The depth and potential of the NXT women’s division is well documented at this point, but for most of 2026, NXT has been continuously trying to find new stars in its men’s division. We’ve watched this year as just about every top male star on NXT has found their way to Raw or SmackDown. It started with Oba Femi, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans this past winter. After Stand & Deliver, it continued with Joe Hendry, Ethan Page, and Ricky Saints.
The one person left to carry the weight of the entire
division was Tony D’Angelo.
While a huge influx of newcomers has emerged in the NXT men’s division since then, many of them shooting their shots at the NXT Champion himself, nobody has necessarily caught fire or stood out much from the rest.
Tonight on NXT, Robert Stone was talking to someone on the phone several times throughout the night, and it seemed clear that somebody was on their way to the Performance Center to appear before the night ended. After the conclusion of the NXT Championship main event, we got our answer when a former TNA World Champion showed up to close the show!
Tony D’Angelo Retains, Mike Santana Debuts!
Heading into the Great American Bash, it seemed like Naraku had positioned himself to become the NXT Champion. After planting a fireball in their title match contract and giving it to Tony D’Angelo in the always dangerous NXT parking lot, Naraku came up short at the Bash, despite the champ only having one good eye. The attacks didn’t stop there, and Naraku attacked D’Angelo with red mist to the eyes the very next week. An irate Tony D seemed to play right into the former IWGP Champion’s hands and demanded a rematch with Naraku last week. When their brawl spilled outside, their NXT Title match tonight turned into a Street Fight.
Naraku wasted no time getting the action started tonight, spitting the red mist in Tony’s eyes right after the bell rang for their NXT Title rematch. Champion and challenger wasted no time taking advantage of Street Fight rules. To their credit, D’Angelo and Naraku really took it to each other. For the record, this was the second barricade that got destroyed throughout the course of their match:
Later in the match, Naraku sprayed the mist for a second time, but this time, Tony got his hands up and blocked it! This turned the tides in the champion’s favor for good. After wailing Naraku with a kendo stick, Tony climbed the steel steps that had made their way into the ring earlier and dropped his challenger with an elevated Dead to Rights through a table for the win.
As Tony celebrated his win, music hit in the PC, and former TNA World Champion, Mike Santana, made his customary entrance through the crowd and stared Tony D’Angelo down as NXT went off the air.
Reaction: Solid street fight from these two with an unsurprising result. Any credibility Naraku had is effectively gone at this point, and he will undoubtedly slide down the card quite a bit after this one. As far as Santana goes, being one of only a few people, I’m sure, who avidly follow NXT and TNA, this was an exciting debut for me. We had heard rumors of Santana being WWE-bound in recent weeks, some of which suggested he could start on the main roster right away, but NXT is definitely a better landing spot for him right now. The risk is there that Santana could get lost in the shuffle quickly on Raw or SmackDown, but NXT needs somebody at the top of the card on the men’s side, and he instantly fills that spot for them.
Lola & Kendal Set for NXT Underground
After winning the #1 contender’s triple threat last week, Lola Vice got a chance to speak her mind when she met NXT Women’s Champion, Kendal Grey, in the ring for a face-to-face. This conversation took a completely different tone from their subdued contract signing before the Great American Bash, and things got a little personal.
Lola got emotional, running down a list of all the former champions she had taken a backseat to before talking about how she worked too hard for too long to step aside because of one setback. With or without a title around her waist, she looks like a champion and knows herself completely. She called Kendal shy, insecure, vulnerable, and in constant need of validation.
For Kendal, the NXT Women’s Championship is all the validation she needs. Grey asserted that she’s not weak, but is honest with herself, the audience, and everybody else when she says there’s not a woman on the roster that can beat her when she’s at her best.
Lola did that thing people do when they want a rematch and said Kendal only beat her for 3 seconds on one night, but if it came down to it, Kendal couldn’t beat her in a fight. Lola appealed to Kendal’s confidence, and despite Wren Sinclair, who was basically in the ring for decoration during this segment, trying to reel her back in, Kendal eventually agreed to meet Lola in an Underground match on NXT in two weeks!
Reaction: On this week’s NXT preview, I talked about how Tony D’Angelo was being a typical dumb babyface by asking for a rematch against the man he beat handily at the Great American Bash. As much as I love Kendal Grey, I can’t help but feel like she pulled her own dumb babyface move here. Lola’s hardly booked like a heel, and her challenge here was a product of her own confidence, but Kendal just played right into her hands. As someone who’s a huge fan of Kendal Grey and not a huge fan of NXT Underground matches, I hope Kendal finds a way to win this one and continue adding to her impressive resume, but time will tell if that’s the way this goes.
Saquon’s Crew Can’t Overcome DarkState
After successfully staging sneak attacks on his former DarkState partners in recent weeks, Saquon Shugars realized that he would need to find some allies if he was ever going to conquer his former faction. After being granted a 6-man tag team match and spending much of last week’s show combing the NXT locker room for anybody that was willing to team with him, Shugars finally enlisted the help of the newly formed tag team of Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno.
Dar and Moreno kicked off the show and entered the PC to the old Meta-Four tune, one of WWE’s more underrated theme songs in recent years. Saquon joined them, and the newly formed trio jumped DarkState in the entryway before the bell could ring. When the action settled down after the opening flurry, it was DarkState that controlled the proceedings, isolating Supernova 11 in their half of the ring. Shugars finally got the hot tag and unleashed on his former stablemates. When he was finally able to get Dion Lennox all to himself, this happened:
With Lennox and Shugars out of commission, Osiris Griffin and Cutler James hit a double powerbomb on Romeo Moreno to pick up the win. After the match, Dion and Saquon needed to be separated, giving a clear indication that their feud is all but over.
Reaction: This match never felt like it was going to be the blowoff of the DarkState/Shugars saga, so the lack of closure here is no surprise. The real bad blood here seems to be between Shugars and Lennox, so it feels like this is leading up to a stipulation match between the two of them, maybe at Heatwave. Saquon’s personality is starting to shine through little by little, while DarkState seems to be exactly the same group of cats they’ve always been. Shugars should eventually go over in this feud and could move into title contention, but as for his former faction? Until they start doing things differently, I’m finding fewer and fewer reasons to take them seriously as legitimate threats.
Thea Hail Helps Jaida Beat Nattie
Since appearing on NXT a few months ago, Nattie’s let everyone know that she thinks the next generation of women wrestlers are soft, and the Low Key Legend has singled out Jaida Parker as one of the biggest culprits. Things got personal heading into their first match, a battle that Nattie would win decisively.
In the weeks that followed, Miss Parker made sure to let Nattie know that she wasn’t done with her yet, which led us to tonight’s match between the two. The match was a physical one, with Nattie focusing her offense on Jaida’s left leg from the outset. Seemingly in control of the match with a hobbled opponent, Nattie got a taste of her own medicine when Parker sent her knee-first into the steel ring steps. Nattie would get back into the ring to break the 10-count, but Jaida tried to capitalize by locking Nattie into a Sharpshooter.
Now, earlier in the night, after lamenting in the women’s locker room about not getting any opportunities, Thea Hail was confronted by Nattie and her crew backstage and received an invitation to train in the Hart Dungeon. Hail defiantly declined the invite, but right before walking away, Nikkita snatched a towel off of Thea’s shoulder, trying to intimidate the former Chase U grad. It seemed like a meaningless detail at the time, but it played a role in the finish.
With Nattie visibly struggling in the Sharpshooter, Karmen and Nikkita considered throwing in said towel. The camerawork wasn’t great, but we eventually saw it lying in the ring next to the official, who then rang the bell and declared Jaida the winner. When they finally panned over, we saw Thea at ringside, and the replay confirmed that she was the one who actually threw the towel in.
Reaction: Not really great camera work here, and sort of a goofy finish. Jaida has been pretty intense trying to get this win back from Nattie, but I find it a little out of character that she would be happy with beating her this way. Alas, she walked to the back arm-in-arm with Thea afterward, so I guess a win is a win? This, of course, sets up for a rubber match between Nattie and Jaida, likely with a tag team match in between.
Quick Hits
- Keanu Carver continued to look like a dominant force in NXT by beating Hank Walker. After attacking Hank at the Great American Bash Tailgate, Carver made easy work of Hank’s buddy, Tank Ledger, last week. Keanu had no problem taking it to both former tag team champions, and it wasn’t until EK Prosper returned and came to their aid that Carver’s onslaught was stopped. Vic asked Booker if GM Stone should just give Carver a title shot at this point.
- The Danhausen over-exposure continues! We saw a video of Shiloh Hill visiting Danhausen backstage at Raw last night, in search of a replacement tooth after Tristan Angels shattered his last week. Shiloh had no human monies but gave Danhausen a thumb drive with Bitcoin on it. Yep. You read that right. Later, Hill paid a visit to Robert Stone, while the GM snacked on KFC popcorn chicken. Stone signed Shiloh for another match with Tristan Angels next week, and Hill celebrated by taking all 6 cartons of chicken off of his desk.
- Kelani Jordan tried to state her case to GM Stone about a three-count she claims she earned in the #1 contenders’ match last week. Stone shrugged it off, saying it was borderline. An angry Kelani stormed off but not before calling Stone’s integrity into question and claiming she was screwed over.
- Last month, Bronco Nima popped up in AAA as part of the reformed Los Perros del Mal faction. Since then, there has been some tension between him and his OTM partner in NXT, Lucien Price. The duo met up with GM Stone backstage tonight to discuss August 30th. With AAA and NXT both running shows on the same day, the GM needed to know which show Nima would be working. Bronco clearly didn’t want to answer in front of Price, so he took Stone up on his offer to discuss it privately.
- The Culling has completely imploded in recent weeks after Izzi Dame and Niko Vance had had enough of Shawn Spears’ incompetence. Vance got a chance to face his former mentor this week. When Izzi got up on the apron mid-match, Lizzy Rain came down and attacked the woman whom she feels cost her the North American Title last week. With the referee distracted by the ladies, Shawn Spears channeled Eddie Guerrero, laying down after banging a steel chair off the mat and throwing it to Vance. The ref turned to see Spears down and Vance with the chair, so he called for the disqualification.
- More Robert Stone. As he was getting an update on the Kam Hendrix health meter (67.2%), Myles Borne and Tavion Heights walked up. Borne said he wants to get the NQCC back together and asks for a shot at the Vanity Project. Hendrix hops up and tells Borne that he already has a title to defend, before allegedly receiving a text from the NXT medical staff, saying his health meter is actually at 107.6%. A miracle! Borne negotiates that he’ll defend his North American Title against Kam next week if he and Tavion get a shot at tag team gold. The GM agrees, and two title matches are “Set in Stone”!
- Reina Volcan made her in-ring debut tonight after weeks of vignettes. Her entrance and presentation scream superstar. If you’re looking for proof, the KFC Pop Meter went crazy for her. Reina’s match with Skylar Raye was fine, and she won using her version of the Torture Rack, which Vic Joseph called the Natural Disaster. Volcan adds yet another exciting prospect to a stacked NXT women’s division.
Final Thoughts
This week’s show was a mixed bag for me. On the men’s side, Mike Santana being in the fold could be a huge boost, and a feud with Tony D could be solid. Saquon continues to be a plus for me, but I’m ready for this thing with DarkState to be done so he can move on to something more interesting. On the women’s side of things, Reina Volcan looked good, and the Underground match in two weeks is intriguing a bit, but I’m not a big fan of how the Jaida/Nattie match ended. Overall, NXT continues to throw things at the wall, and they moved a ton of stories forward tonight. I’m thinking that narrowing their focus a bit could make some of these stories feel more important, though, because right now, not a lot of them do.
Match Results
- DarkState def. Saquon Shugars, Noam Dar, and Romeo Moreno
- Keanu Carver def. Hank Walker
- Jaida Parker def. Nattie
- Shawn Spears def. Niko Vance by DQ
- Reina Volcan def. Skylar Raye
- Tony D’Angelo def. Naraku to retain the NXT Championship
Now it’s your turn, Cagesiders! What stood out to you most on tonight’s NXT? Excited to see what Mike Santana can do on Tuesday nights? Let us know in the comments below!
