It’s been two years since Kelani Jordan won the women’s North American championship at NXT Heatwave in 2024. It took all the way up until today (Sun., Aug. 30, 2026) at the event of the same name in Edinburg, Texas, to even challenge for the NXT women’s championship. Booker T spent the entirety of her entrance for the match complaining about the fact that she hasn’t ever had an opportunity.
Vic Joseph responded by bringing up all the times she lost number one contender matches before Kendal Grey outright
gifted her this shot. It was definitely an interesting decision to paint the match in this light just before the bell rang. Then, during the match, they openly talked about Grey being so good that she rose to the top of the division within just eight months of beginning her career in the industry.
What ensued was basically the opposite of Parker vs. Nattie before it, an incredibly well worked back-and-forth war of attrition between two stars who both looked like they really wanted it.
In the end, a surprise:
Jordan tossed Grey into the bottom turnbuckle, hit the split legged moonsault, and pinned her to win the NXT women’s championship. They did bring up attacking the ear, which Grey injured going in, and Joseph was pushing a narrative that the bottom turnbuckle was exposed. But it looked clean enough.
It may have been her first attempt, but she made the most of it.
Get complete Heatwave results and coverage of every match on the card by clicking here.
