With the mass exodus of NXT’s men’s division to Raw and SmackDown since the calendar switched to 2026, Tony D’Angelo became the de facto top dog in the division, mainly because he was the only one left. After spending a little over a month weathering a few vicious attacks from Naraku, Tony made the former IWGP Champion look like a chump in their recent Street Fight. Most of us frequent NXT watchers were left wondering who could possibly step up to D’Angelo next.
Then, in a span of a few weeks, former
TNA Knockout Champion Cruz Montana crossed the line and joined the NXT roster, Grayson Waller made a trek to Orlando and put the men’s locker room on blast, and Zilla Fatu made his long-awaited debut and immediately set his sights on the NXT Championship. Where they go from here and how compelling this new crop of top guys makes NXT going forward remains to be seen, but you can’t accuse the creative team at the PC of not trying.
After last week’s melee left us without an NXT Title match signed for Heatwave, which is coming up in just 12 days, tonight’s show provided us with some clarity. Matches for the NXT North American and Tag Team Titles were also signed, not to mention a stacked show for the go-home show next Tuesday night. With all that said, let’s get to it!
Zilla Fatu signs, immediately gets NXT Title shot
As commentary hyped up Zilla Fatu signing his NXT contract at the outset of tonight’s show, a fired-up Cruz Montana made his customary entrance through the crowd to address the newest NXT signing, 7 days after Fatu interrupted Cruz’s #1 contender’s match last week. After being told that Zilla hadn’t made it to the Performance Center yet, AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix made his way out instead. After exchanging pleasantries, Montana decided to go meet Zilla in the most dangerous place in the world, the NXT parking lot, and left the ring to Fenix, who was in Orlando to get an up-close look at his next #1 contender.
Later, Grayson Waller had a live mic again and dropped a few bombs on Zilla Fatu. Among them, Grayson said he’s from Western Sydney and has been fighting with Uces all his life. Now, because Uces don’t know how to wrap it up, he’s gotta fight another one – this time, the black sheep of the family, who finally lost his ankle monitor and can roam free again. After promising Zilla that he can’t handle this version of Grayson Waller, Tony D’Angelo interrupted. The NXT Champ said he doesn’t care if opponents come from Japan, TNA, Raw, or the Island of Irrelevancy; he’s going to knock every single one of them on their ass.
That was Cruz Montana’s cue to head back into the PC through the crowd. Cruz suggested that he and Grayson go ahead and finish their #1 contender’s match from last week. Just as Montana joined D’Angelo and Waller in the ring, GM Robert Stone made his way out and acknowledged that Grayson and Cruz both got screwed last week. So, at Heatwave, they will both get an NXT Title shot at Tony D’Angelo when they compete in a triple threat match.
Finally, at the end of the night, Stone introduced Zilla Fatu, who made his way out to sign his NXT contract. With Tony D’Angelo looking on from the PC perch, Zilla cut a promo to introduce himself, and before long, Grayson Waller and Cruz Montana joined the fray, both men being held back by security. Amid the commotion, Stone announced that Zilla’s NXT contract states that his first match must be for the NXT Championship, and Fatu says he’s cashing that in to make the NXT Title match Heatwave a Fatal 4-Way! Zilla then signed on the dotted line and emphatically shook hands with Stone as NXT went off the air.
Reaction: This seemed to be exactly where we were heading for the NXT Title match at Heatwave after Zilla’s debut last week. At this point, at a time when the developmental brand is struggling to tell compelling stories in the men’s division, booking the potential chaos of a fatal 4-way is a bit of a cop out, but not a bad way to set up what’s sure to be an entertaining PLE main event. The chances of a title change have likely increased too, with each of the three challengers being more intriguing champions than the current one for me right now. Look no further than Stand & Deliver this past April to find the NXT Championship changing hands in this type of match. If you need more proof, check out Heatwave two years ago when Ethan Page won the title.
Kali Armstrong steals some of Kelani’s spotlight
Kelani Jordan and Kali Armstrong both shot their shots last week, with their eyes on the NXT Women’s Champion, Kendal Grey. After WrenQCC joined them in the ring, two matches were signed: Kendal vs. Kelani for the NXT Women’s Championship at Heatwave, and a tag team match for tonight’s show that would see Wren and Kendal taking on Jordan and Armstrong.
Wren and Kendal showed some pretty good tag-team synergy throughout the match, but Kelani and Kali surprisingly worked really well together. A predictably solid back-and-forth match got close to the finish when Kelani hit a drop toe hold on Kendal, sending her injured-ear-first into the steel ring steps. Back in the ring, Armstrong hit an impressive Kali Connection, a flying shoulder tackle, to come up with a pinfall victory.
After the match, Kendal appeared to be struggling and may have aggravated the ear injury sustained in her Underground match with Lola a few weeks ago. As for the winners, Kali was ecstatic, dancing in the entryway, but Kelani was visibly not thrilled that her tag partner had stolen some of her spotlight.
Reaction: As we all could’ve predicted, the NXT women’s division put on a solid tag match here. I’m a little surprised we didn’t get a Zaria appearance here (she would appear later in the show. See below!), with her match with Wren Sinclair looming in less than two weeks, but this match achieved its purpose of giving Kali some shine and planting a seed of tension between her and Kelani. I’m really looking forward to watching Kendal and Kelani go at it again at Heatwave, but Kali is rapidly starting to climb into that ‘must-see’ category for me as well.
Jackson Drake earns title shots for Vanity Project
Jackson Drake weaseled his way into a huge opportunity for himself and his Vanity Project buddies last week. He was scheduled for a singles match with Shiloh Hill this week and if Drake could pull off the win, not only would he receive a North American Title match with Myles Borne at Heatwave, but Swipe Right would get a rematch for the NXT Tag Team Titles against Borne and his partner, Tavion Heights.
Earlier in the night, Borne approached Shiloh and sweetened the pot for the LFG Season 2 winner, saying that if Hill could beat Drake, he would get the North American Title match at Heatwave. When the bell rang, Hill and Drake showed why they’ve got some of the most potential in the new crop of young stars. Things broke down when Smokes and Baylor launched a 2-on-1 attack on Shiloh while Myka distracted referee Derek Sanders. Vanity Project got a little greedy though, and Sanders caught them mid-attack, eventually ejecting everyone from ringside.
With Shiloh nearing a victory, he went up to the top rope, and Naraku emerged out of nowhere from under the ring and spat the poison mist in Hill’s face, blinding him and allowing Drake to hit a 450 and pick up the win.
Reaction: It took me a minute, but I remembered that Shiloh mentioned Naraku and his mist during one of his TikTok-like promos last week. Of all the ways a wrestling feud could start, that was certainly one of them. After looking like a big dummy after his feud with Tony D, dropping down the pecking order to face Shiloh seems fair for Naraku. As for Jackson Drake, I’ve been impressed by him in the ring over the last few months, and a match with Myles Borne could be a show-stealer at Heatwave. I’ll be curious to see what the play is here with Borne defending both of his titles on the same night. Methinks this may not be good news for him, and probably not for Tavion either.
Lexis King needs all of Birth Right to retain Speed Title
Just as he was about to head out for his Speed Title match, Lucien Price’s OTM partner, Bronco Nima, dropped by to wish him luck and let him know that he has his back tonight if Birth Right tries to do what Birth Right does. A confident Price dapped his partner up, but headed out to the ring on his own. Lexis King, on the other hand, was accompanied by his normal crew.
King almost lost the title in the first 15 seconds of the 5-minute Speed match after forgetting to take his red cowboy hat off and getting superkicked as he tossed it out to his posse. King did whatever he could to milk the clock and let the rest of Birth Right get involved, but Price controlled most of the match, showing some of the intensity that he’s shown as of late. As the clock ticked under a minute, Arianna and Stacks distracted the ref, allowing Connors and Dempsey to interfere and opening the door for Lexis to hit the Coronation for the victory.
After the match, Birth Right got back in the ring and tried a follow-up attack on Lucien, but Bronco made the save, sending the nepo-babies retreating. Nima and Price then shared an embrace, seemingly signaling that OTM is still going strong.
Reaction: While I’m not against the idea of a faction full of cocky 2nd-generation stars using their lineage to get ahead, Birth Right just seems to be cosplaying as that type of group right now. Needing 5 people for Lexis to retain what can barely be described as a secondary title doesn’t scream ‘big threat’ to me. With the Women’s Speed Title being unified with the North American Title at Heatwave, I hope that the men’s version is right behind it. As for Price, his dipping his toes into the singles division the last few weeks has shown me that he’s got some potential if they ever go that route, but I think it’s time for OTM to make a run at tag gold. Maybe they never get there with Bronco occupied a bit with Los Perros in AAA, but I think that’s the story they should be telling for now.
Nattie makes Thea tap right in front of Jaida
For months, Nattie and Jaida Parker have been locked in a heated rivalry as the Low Key Legend looks to instill some toughness and grit into one of NXT’s brightest young stars. After aligning with Nikkita Lyons and Karmen Petrovic, Nattie was able to take advantage of the numbers game on Jaida for weeks, until recently, when Jaida found herself in an unlikely alliance with Thea Hail. After beating Lyons and Petrovic in tag team action recently, this week, it was Thea’s turn to go one-on-one with Nattie.
In a match featuring a sure-fire hall-of-famer and an upstart opponent who is literally half her age, it was the veteran who eventually got the upper hand and made Thea tap with the Sharpshooter. As Nattie cinched it in, she turned to ringside and made sure to lock eyes with Jaida, who was beside herself watching her new ally tap in the middle of the ring. After the match, Nikkita and Karmen restrained Jaida as Nattie put the Sharpshooter back on Thea and made Miss Parker watch some more.
Reaction: Thea losing to Nattie to further this rivalry makes a ton of booking sense at this point, and there has to be a one-on-one blowoff with Jaida coming up soon. In the meantime, I wouldn’t be surprised if they rope another babyface into it so they can have a 6-woman tag before eventually getting to Nattie/Jaida one more time. The post-match angle of Nattie locking in a conventional Sharpshooter on Thea while Jaida watched was not nearly as vicious as they seemed to want us to believe. For me, this whole feud is just kind of there. There was some justification for Nattie targeting Jaida initially, but the story hasn’t really evolved much since then.
Quick Hits
- During the Fatal 4 Way #1 contender’s match, some severe weather rolled through, and I lost my feed for a bit, so I missed most of the match. But EK Prosper continued to roll and picked up the win, hitting his picturesque top-rope moonsault and earning himself a shot at Rey Fenix’s AAA Cruiserweight Championship. That title match goes down next week!
- Vanity Project turned the backstage area into another episode of Saved by the Bell, asking WrenQCC, and Kendal Grey in particular, if she needs anybody to take care of her. After making fun of Baylor, Smokes, and Drake for not being able to grow facial hair, being tools, and not having any muscles compared to Myka, Wren and Kendal let them know that they don’t stand a chance against Borne and Heights if their paths cross again at Heatwave.
- As Robert Stone returned to his office, he was shocked to see Keanu Carver sitting at his desk. Carver brought up the NXT Title match at Heatwave, and Stone let him know that he can’t just add him to it; Keanu has to earn that kind of opportunity. Carver understood, said his time would come, and then yelled at Stone to drink the coffee he brought him. Stone was reluctantly drinking it as Kam Hendrix walked in, presumably to update his boss on the status of his health meter.
- A week after Dion Lennox beat Saquon Shugars, the two former DarkState mates had a split-screen conversation tonight. After a couple of hilarious one-liners from the Shuga Man (e.g. he thought he had more time while Dion unbuckled Cutler and Osiris from their booster seats, and later called Lennox “Private School Pete”), the two long-time rivals agreed to meet in a Weaponized Steel Cage match next week. Now that feels like a feud-ender!
- After pinning Wren Sinclair earlier, Kali Armstrong strolled into Stone’s office while he was having a conversation with Zaria and asked her boss what she gets now that she pinned the Speed Champion. Zaria stepped up to Kali and said that after Heatwave, there will be no Speed Title to challenge for. Kali boasted that she pinned Wren on her first try, while Zaria needed a second match and interference to do the same thing. As the two powerhouses got in each other’s faces, Stone signed a match between the two of them for next week, and if Kali wins, the unification match at Heatwave becomes a triple threat!
Final Thoughts
NXT sometimes feels like a fast-paced two-hour sprint where a lot happens, but not everything really feels all that important. This show fits that category for me in some regards, but gets a bit of a pass for serving as a pseudo-go-home show for Heatwave and setting up some big matches for next Tuesday night at the same time. EK Prosper, Lucien Price, and Kali Armstrong are the talents that stood out to me most tonight, but the Nattie/Jaida feud, Birth Right, and the DarkState drama just aren’t doing it for me. All told, Heatwave is shaping up to be a pretty solid show, and next week’s episode should be pretty good as well.
Match Results
- EK Prosper def. Angels, Moreno, and La Parka to become #1 contender for the AAA Cruiserweight Title
- Nattie def. Thea Hail
- Lexis King def. Lucien Price to retain the Men’s Speed Championship
- Kali Armstrong & Kelani Jordan def. Wren Sinclair & Kendal Grey
- Jackson Drake def. Shiloh Hill
Now it’s your turn, Cagesiders! What stood out to you most on tonight’s show? Let us know in the comments below!
