It’s that time again where NXT puts on a TV special; this time known as NXT Heatwave. There was a very good video package hyping up the nights matches which made it all feel more important. Paul Heyman narrating it was really cool.
Carmelo Hayes VS Giovanni Vinci
The opening match of the night saw Giovanni Vinci challenge Carmelo Hayes for the North American Championship. The A Champ had another special entrance as he came out wearing a shirt with Vinci on it, something he does for all his challengers, before throwing it into a bin that was on fire. The match was good, Melo is the future of this company and Giovanni is so good. Vinci hit some crazy chops, sort of like his old friend would do and hit some crazy high flying moves as well including a moonsault which he could have won from had Trick Williams not put Melo’s foot on the rope. The ending came when Vinci went to hit the powerbomb onto Melo only for Williams to come into the ring, so Vinci decided to throw Hayes into Trick and then delivered the powerbomb onto Williams. Melo then took advantage and reversed Vinci’s powerbomb into a head scissors to take the victory meaning that Carmelo Hayes is still the A Champion. This was a good match, but it felt like they were maybe holding themselves back for a better match down the line.
Grade: B+
Toxic Attraction arrive and Gallus attack Diamond Mine
Toxic Attraction arrived and told Bron Breakker that he has a tough challenge ahead of him tonight which Breakker rightly responded with “So do you”. I always enjoy champions talking to each other. Von Wagner then cut a promo saying he didn’t lose to Solo Sikoa as he’s the one still standing and that NXT is his jungle.
Diamond Mine came down to the ring and Julius Creed said that he had been watching a lot of footage back and believes that Roderick Strong is trying to undermine Diamond Mine. Julius’ brother Brutus said he has his brothers back and then Roderick Strong said a brilliant line where he would back them against The USOS which was really cool. However, this didn’t seem to work for Roddy as the Creed Brothers and Damon Kemp backed him into the corner before NXT UK’s Gallus showed up and attacked them. I haven’t seen much of Gallus before but I’ve heard that they are pretty good so I look forward to seeing what they do next. Diamond Mine were left laying in the ring, which is identical to what Apollo Crews’ vision was from last week which is pretty cool.
Grade: C+
Cora Jade VS Roxanne Perez
Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade hasn’t had the greatest build which is a shame as the storyline was there. The opening show video and Perez’s promo did a decent job in rectifying it. I actually thought this match was alright, this was the best that Jade has looked in her entire NXT run and I can see Perez being a big deal in the women’s division in a few years' time. Perez’s suicide dive is always fun to watch. The finish saw Jade’s new aggressive side come out as she went to hit her former best friend with a kendo stick but missed. This gave Roxanne the opportunity to get revenge by using the kendo stick but Perez morals wouldn’t allow her to do it. This cost her massively as Cora hit a DDT onto the weapon to get the victory. I liked this ending and Jade winning was the right call. I am interested to see where these two go next.
Grade: B
Santos Escobar VS Tony D’Angelo
This match was billed as a “All or Nothing” Street fight as if Santos Escobar won, Legado would be free of Tony D’Angelo’s control but if Tony D won, Santos Escobar would be banned from NXT 2.0. There was an incredible video package showcasing that this story has been going on for four months. If you didn’t watch wrestling and tuned in to this show on accident and saw this video package, you’d think that this was the biggest thing in the world, that’s how well done it was. Santos Escobar then got an awesome entrance where he was draped in Mexican colours. He also wore a Luchador mask, not only was this because of his heritage, it was also a nod to how he debuted on NXT back in 2020. The crowd were fully behind Escobar which made the match even better. This was Santos Escobar at his best with some crazy dives to the outside and his brilliant storytelling ability. At one point in the match, Tony D “accidentally” took out Elektra Lopez which added even more to this already great matchup, The ending came when Escobar and D’Angelo both went for their signature weapons but unfortunately for Legado and the NXT Universe, D’Angelo landed the first shot with his crowbar to put an end to the bingo in NXT. This was the perfect way to end Santos Escobar’s run and the Emperor of Lucha Libre will go down as one of the all-time greats of this brand. Wilde, Del Toro and Lopez all sat around their leader, signalling the end of Legado Del Fantasma.
Grade: A+
Segments and Promos
Before Escobar VS D’Angelo, NXT UK Tag Champs Briggs and Jensen were being interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell before Gallus challenged them to a title match next week. The best part of this was one of the Gallus members saying that you’ve only had the belt for five minutes, before Briggs said that they had actually had them for six. Women’s Tag Team Champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter were speaking to Indi Hartwell before Hartwell received a letter. On the back of the letter was the words InDex forever, so hopefully that means that Indi is going to go up to the main roster to be with Dexter Lumis. NXT UK’s Blair Davenport then decided to take it and rip it up so she is already established as a mega heal.
Wendy Choo and Tiffany Stratton had a video hyping up their match which is going to be a Lights Out match which should be fun. Quincy Elliott had a video saying he was coming to NXT 2.0 as the “SuperDiva” so that’s going to be an interesting gimmick. Finally, before the main event, Grayson Waller announced that he will introduce his brand-new talk show next week called the Grayson Waller effect. Every week Grayson Waller comes across more and more as just another Midcard heel which is a shame given how big a statement he made at the end of last year.
Mandy Rose VS Zoey Stark
The NXT Women’s Championship was on the line as “The Attraction” Mandy Rose successfully defended against Zoey Stark. Rose was another person who got a special entrance which was cool, and this was a story of the experienced champion attacking Zoey Stark surgically repaired knee. A cool spot came when Mandy Rose delivered her Bicycle knee kick but Stark managed to kick out, the first person to do so in NXT. I was stunned that Stark managed to kick out but then the sadistic Rose took Stark’s knee brace off, put it on her own knee and hit a second bicycle knee kick to get the win. The metal brace hitting Stark’s face made a pretty loud noise. Rose will soon move up to third in the all-time NXT Women’s Championship list whilst Stark makes her SmackDown debut this Friday.
Grade: B-
Bron Breakker VS JD McDonagh
The main event saw the NXT Champion Bron Breakker take on the Irish Ace JD McDonagh. This feud has never really felt like a main event feud, but the ring action was still pretty solid. Breakker had a cool entrance where he used a Sledgehammer to break a box with JD’s name on it. Breakker is clearly improving and if he keeps it up, he will undoubtedly be a World Champion on either Raw or SmackDown. The coolest part was after Breakker hit his second spear of the match, JD got up before putting his arms out, almost begging to be hit with another, a nice touch given he has been saying that he enjoys pain. Breakker hit the third spear before hitting a military press powerslam to get the win and retain his championship.
Grade: B
Perhaps the most important part of the show came after the match as NXT United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate came down to the ring and stood face to face with his fellow champion. Given what else happened on the night, we could well be seeing an NXT VS NXT UK World’s Collide event soon.
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