The NXT title will be on the line in a fatal four-way that headlines Sunday’s WWE NXT Heatwave from Toronto, Canada’s Scotiabank Arena (7 PM Eastern on Peacock/WWE Network).
Champion Trick Williams will defend the title against Ethan Page, Je’Von Evans and Shawn Spears in the main event.
NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez will defend against Lola Vice who is getting her first title opportunity. This will be Perez’s fifth title defense.
NXT men’s North American Champion Oba Femi will defend against Wes Lee with the stipulation that if Lee loses, he can’t challenge for the title again as long as Femi is champion.
Inaugural NXT women’s North American Champion Kelani Jordan will defend her title for the second time as she takes on Sol Ruca while the squabbling Axiom & Nathan Frazer will defend the NXT Tag Team titles against Chase U’s Andre Chase & Duke Hudson.
In a women’s division showcase, Karmen Petrovic & Arianna Grace will battle Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx.
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PRE-SHOW
– Megan Morant & Sam Roberts were the hosts of the pre-show and they teed up all the matchups we’d see tonight on Heatwave.
– Lola Vice was interviewed about her NXT Women’s Championship Match against Roxanne Perez. She said that she’d be the first Cuban-American NXT Women’s Champion.
– Sarah Schreiber was at Scotiabank Arena to report that Nathan Frazer hadn’t arrived to the building yet, as we saw Axiom presumably trying to call his tag partner. Schreiber suggested that Axiom might have to defend the NXT Tag Team Championships against Chase U alone if Frazer didn’t make it in time.
– They showed a clip of Kelani Jordan and Sol Ruca working out together ahead of their NXT Women’s North American Championship match.
– Separate clips of Ethan Page and Je’Von Evans talking about the fatal four-way for the NXT Championship were shown.
– Chase U were preparing for the NXT Tag Team Championship match and got a call from Ridge Holland, who wished them luck for their match.
– Morant and Roberts interviewed NXT General Manager Ava about Heatwave. She talked about how the five championship matches we’ll see tonight could change the landscape of NXT as a whole. When asked about making the NXT Championship match a fatal four-way, Ava said that she didn’t regret making that decision and that she was looking forward to seeing the action go down in that match.
– We now got remarks from Shawn Spears and NXT Champion Trick Williams as they talked about the NXT Championship fatal four-way.
– Vic Joseph and Booker T welcomed us inside Scotiabank Arena as the Kickoff match was about to begin.
Tag Team Match: Karmen Petrovic & Arianna Grace defeated Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx
Hometown stars Grace and Petrovic got a good reaction from the Toronto crowd as they made their way to the ring together as a team.
Grace and Jayne started off the match while the fans chanted for Grace. Joseph pointed out that Petrovic was in Toronto Raptors-themed attire, noting that she was trying to “out-Toronto” Grace.
Grace and Petrovic showed some nice chemisry with an assisted clothesline on Jayne. Nyx got tagged into the match, but found herself in trouble in the corner of Grace and Petrovic.
Jayne was the legal woman and regained the advantage as she attacked Petrovic with a nice neckbreaker, followed by the clothesline. The heel team began to work over Petrovic in their corner.
Petrovic fought out of a chinlock by Jayne, but got rattled by a kick to the jaw. Nyx entered the match as she and Jayne hit the double-team suplex on Petrovic.
Nyx and Jayne tried for another double-team suplex, but Petrovic escaped and eventually found enough separation to tag Grace into the match.
Grace was a house of fire as she took down both Nyx and Jayne with a flurry of offense. Petrovic and Grace hit a nice double team dropkick, but Nyx broke up the count.
The finish saw Nyx’s roll-up attempt on Petrovic being reversed into a roll-up against her as Grace pulled at her hair to cause it. Petrovic got the victory here.
An okay opener, but seeing the hometown girls pick up the victory was nice to see and a good way to get the crowd hot for the main Heatwave show.
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– Nathan Frazer finally arrived, but Axiom was still unsure about their unity as a team.
– Morant and Roberts wrapped up the kickoff show by talking about the fatal four-way match for the NXT Championship.
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NXT HEATWAVE 2024
– The cold open for the show ran down the five championship matches we’ll see this evening.
NXT North American Championship: Oba Femi (c) defeated Wes Lee
The stipulation for this match was that if Lee failed to defeat Femi, he’d be no longer be able to challenge for the North American title as long as Femi was the champion.
Lee started off with kicks to Femi, but he got swept down. Femi overpowered Lee and pushed him in the corner. Lee quickly reversed and tried to punch away at Femi in the corner.
Femi continued to get shelled by kicks from Lee, including a springboard kick. Femi stopped the momentum of Lee by catching him, as he then hit him with a hard right that sent Lee to the outside.
Femi used his impressive strength to spin Lee around with a modified version of the F10. Femi then threw Lee to the outside near the commentary table. He taunted Lee in front of Booker T, as he then threw Lee right into the uncovered ring apron. Lee struggled to get back up, but he made it before the count of ten.
Femi continued his assault on Femi with a fierce backbreaker. We got dueling “Let’s go Wes Lee / Oba Femi” chants from the Scotiabank Arena crowd. Lee’s back got crushed by Femi’s foot, which was followed by a vicious strike to the head.
The back of Lee remained the target for Femi as he was trapped in a Tree of Woe position. Lee avoided a spear, which caused Femi to ram right into the ring post. Femi attempted to throw Lee out, but he got sent outside instead.
On the apron, Lee got felled with a hard and loud chop to the chest by Femi. Lee found himself trapped in a back stretch by Fem in the middle of the ring soon after. Femi sent him down with a chop that only got a two count.
Femi taunted a kneeling Lee, but he paid for that with a kick to the head, which stunned him. Lee followed that up with a series of kicks and punches that managed to leave Femi dazed. Tornado DDT by Lee on Femi got a close near-fall.
The action spilled to ringside with Lee hitting Femi with two consecutive suicide dives. Lee’s Meteora attempt got caught by Femi, but he turned that into a roll-up pin for a close near-fall. The fans started to get on their feet for this one.
Lee connected with a Meteora to Femi’s back, but his attempt a diving springboard forearm was intercepted by a Femi forearm. Lee barely kicked out at two.
Femi hoisted Lee on his shoulders and he ascended to the top rope. Lee escaped and tried for a hurricanrana. Femi’s powerbomb was turned into a modified avalanche X-Factor. Down in the ring, Kardiac Kick by Lee, but Femi kicked out at two.
Lee’s frog splash was caught by a choke from Femi, but Lee turned it around and the action headed outside again. Lee tried for another Kardiac Kick, but his back gave out. Another attempt was caught by Femi, who threw him upwards and dropped him on his back.
Femi finished off this match with his Fall From Grace finisher, and that’s it, over. Femi retained in near-dominant fashion and ended Lee’s North American Championship dreams.
I quite enjoyed this opener. As it began to pick up, we got a good underdog story of Lee trying his best to stop the onslaught of Oba Femi, but ultimately failing. Femi continues to be an impressive bulwark of NXT and he can only get even better from here.
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NXT North American Women’s Championship: Kelani Jordan (c) defeated Sol Ruca
Ruca and Jordan made a gesture of respect as both women started to show off their impressive athleticism with a set of flipping dodges that got applause from the crowd.
Ruca swept Jordan and locked her in a sleeper hold, but that was short-lived. X-Factor attempt by Ruca got reversed with a unique handstand reversal from Jordan, who followed with a splash for a one count. Ruca’s second X-Factor managed to hit its mark.
Ruca locked Jordan in a surfboard stretch for a brief moment. In the middle of the ring, Ruca and Jordan once again had an exchange of blows. Ruca got sent outsde and knocked down with a spinning vaulting press by Jordan.
Jordan stepped it up with a DDT for a near-fall. Ruca created separation with a superkick on Jordan, followed by two consecutive springboard crossbodies. Ruca leapt off the rope for a 450 clothesline on a standing Jordan for a two.
Jordan took advantage with a kick to the head of Ruca, then taking her down with a poison rana that sent Ruca outside the ring again. Jordan kept the foot on the gas with a moonsault to Ruca.
Ruca recovered and took Jordan out with a diving move. Both women struggled to make it back to their feet but they made it before the ten-count.
Ruca and Jordan with an exchange of repeated pinfall attempts, but neither woman could get the decisive one, two, three. Ruca floored Jordan with an impressive powerbomb for the two-count.
A fight on the top rope ended with Ruca sent down as Jordan had her in position for a 450 Splash. Ruca got her knees up to block it. Ruca tried for a Sol Snatcher, but Jordan reversed it for a near-fall.
Jordan’s poison rana got blocked and turned into a reverse Alabama Slam into the turnbuckle by Ruca. As Ruca tried for an avalanche move from the top rope, Jordan finally got an avalanche Poison Rana on Ruca, as she soon followed that with the split-legged moonsault for the pin and win.
An entertaining match that managed to get the crowd on their feet, as Ruca and Jordan got to show off their athletic acumen in style. Lots to like about this match, and the face versus face nature didn’t take away from how competitive things got.
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– We saw comments from Gallus in response to recent tweets that Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe made about the group. They said that they would see Dupont and Igwe this coming Tuesday.
– After a recap of the Kickoff match, we saw Karmen Petrovic & Arianna Grace with NXT GM Ava. Grace took credit for the win, despite Petrovic having made the winning pin. Ava booked Grace to face Petrovic on this Tuesday’s NXT.
NXT Tag Team Championship: Axiom & Nathan Frazer (c) defeated Chase U (Andre Chase & Duke Hudson)
Axiom and Chase started off for their teams. The masked Axiom had Chase trapped in a head hold as he had the clear advantage for a bit. Chase escaped and things seemed to be at an impasse.
Armdrag and dropkick by Axiom only got a one-count. Chase reversed a pin by Axiom for a long two-count. Frazer finally tagged himself in but found himself the victim of consecutive armdrags by Chase. Frazer fought back with a kick to the head as Hudson tagged himself in.
Hudson caught Frazer and threw him with an overhead belly-to-belly toss. He continued to work on Frazer as Chase U had the momentum on their side at the moment.
Axiom got tagged in and took back the advantage as he worked Chase over with a clothesline. Axiom and Frazer nailed Chase with a double-team superkick for a near-fall.
Frazer’s attempt at a springboard dive was intercepted by Chase’s neckbreaker. Both men down, but Frazer was able to make it to his corner and Axiom stopped Chase from tagging out.
Axiom kept Chase grounded with a leglock submission right in the middle of the ring. Chase escaped by sending Axiom into his own corner, which allowed him to tag Hudson in.
Hudson launched his offensive flurry on both Axiom and Frazer, managing to hold his own. A gutbuster on Frazer by Hudson got a near-fall. Frazer used his speed to kick Hudson to the outside. His attempted dive was stopped at the past by Hudson, who hit a cool-looking German suplex.
Frazer avoided the Razor’s Edge from Hudson as Axiom found himself back into the match. The NXT Tag Champions unleashed a barrage of suicide dives on Chase U outside the ring.
With Hudson isolated, Axiom and Frazer bombarded him with consecutive splashes, but that only got a close two. Frazer’s attempted top rope move was foiled by Hudson paying tribute to Toronto’s own Trish Stratus with a Stratusfaction. Hudson’s subsequent slam got a two.
Frazer floored Hudson with a missile dropkick as Axiom tagged himself in. Axiom slammed Hudson with a Spanish Fly, as Frazer followed that with a Phoenix Splash. Chase stopped the two count by stepping on Frazer and hitting Axiom with a Canadian Destroyer.
Axiom found himself hit with an accidental superkick by Frazer. Chase rolled him up, but Axiom managed to kick out at two.
Outside the ring,. Hudson got dropkicked against the stairs by Frazer. Back in the ring, Chase got his C-H-A-S-E stomp on Axiom. Frazer with the last-minute save after Chase’s crossbody on Axiom.
Frazer took Chase out with a superplex, as he then dived to the outside to take Hudson out of the equation. Axiom, meanwhile, capped this match off with the Golden Ratio kick on Chase for the one, two, three.
What a fantastic tag team match. We saw some great action from all four competitors and as the intensity ramped up, we were in for an excting finish. So far, Heatwave has exceeded expectations, and this match just continues the roll.
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– We got remarks from Wes Lee after his loss to Oba Femi. He lamented how tonight was supposed to be the culmination of his plan to reclaim the NXT North American Championship, but he failed. Lee was at a loss for words and left, saying needed some time to think.
– A vignette for Josh Briggs was shown, followed by one that focused on Carlee Bright, and another for Dante Chen.
– NXT’s Great American Bash returns on Tuesday August 6th, on SyFy (due to USA Network airing Olympic coverage)
NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Lola Vice
Perez and Vice began with a lockup before a slap in the corner broke things up. Vice took down Perez with a shoulder block, then she tried to go for an armbar. Perez fought out of that attempt.
Vice had the advantage with knee strikes on Perez, followed by a throw. Perez avoided Vice’s backfist by rolling out of the ring. Perez regained control by sending Vice into the middle turnbuckle. She choked Vice with her foot along the bottom rope.
Vice recovered and fought back with strikes of her own, but Perez regained momentum by pulling at Vice’s hair. Perez took Vice down with a Russian leg sweep for the two count.
Vice once again tried to take advantage, as she rocked Perez with kicks and knees to keep the NXT Women’s Champion grounded. Perez’s gut continued to be the target of Vice’s attack. She trapped Perez in a sleeper hold, as Perez rolled outside the ring to avoid a tapout.
Perez dodged a backfist attempt by Vice, which caused the challenger’s arm to hit the ringpost painfully instead. This gave Perez a new target as she began to work on the injured hand of Vice.
Vice was kept grounded by a back suplex from Perez, but she avoided a moonsault and caught Perez in a headscissor submission. Vice finally hit Perez with the backfist using the hurt arm, which sent the champion out of the ring. The pin attempt was broken up by Perez putting a foot on the bottom rope.
Perez sent Vice shoulder-first into the ring post to keep her stunned. Pop Rox attempt was reversed by Vice, who shelled with some strikes. Another attempt at Pop Rox by Perez connects, but Vice managed to kick out at two.
An angered Perez swept aside the commentary table cover and mocked Vice before hitting Pop Rox right across the table. Vice got rolled back into the ring and got pinned, but she kicked out yet again.
Perez locked in the Crossface, but Vice escaped it. This angered Perez even further as she hit three consecutive Pop Roxes on Vice to retain her NXT Women’s Championship.
The match was fine for what it was, and things did get a bit dicey at the end, but it did the job of establishing Perez as a crazed heel willing to go to whatever lengths she can to win.
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– We got a clip of Shawn Michaels addressing the recent behavior of Brooks Jensen. He invited Jensen to sit down with NXT GM Ava on Tuesday to discuss what’s to happen next for his future on NXT.
– A clip of Lexis King challenging Tony D’Angelo for the Heritage Cup was shown, as well as D’Angelo’s response to said challenge. The match was made official for Tuesday’s NXT, as well as Petrovic vs. Grace. OC vs. OTM, Igwe & Dupont vs. Gallus was also advertised for Tuesday.
NXT Championship Fatal Four-Way: Ethan Page defeated Je’Von Evans, Shawn Spears, and Trick Williams
Page walked out with a ring jacket that said “Resident of the U.S.A.” on the back. Champion Williams, naturally, got a huge reaction from the Toronto crowd as he wore Harlem Heat-themed attire.
Page left the ring, but got crushed by an Evans suicide dive. Inside the ring, Williams and Spears were mixing it up until the NXT Champion sent his foe out side the ring.
The two Canadians took turns slamming Evans and Williams aginst the steps before they stared down in the ring. They took each other out with simultaneous thumbs to the eye as Evans and Williams re-entered the match and took down Spears and Page.
Williams and Evans slapped hands in respect and began their faceoff. Evans got an impressive springboard hurricanrana on Williams, followed by a rollup for a two-count. Williams slammed Evans with a scoop slam, as he then carried it on with a dropkick.
Williams avoided a Spears hair shot and he kept the two Canadians at bay with sidekicks and a two-for-one slam. Evans rejoined the match with a crossbody that flattened both Spears and Page.
Spears sent Williams to the outside, but he got caught with the body of Evans as he was being suplexed by Page. The action has been fast and furious so far.
Page with the powerslam on Evans for the two-count. Everyone save for Page was down on the mat, but Spears recovered and began to chop away at Page. Evans threw Spears away and Williams caught Evans as we saw a combo Doomsday Device on Evans and a simultaneous DDT on Spears. Double pin by Williams and Page got only two.
Page and Williams’ fight was interrupted by Spears cracking the latter in the back with his chair. Spears smacked a springboarding Evans with a chair shot as he set up the chair into the corner. He planted Williams with a C4 onto the chair. That only got a two.
All four men ended up on the mat after a brief superkick exchange. The fans chanted “this is awesome” at the action they were seeing.
Outside the ring, Williams cleared the commentary table, but he got thrown into the post by Page. He escaped an Ego’s Edge attempt, but he got sent through the barricade by Evans, who leapt over the ring post for a tope con hilo.
Back in the ring, Spears hit an avalanche C4 on Evans as Page ran in and threw him out the ring. Evans just kicked out at two for the dramatic near-fall.
Page climbed up to the top rope, but Spears met him at the pass. Williams recovered and sent himself and Spears out the ring. Evans ran up with an explosive avalanche Spanish Fly, followed by his springboard cutter. Williams broke up Evans’ pin at the last second.
After an exchange of words, Williams and Evans fought with one another and took each other down with a double-down kick.
Spears grabbed Evans and looked towards somewhere. Evans countered and caught him with a cutter, followed by the splash from the opposite end. Williams again broke up the count.
Evans’ attempted springboard was stopped by Williams, who pushed him away to send him flying into the commentary table. Williams seemed to be remorseful at having to do that.
Spears avoided a Trickshot Knee and locked in the NXT Champion into the Sharpshooter. Page kicked Spears away and connected with Ego’s Edge on Williams. Evans managed to crawl to his feet to put Williams’ feet on the bottom rope to disrupt the count.
The finish saw Williams hit the Trick Shot knee on Page, but he fell on an unconscious Evans for the pin as Spears held Williams to stop any sort of breakup. We have a new NXT Champion.
NXT Heatwave ended with Page celebrating his win while Williams was heated. The very last thing we saw on the broadcast was a brief glimpse of Joe Hendry.
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A heck of a main event to cap off what has been an amazing NXT Heatwave show. Page earning the win the way he did fits into his All Ego character and how they follow it up should be interesting. That last-second tease of the ever-popular Joe Hendry is also going to be something to watch for in the coming weeks.
Overall, NXT Heatwave was a great show from start to finish, with every match delivering and proving why Tuesday nights are becoming one of the highlights of WWE’s weekly programming.
