By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida, at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live August 26, 2025, on The CW Network
[Hour One] Highlights from NXT Heatwave aired…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Ricky Saints made his entrance to start the show. Saints said he wanted to come out here to start off NXT the right way, the Ricky way. Ricky said everyone saw what happened at Heatwave, and he’d put his money behind Je’von Evans any day. Ricky said Oba Femi proved exactly why he’s NXT Champion. Ricky said it’s been exactly six months since he’s been here. He said he’s been North American Champion, faced the best of the best, and taken down monsters; but Oba Femi has something that he wants.
Ricky said he’ll step up to the plate to take down what seems to be impossible. Ricky said he’s the man and it’s time to face Oba face to face. Josh Briggs made his entrance and said that Ricky isn’t getting Oba. Josh said that Ricky is acting like a gift to the business. Josh said that he’ll give Ricky the rare Josh Briggs complement. Josh said the hype is real, but he’s done with outsiders like Inamura or Ricky. Josh said people like Ricky or Inamura are getting title shots they don’t deserve.
Ricky cut off Josh and said that he should have checked Josh a few weeks ago. Ricky said there’s no doubt that Josh is tough, but Josh must be out of his mind thinking Ricky will sit at the back of the line. Ricky said Josh came out here looking like Sid from Toy Story, hoping that Ricky will hang in the back. Josh said he’ll beat Ricky right here. NXT GM Ava made her entrance and announced that nobody has heard from Je’von Evans, and there needs to be a new number one contender chosen.
Ava booked Josh Briggs vs. Ricky Saints in a number one contenders match to face Oba Femi at No Mercy…
John’s Thoughts: A solid segment to set up Ricky Saints as the next contender for Oba Femi. Josh Briggs still needs to be built up a bit fresh out of his run in the mid card of the tag division with Inamura. The fact that Briggs is next on the depth chart under Saints is an example of Oba Femi having very few viable opponents (Which is why they had to book him against Inanura, Briggs, and Borne in recent defenses). I think the best way NXT has to fix this problem in upcoming months is to put the title on Ricky Saints. I also think NXT can maximize Ricky’s effectiveness by making him a heel (which will set up Saints potentially dropping the title to a babyface Je’von Evans down the road).
Footage aired of Ava meeting up with Blake Monroe after her match. Monroe was asking for a title match against Jacy Jayne. Kelani Jordan pulled up and told Blake to go to the back of the line. Both women started bickering. Ava cut in and booked Blake vs. Jordan in a one-on-one match on NXT. Kelani said she’ll look forward to it. Blake said that Ava isn’t a good GM…
Blake Monroe made her entrance…[c]
Kelani Jordan made her entrance…
1. Blake Monroe vs. Kelani Jordan. Both women started the match with chain wrestling. Blake pressured Jordan in the corner with forearms. Blake took out Jordan in the center of the ring with a forearm. Jordan countered a Jackknife Fujiwara Armbar for a two count. Jordan got a moment of respite after a Pele Kick. Jordan rallied with running Axe Handle strikes and a cartwheel into a back elbow. Jordan hit Blake with an X Factor DDT. Blake rolled to ringside.
Jordynne Grace made her entrance. Blake ran to the back again, but the back door was locked this time. Jordynne peacefully told Blake to get back to the ring. Blake ran back to the ring. Kelani gave Blake a Twisting Angle Slam and a One of a Kind for the victory.
Kelani Jordan defeated Blake Monroe via pinfall in 4:16.
John’s Thoughts: Big win for Jordan from someone higher on the depth chart. That said, I’m not the biggest fan of not establishing Blake Monroe’s in ring credibility early on in her WWE run. I know what she can do from AEW, but the masses don’t. I also wouldn’t have pushed the credibility on Kelani Jordan at the moment because she’s been stalled for a long while as a character. She’s one of NXT’s best talents bell-to-bell; but they’ve been very wishy-washy with her character development and character alignment. They book Jordan like a mid-card babyface, but she’s also showing signs of being mopey and pouty, signs of that heel turn that they were building for a while, but went nowhere.
The show cut to a Myles Borne vs. Lexis King hype package that aired highlights from their feud…
Myles Borne made his entrance. Sarah Schreiber interviewed him on the ramp and asked him how his eyesight was after the mace. Borne said he’s ready for the blindfold match so he doesn’t need his sight. Borne asked the crowd to scream as loud as possible, despite him being deaf, to help direct him to King during their match…[c]
Vic Joseph plugged WWE’s podcast lineup…
Lexis King was already in the ring. The ref made sure King didn’t jump the gun…
2. Lexis King vs. Myles Borne in a Blindfold match. Borne used the crowd cheers as a dowsing rod, but both men still struggled to find each other. King thought he had Borne in the corner, but nobody was there. Borne hit King with a dropkick and got a nearfall. Borne dumped King to ringside. King hurt himself by accidentally hitting the ringpost and stumbling across the steel steps. Borne found King and tossed him back in the ring.
King missed a dropkick in the center of the ring. King managed to get a few right hands on Borne and hit him with a body slam. King missed an elbow drop. Borne hurt himself with a leg drop that hit nobody. The crowd almost directed King to superkicking the referee. Borne managed to duck a superkick from King. King and Borne traded Boo Yay right hands.
King “accidentally” poked the eyes of the referee and then took off the blindfold, so he could punt Borne in the balls. King put the blindfold back on and hit Borne with the twisting neckbreaker for the win.
Lexis King defeated Myles Borne via pinfall in 4:51.
Wren Sinclair was nervous about not having a tag team partner for her upcoming match. Charlie Dempsey introduced her to a tag partner, Kendal Grey…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Blindfold matches tend to be very bad (I think of D’Lo Brown vs. Triple H and James Storm vs. Chris Harris being come bad ones in my memory). That said this was as good as you can execute one. Props to Lexis King for making himself the butt of the joke proudly. The dowsing rod crowd cheer effect gave the match a bit of a “Twitch Plays Pokemon” feel where the match was fan-interactive. King picking up the win makes sense and I don’t mind a low-stakes feud to round out the mid-card. I prefer having actual stories as opposed to “just having matches that don’t mean anything”.
Entrances for the next match took place. Tatum Paxley had her random Barbie doll with her…
3. “The Culling” Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley (w/Shawn Spears, Niko Vance) vs. Wren Sinclair and Kendal Grey (w/Charlie Dempsey). Grey got Izzi in a Standing Switch, which Izzi shrugged off. Grey did some evasions which allowed Wren to blind tag in. Wren and Grey gave Izzi double team strikes. Tatum tagged in and tossed around Wren. Wren hit a side Scorpion kick and Facebuster for a nearfall. Wren put Izzi in a side headlock. Tatum blind tagged in and held Wren in place for a Izzi dropkick.
The Culling worked on Wren with isolation offense. Wren dodged a standing splash and tagged in Grey who rallied and hit Tatum with a Belly to Belly. Grey hit Tatum with a slingshot double stomp. Grey hit Izzi with a Flatliner. Tatum hit Grey with a German Suplex. Wren tagged in and hit Tatum with a Underhook Suplex. Tatum hit Wren with a knee to the face. Izzi tagged herself in which confused Tatum.
Wren rolled up Izzi for a nearfall. Izzi hit Wren with a Yakuza kick. Grey put Tatum in a Juji Gatame. Izzi decided to pick up the pinfall on Wren rather than break up the submission.
Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley defeated Wren Sinclair and Kendal Grey via pinfall in 3:30.
Vic hyped upcoming segments…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A well worked match for what little time was given. It feels a little bit too soon to be planting the seeds for a Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley breakup, because I feel like the female part of The Culling is the only interesting part and is actually looking like it has potential. Planting the seeds of dissention felt forced here. What did impress me here, low key, was Kendal Grey. She’s changed up her look since her early NXT days where she felt like random NIL cheerleader #73. She does have an amateur wrestling background and I like her new athletic look with the singlet. She also seems to have gotten a bit more grit in her offense too. She’s someone to be on the lookout for as she has a good look, looks great, and seems to be developing a style in-ring.
A TNA World Champion Trick Williams promo aired where he laid out the three NXT event that NXT announced, No Mercy, Homecoming, and Halloween Havoc. He said he’ll be a centerpiece on all three shows. He said if anyone has a problem with that “let’s talk about it”…
Ricky Saints and Josh Briggs were already in the ring…
4. Ricky Saints vs. Josh Briggs. Saints dominated the match early on. Briggs got a bit of control, but Saints came back with a knee. Briggs reversed a DDT into a Bossman Slam for a nearfall. Both men traded counters and reversals. Saints hit Briggs with his signature strut version of the Undertaker’s Old School. Briggs no sold a front kick. Saints dragged Briggs to ringside and hit him with a chop. Saints jumped over the steps to avoid a whip.
Saints dropkicked the steps into Briggs. Briggs caught Saints out of the air. Saints escaped the hold and sent Briggs into the ringpost. The show cut to break.[c]
Josh ended a Ricky rally with a flying crossbody for a nearfall. Briggs used a power whip to send Ricky into the corner, for a nearfall. Briggs used another power whip to work on Ricky’s ribs. Ricky slid to dodge a clothesline. Ricky rallied with right hands. Ricky struggled to get Josh off his feet. Ricky used a flying punch to knock Josh off his feet.
[Hour Two] Ricky hit Josh with a Michinoku Driver for a close nearfall. Josh missed a mat punch. Ricky hit Josh with a leg lariat. Josh used a right hand to stagger Ricky on the top rope. Ricky shoved Josh off the top rope. Josh knocked Ricky off with a front kick. Josh hit Ricky with a backbreaker and Big Boot for a nearfall. Ricky fliped away from a chokeslam and hit Josh with a Enzuigiri.
Ricky hit Josh with a Spear. Ricky missed an elbow drop. Josh hit Ricky with a Chokeslam for a good nearfall. Briggs took off the elbow pad. Ricky ducked a lariat. Both men traded fatigued strikes. Ricky dodged a Big Boot and hit Briggs with Destino. Ricky hit Briggs with a Tornado DDT for the victory.
Ricky Saints defeated Josh Briggs via pinfall in 12:43 to become number one contender to the NXT Championship.
Sol Ruca, Zaria, and Lola Vice were putting on makeup to plug the makeup sponsor who’s graphic is flashed on the center of the ring with a spotlight. The camera panned over to Jaida Parker and Lash Legend trash talking with each other. Jaida then gagged when she ran into Ariana Grace flirting with Channing Lorenzo…
Back in the ring, Ricky Saints got in the camera and said he’s coming after Oba Femi. The camera then showed Oba Femi heading to the ring from backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good uphill battle match for Ricky Saints with Josh Briggs playing the roles of big man and good hand really well. I hope they don’t keep Briggs in the good hand role because he can be useful as a strong heel coming off winning his feud with Inamura. That would take WWE having patience by having Briggs tear through midcard opponents (which I am not too confident of WWE doing?). Some people may see the Tornado DDT as a bit “basic” but I like the Tornado DDT as Ricky’s finisher that he can pull off against larger opponents. I also wouldn’t mind if he uses the Roshambo a bit less as I was never a huge fan of the move by someone of his body frame (the Roshambo/Dominator looks way better when performed by a big man like Bobby Lashley who makes the move look good, while Ricky’s dominator only looks good half the time).
Oba Femi was already in the ring with Ricky Saints back from break. Ricky talked about how Oba barely made it out of Heatwave due to the weight of being champion. Ricky said Oba can’t be ruler forever. Ricky said Oba is looking in the eyes of the man who will end the reign of Terror from Oba Femi. Oba said he made a mistake when he said he saw nothing. He said he sees fear in Ricky’s eyes.
Oba said Ricky calls himself “absolute” and is going to have a date with destiny. Oba said at No Mercy Ricky won’t be special, but an ordinary man. Oba said he’ll make the exceptional average, and make the “absolute” “absolutely mediocre”. The lights flashed and Dark State appeared in the crowd to cut a promo. Dion cut a hype promo. Osiris threatened to storm the ring. Saquon Shugars said you can ask Hank and Tank what happened after Heatwave. Ricky said he was down for a fight.
DarkState stormed the ring and had the advantage with the numbers game. Hank and Tank ran out to even the odds. The babyfaces cleared DarkState from the ring to hold higher ground and stand tall in the ring…
A hype video aired to introduce the WWE Speed titles being ported over to NXT. Sol Ruca and El Grande Americano are the reigning female and male Speed Champions. The rules clarified that you must win a “speed tournament” to get a title shot …
The show cut to GM Ava who talked about Sol Ruca needing a new challenger for the title: Candace LeRae, Lainey Reed, Faby Apache, and Xia Brookside were announced for the tournament. Xia Brookside vs. Candace LeRae was announced as the first match in the next speed tournament for next week…
John’s Thoughts: So does NXT have two short time limit titles now with the Speed and Heritage Cup? Stacks is still listed on the WWE roster page as Heritage Cup champion despite Tony D’Angelo dumping the cup into a river. That aside, I’m curious to see if WWE can get over the 3 minute time limit title as a good alternate match type. I personally liked watching Speed matches in the background as they were all less than three minutes and didn’t feel like a waste of time.
Ethan Page, Chelsea Green, and The Secret Hervice made their entrance…[c]
Vic Joseph hyped NXT’s three big live events again along with their ticket sale promo codes. Vic hyped Oba Femi vs. Ricky Saints for the NXT Championship and Jacy Jayne vs. Lola Vice for the NXT Women’s Championship at No Mercy…
Tyra Mae Steele and Tavion Heights made their entrance…
5. Alba Fyre (w/Ethan Page, Chelsea Green, Piper Niven) vs. Tyra Mae Steele (w/Tavion Heights). Steele slammed and stompped on Fyre. Steele gave Fyre a Gutwrench Suplex. Tyra used a leg Alligator Roll on Fyre. Tyra then put Alba in a Bow and Arrow. Alba rallied with elbows and a superkick. Steele teased hitting Green at ringside, but Page told her to back up. Fyre hit Steele with a dive at ringside. Fyre worked on Alba with methodical offense.
Steele rallied with right hands. Steele used an ass strike to take down Fyre. Fyre dodged a dive. Fyre hit Steele with a high knee and DDT for a nearfall. Steele reversed Fyre into a German Suplex. Steele put Fyre in an Ankle Lock. Page grabbed Fyre’s hand. Steele stompped on Page’s hand. Steele rolled up Fyre for the victory.
Tyra Mae Steele defeated Alba Fyre via pinfall in 4:21.
Green dumped Steele to ringside. Heights blocked a slap from Green. Page hit Heights in the back with the NA title belt. Page laid out Heights with a Twisted Grin (Twist of Fate) and then stood tall after covering Heights with a Canadian Flag…
John’s Thoughts: A better debut match for Tyra Mae Steele in front of a crowd that’s friendlier to her, seeing her in Evolve and dark matches. WWE flubbed her PLE debut by having her on the road against one of the most popular characters on the WWE roster. I’d keep Steele off the road for now while they are feuding with Green, and maybe work on her getting over with the Performance Center crowd first. Same with Heights too. Aside from the botched babyface pushes this Sunday, I do like Ethan Page carrying this mid-card feud as the pro-Canada foreign enemy. Use him while you have him as Ethan Page is a Swiss Army Knife and can be utilized for whatever you need on the main roster too, weather or not you need a goofball comedy figure or a sadistic heel. I even liked Page as the Saul Goodman parody when he played Abyss’s nephew. Only character that I do not want to see from Page ever again is his stupid Karate Man gimmick.
Hank and Tank approached Ava backstage and demanded their rematch for the tag titles. Ava said DarkState already made the request. Hank and Tank did a honk honk and were about to walk out. Ava pulled them back and said that DarkState wants Hank, Hank, Oba, and Ricky in a match. Ava said after that match, Hank and Tank can talk about their rematch…
Vic Joseph sent the show to a preview of WWE Unreal on Netflix…
Vic then hyped a six women tag match for after the break…[c]
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Fatal Influence and asked Jacy Jayne how she feels after losing the TNA Knockouts title. Jayne said that that Ash stole the title and that she still did something nobody did, win the TNA and NXT Women’s titles at the same time. Nyx said she’s looking forward to bringing the Speed title to Fatal Influence. Jayne said that she has more confidence in Henley bringing the title over due to Nyx losing all the time. All three women walked off in different directions with Nyx not being too happy about being disrespected…
The following matches were announced for next week’s NXT: Candace LeRae vs. Xia Brookside, Lash Legend vs. Jaida parker, and Oba, Ricky, Hank, and Tank vs. DarkState
Lola Vice made her entrance. Zaria made her entrance to Karrion Kross’s TNA theme, followed by Sol Ruca coming out to her theme. Fatal Influence made their entrance…[c]
Vic Joseph plugged this weekend’s Clash in Paris live event lineup. Vic also noted that it was Sol Ruca’s birthday…
6. “Fatal Influence” Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Jazmyn Nyx vs. Sol Ruca, Zaria, and Lola Vice. Henley got a two count off Ruca after a body scissors. Rica did a flip into a Superkick on Henley. Ruca blocked a Monkey Flip. Henley hit Sol with a Suplex. Nyx tagged in and worked on double team moves on Ruca with Henley. Sol did a Helicopter Slam on Nyx. Zaria tagged in and hit Nyx with an assisted hip toss and assisted elbow drop on Nyx for a two count. Zaria used a sleeper to drag Nyx to the top rope.
Zaria hit Nyx with a diving clothesline for a two count. Nyx hit Zaria with a sweep and leg lariat for a two count. Nyx reversed Zaria with a Victory Roll for a two count. Zaria body slammed Nyx. Lola tagged in and Zaria body slammed her on Nyx for a two count. Jayne tagged in. Jayne shrugged off a Collar and Elbow from Lola. Jayne used a pin to break a Juji Gatame attempt. Lola hit Jayne with a seated armdrag.
Jayne came back with a backbreaker and clothesline for a two count. Henley tagged in and hit Lola with a sliding clothesline for a two count. Lola fended off Henley with Clinch Knees. Sol tagged in and hit Henley with tandem strikes. Sol sent Henley into the ringpost and rode her on the buckle like a surf board. Jayne pulled the rope to dump Sol to ringside. Jayne hit Sol with a PK. Lainey Reid was shown watching the match from the Crow’s Next. Vic noted that Reid is in the Speed Tournament.[c]
The show cut back with 7 minutes left at the top of the hour. Fatal Influence used quick tags to cut the ring in half on Sol during the break. Sol hit Nyx with a shoulder breaker, but Henley cut Sol at the pass after a tag. Jayne tossed Lola into the steel steps to prevent the hot tag. Nyx and Henley hit Sol with a double flapjack and blockbuster. Jayne hit Sol with a thrust kick for a nearfall. Sol escaped a suplex and tagged in Zaria for the hot tag.
Jayne got Zaria to a knee with a superkick, but Zaria came back with a suplex on Jayne and Henley. Zaria caught Nyx out of the air and hit her with a back suplex. Sol hit Nyx with an assisted corkscrew splash for a nearfall. Jayne and Sol took each other out with stereo clotheslines. Lola tagged in and cleaned house with Tae Kwon Do kicks. Vice trapped Nyx and Jayne in the corners. Lola hit Nyx and Jayne with her “I’m a Latina” ass strikes.
Nyx hit Lola with a Pele Kick off Henley’s distraction. Jayne and Henley hit Lola with a High Low kick. Sol broke up Henley’s pin. Sol dragged Jayne to ringside to eat a spear from Zaria. There was miscommunication between Nyx and Henley. Sol hit Nyx with a Sol Snatcher. Lola hit Henley with a Spinning Backfist for the victory.
Lola Vice, Sol Ruca, and Zaria defeated Fatal Influence via pinfall in 14:17.
Vic Joseph ran through the advertised No Mercy matches on September 27th to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A fun women’s tag match television main event to put some steam behind a handful of babyfaces. While I think Lola Vice is still a bit basic in terms of being a character, I feel like her excursions to AAA have helped get her some reps and those reps are showing fruit in that she has gotten better in the ring. She does have a nice ass, and having a nice ass can get you a lot of bonus points from the red blooded male crowd, so at least she has that to fall on in terms of connecting with the crowd (I’m not being crass either, her ass is her defining characteristic in terms of being a television character).
This week’s NXT felt a bit different in terms of editing. The timing felt different in terms of when they scheduled their commercial breaks. It was well paced though, so no complaints. I like NXT being back to booking for NXT as opposed to booking impromptu shows to be a mild nuisance to AEW. I really liked the show graphics showing that they have matches booked 30 days out, which has us looking forward to solid storyline development in upcoming weeks.
I never thought I’d see the day that a wrestling ring has the word Maybelline on it..
How soon until we get a BlueChew blue Kendo Stick?
Well… that prop might be too suggestive…
Nah. BlueChew is more of a podcast commercial. But I could see an ad for Hims.
Another blindfold match that was bad was the Jake Roberts-Rick Martel on at WM7.
Also bad is Booker T’s commentary. He’s really bad. He should go away like Pat McAfee.
Vic Joseph:”Booker’s short circuiting over here!!”
Lol
Why can’t the live audience be instructed prior to the show to chant “HOLY BLEEP!” Yes I literally mean use the word “BLEEP.” They’ll have just as much fun, maybe more, and the audio feed won’t have to be cut.