By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida, at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live October 20, 2026, on The CW Network
[Hour One] A trailer-style teaser opened up the show to hype up the Cruz Montana vs. Dion Lennox match. Arrival shots were then shown of Cruz Montana and Dion Lennox…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Number One Contender to the NXT Championship, Tony D’Angelo, made his entrance. Tony D said he always says what he has to say face to face like a man. Tony called out NXT Champion Grayson Waller. Grayson Waller made his entrance. Waller said he always knew he’d go against Tony D when he came back to NXT. Waller noted that he and Tony were signed to WWE at around the same time, debut on NXT at the same time, and were both on the NXT War Games team to beat the Black and Gold team.
Waller asked Tony if he was running from him. Tony brought up that Waller doesn’t know if he’ll have the championship if the Heatwave match was one on one. Waller said he wants the satisification of winning the title one on one. Waller said he came to NXT to be undeniable, and that was easy when he got the title. Waller said he also had past demons, one of them being Tony D’Angelo. Tony noted that they both were unknowns when they debuted, but they’re big stars now.
D’Angelo noted that he never liked Waller. D’Angelo said Waller looked down on him for being an athlete with street smarts while Waller was an indie guy who’s just looking for big moments. Waller said he resents that D’Angelo was chosen. He said he resented having to teach D’Angelo what War Games was because he didn’t know what it was. Waller said it didn’t matter that Waller was better on the mic and better in the ring because he was chose.
Waller said that put a chip on his shoulder and he likes that it got him the title. Tony D called Waller a hypocrite. Tony D said Waller got meaner and in good shape. Tony D said Waller is a troll who hides behind one liners and shirt memes. Waller said that’s a personality and Tony left his in his old fedora hat. Waller said he already won the mental war months ago. Waller said he’s going to take Tony to Halloween Havoc and let him drown himself in the waters he put himself in.
D’Angelo talked about 2.0 making so many greats on the main roster and he likes NXT. D’Angelo said he and Waller are foundation guys, but when you get down to it it’s down to them going against each other one on one. Waller said that’s a beautiful story. Waller noted that Tony D did something Brock Lesnar couldn’t do, beat Oba Femi twice. Waller said that won’t matter because he’ll make the title better than anyone else who’s had it.
Tony said he held the title already and cemented his legacy. Tony said if you take away his accolades in NXT, he’s still a Division I champion who will rip Waller’s head off and beat him with it. Tony said he’s going to drag Waller through hell. He told Waller to grab his trunks and swim in the waters when a shark is in there. The segment ended…
John’s Thoughts: A good promo exchange. Waller had the upper hand here and came off a bit more sympathetic given him coming off as a having a harder path to stardom. Waller even brought up my criticism of Tony D that I gave him last week where he’s a bit of a generic character now. While Waller was more sympathetic, Tony D didn’t get left in the dust as he proved why he’s such a talented pro wrestler. Some wrestlers would crumble under this pressure, but Tony D was poised and was able to push back against Waller in a credible way.
Izzi Dame was chatting with Layla Diggs and Skylar Rae who told Dame that Izzi was getting a bit extra with her obcession with Zaria recently. Izzi said she’s going to expose Zaria and pick her piece by piece…
Layla Diggs vs. Izzi Dame was hyped for later in the show. Vic also hyped the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Vic was cut off by a Birth Right promo. A few of the Birth Right members hyped up their upcoming match. Stacks wasn’t with them (I believe he got injured over the weekend at a live event)…[c]
A vignette aired for new wrestler Chantel Monroe. She called her a showstopping diva…
Entrances for the next match took place. Vic noted that Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo was injured at a live event over the weekend and isn’t medically cleared. Booker ranted about how Stacks doesn’t have a Birth Right anyway (oof)…
1. “Birth Right” Lexis King and Charlie Dempsey (w/Ariana Grace, Uriah Connors) vs. El Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr. and Galeno. Dempsey dominated Wagner early on with technical chain wrestling. Galeno and Lexis King tagged in. Galeno no-sold chest chops. Galeno caught King out of the air. Galeno showed off agility to avoid King’s offense, leading to a shoulder tackle. Wagner tagged in. Galeno hip tossed Wagner on King for a two count. Wagner gave King a Mafia Kick. Galeno tagged in and gave King a running Senton for a nearfall.
King ducked to ringside. Ariana Grace got in the way to prevent a dive. Wager used Galeno as leverage to go over Grace and hit the three Birth Right members with a Flip Dive.[c]
Back from break, Charlie Dempsey was working on Wagner with joint manipulation to cut the ring in half on Wagner. Wagner hit Dempsey with a back suplex for a window of opportunity. Galeno tagged in and cleaned house. Galeno hit rapid clotheslines on Dempsey. Galeno hit King with a swinging body slam and multi-run Standing Splash for a nearfall on King. Wagner tagged in. Galeno backdroped Wagner into a dropkick on King. Dempsey ran in to break up Wagner’s pin at two.
Wagner put King in a submission, but Dempsey blind tagged in. Dempsey put Wagner in a Octopus Hold. Galeno broke the hold and all four men took each other out with running strikes to leave all four men on the mat to recover. Dempsey gave Wager a Superkick before a Dempsey German Suplex for a nearfall. Wagner went to the top rope and did the Eddie Guerrero shimmy. King got the knees up to block a Frog Splash.
Zilla Fatu walked out to take out Uriah Connors with a right hand. Ariana Grace got in Zilla’s face to jaw with him. In the ringWagner gave King an Exploder and Michinoku Driver.
Galeno and El Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr defeated Lexis King and Charlie Dempsey via pinfall in 13:13 to advance to the Semi-finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Zilla Fatu ran in the ring to clear most of Birth Right from the ring. Zilla went for a Samoan Spike on Dempsey but Dempsey kicked Zilla’s hand away. Zilla ended up hitting Dempsey with a pop up Samoan Drop to stand tall to end the segment…
John’s Thoughts: The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic continues to put on consistently good matches week-to-week (and I hope this isn’t just a flash in the pan either, and that they continue to put on great tag team match following the classic). I like that NXT doesn’t do what Raw and Smackdown do with the AAA wrestlers, and that they actually pick up wins over the main WWE contracted talent. I’ve been impressed by this Wagner and Galeno tag team. I’ve seen a lot of Hijo Wagner’s work before the WWE acquisition, but I’ve actually been more impressed by his brother, Galeno.
DarkState were backstage. Osiris Griffin and Cutler James were watching Cruz Montana’s promo from last week where he threatened Dion Lennox. Dion Lennox got up and said they’ll be casualties later on. Cutler asked what that meant? Dion talked about a plan to bring Cruz’s demons back to light. Dion dragged Cutler and Osiris away to tell them his plan…
Tavion Heights was shown walking backstage…[c]
Vic Joseph hyped WWE Main Event on Rumble (ugh… Again, I hate that toxic cesspool of a streaming platform)…
Vic and Booker plugged NXT Halloween Havoc…
A sponsored segment aired to spotlight Kam Hendrix. Kam Hendrix was in the middle of an outdoor football field. Kam said he was going to do an exhibition. He ended up catching three footballs without dropping them. he then blindfolded himself and caught passes. Kam said he’s the future, lights, Kam, Action…
Tavion Heights made his entrance in street clothes for a promo. Heights recapped how his day one, homeboy, and tag partner ended up backstabbing him by pilmanizing him with a chair in the ring. Heights said he believed in Myles. Heights said Myles stabbed him in the back and twisted the knife. Heights said that was his own mistake. Heights said he needed a front row seat to watch Miles fall under pressure going after the NXT title. Heights said he watched it in 4K behind a camera.
Heights called Miles a backstabbing, bum-ass bitch. Myles Borne ran out and punched Heights in the back. Both men ended up brawling to the parking lot, where they were pulled apart…
Chantel Monroe approached Vanity Project and asked if they saw her video earlier. Horny Ricky Smokes put on a deep voice and said “I loved it”. Myka Lockwood cut in and told Smokes to lock in as they have to go chat with Robert Stone. Vanity Project entered Stone’s GM office. Stone told them that Mini Vikingo wasn’t cleared and their scheduled match isn’t happening later on. All of Vanity Project started sarcastically acting worried. Stone said as a make-good, Jackson Drake will defend his North American title against EK Prosper next week…[c]
Entrances for the next match took place…
2. Izzi Dame vs. Layla Diggs. Izzi dominated early on using her strength advantage to toss Layla around. Layla came back with uppercuts on Izzi’s elbow joint. Layla hit Izzi with a shoulder tackle. Layla hit Izzi with a splits armdrag and got a two count. Izzi came back with a Yakuza Kick to take out Layla. Layla pulled down the top rope to dump Izzi to ringside. Izzi blocked a Suicide Dive with a forearm.
Layla used a handstand to avoid being tripped on the apron. Layla hit an impressive Standing Shooting Star press to pivot and take down Izzi (similar to The Rascalz’s Hot Fire Flame). The show cut to commercial.[c]
