s Tony D’Angelo out to tell Waller that no matter what version of Waller we’re seeing it will end the same way it always does, with Waller being a disappointment. Here’s Cruz Montana out in the NXT UNIVERSE to say he enjoys NXT’s disfunction and he’s here to throw hands. A brawl does indeed break out between everyone in the ring. Here’s Zilla Fatu out for a huge cross-body on all the male competitors before grabbing D’Angelo’s title belt to show off to the crowd. The credits roll and we’re out.

Well, I wouldn’t call it the strongest of shows, but for a go-home, I guess we got to where we needed to be. I can’t say I’m wildly enthusiastic for this Heatwave card but at least there’s some heat for the Men’s and Women’s title matches. Tonight’s show had one match I’d tell you to go find if you missed it and that would be the Fenix-Prosper thing, otherwise you can just hang with recaps and youtube highlights without too much issue. We move on to a big Sunday of wrestling and let’s hope it all delivers.

Enjoy your Wednesday.