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NXT TV REPORT
AUGUST 5, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA. AT WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON THE CW
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Kelly Kincaid
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[HOUR ONE]
(1) BLAKE MONROE vs. KELANI JORDAN
Jordan went right on the offense before the bell rang and exploded on Monroe. Blake sidestepped a charging Kelani and sent her sailing outside to the floor. Back inside, Monroe hit an impressive spinning sidewalk slam, then grounded her with a chinlock. A split-screen showed a black car pulling up in the back, but they quickly cut back to the match.
Jordan fought back with a series of forearms and hit a split-stunner. She clamped on a Boston crab, but Monroe made it to the ropes. She leaped off the top rope, but ate a headbutt from Monroe on the way down.
Jordynne Grace’s music hit and she came out in a neck brace. Monroe sprinted out of the ring and out of the building. She hopped into a car that just happened to be waiting for her and sped off, with Grace running in the rain after her. By the time the referee counted to ten, Monroe was probably in the next county.
WINNER: Kelani Jordan at 5:19 by countout.
(Miller’s Take: These two worked well together and I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch. Monroe hightailing it out of the building was kind of funny.)
-In the back, Andre Chase told Kale Dixon and Uriah Connor that their chances of winning the tag team titles tonight was about one in a million. They were encouraged by that. [c]
-The Culling were trying to pump up Tatum Paxley for her title match against Sol Ruca later.
-A social media post of Thea Hail drinking coffee (like she needs it) was shown. She was talking about Nia Jax. Now there’s a size differential.
(2) MYLES BORNE vs. LEXIS KING
King started the match by screaming in Borne’s ear that he knows he can hear him. Solid, basic chain-wrestling followed until King hit a high cross body off the top for a two-count. The commentators talked about the absurdity of King claiming Borne is lying about being mostly deaf. With King on the floor, Borne hit a cross body of his own over the top rope. Of course, the outside spot was the cue for a split-screen commercial break. [c]
Downy, Olive Garden, and a blue bear playing with toilet paper dominated the screen until the wrestling took center stage again. They were back on the floor, where King ran Borne into the ring steps. With Borne’s head on the steps, King stomped onto his ear hard. He kept working on the ear, raking his knee against it.
King got a two-count as Borned continued clutching his ear in pain. He hit a Myles Orton powerslam, followed by a belly-to-belly. Borne went after King’s head and hit a neckbreaker variation for the pin.
WINNER: Myles Borne at 9:29
(Miller’s Take: Very good match. King is looking better in the ring and Borne is a star in the making. I’d have liked to have seen the whole thing instead of the commercial interruption, but we take what we can get on The CW. Good, clean finish, but I’m sure it’s not over.)
-In the back, Darkstate ranted and raved about the beatdown they delivered earlier.
(3) THEA HAIL vs. NIA JAX
Hail immediately jumped on Jax’s back and was all over her for a bit, but she bounced off her when she attempted a flying press. She stupidly tried an exploder suplex. Yeah, that didn’t work. Jax threw her around like a child. [c]
Back from the break, Jax was pulverizing Hail, but only got a two-count after dropping the leg. Hail fought back and tried a DDT, but Jax didn’t budge. She moved out of the way of Jax as she charged her in the corner and Nia hit the ringpost. A flurry of high-energy offense by Hail resulted in several near-falls. Jax finally squished her with the A-NIA-lator.
WINNER: Nia Jax at 5:57
(Miller’s Take: That was pretty good for what it was. I love Thea Hail and it’s always a treat to see her in the ring. She got an acceptable amount of offense in before falling victim to her much larger opponent.)
-After the match, Kelly Kincaid interviewed Jax mid-ring. Nia called out Lash Legend, who promptly came out and began brawling with Jax. 26 referees and security came to the ring to separate them.
-Oba Femi was shown making his way to the ring. [c]
-Jordynne Grace was pacing in Ava’s office. Ava told Grace she thought Monroe deserves to get her ass kicked at HeatWave. Grace was satisfied with that answer.
-Oba Femi strutted his way out to the ring.
[HOUR TWO]
-Femi questioned who was going to be his next challenger. He said NXT’s future doesn’t look bright because he’s destroyed them all. Trick Williams’s music hit. The TNA champ came to the ring. Title vs. Title, anyone? Femi asked Trick if he was trying to convince the crowd he was great or trying to convince himself.
-Williams said he was carrying two brands, which Femi took exception to. Williams sung his own praises, saying he could take Femi off that mountain. Je’Von Evans came bouncing out. He called Trick goofy as hell. He said he was coming out for the biggest dog in the yard, which is Femi. He downplayed Williams, who told Evans to keep quiet while grown men were talking.
-Femi suggested Williams and Evans could wrestle each other for the chance to face Femi. Trick said not tonight, but in two weeks in Philly. TNA’s Moose came to the ring. He said he was going to take Trick’s belt off his waist. He turned his attention to Femi when the lights went out again. Darkstate attacked, but Williams, Femi, Evans, and Moose fought them off and ejected them from the ring. That was actually pretty exciting. [c]
-Arianna Grace started chatting with Stacks, but they were rudely interrupted by Nia Jax and Lash Legend brawling past them, just like Rusev and Sheamus last night on Raw.
-Wren Sinclair and Charlie Dempsey were in a kitchen area, talking about where to go from here. She said what cheers her up is Joe Hendry, as she started singing her song. In a truly cheesy moment, Hendry’s music played and he emerged from a refrigerator with that equally cheesy smile. I have to admit, it was amusing. He tried cheering up Dempsey, and offered to wrestle him. Dempsey walked off while Sinclair took a selfie with Hendry.
(4) YOSHIKI INAMURA vs. CHANNING “STACKS” LORENZO
Stacks attacked Inamura before he even made it to the ring. Once they did make it into the ring, the referee called for the bell. Stacks took advantage of the early attack to maintain control. He climbed to the top, but Inamura tossed him off and cut loose with a flurry of palm strikes and chops.
He sent Stacks out of the ring, went after him, and slapped the skin off his face. Arianna Grace came out and slapped Inamura. As the referee was dealing with Grace, Josh Briggs rushed the ring and put Inamura down, allowing Stacks to make the easy pin.
WINNER: Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo at 3:18
(Miller’s Take: Short, but it served the purpose it meant to, which was to forward the brewing feud between former friends Briggs and Inamura. It also gave Arianna Grace a reason to be on TV.)
-NXT North American Champion Ethan Page was shown making his way to the entrance. [c]
-Ethan Page was in the ring with his maple leaf-emblazoned North American title belt. He talked about great Canadians, of course, claiming to be the greatest of all. He’s really leaning heavy into this Canadian heel gimmick. He began singing the Canadian National Anthem until he was interrupted by Tavion Heights. He mentioned that he represented the USA in the Olympics, and challenged Page. The champ belittled Heights and suddenly, the crowd erupted as Chelsea Green’s music hit. Her Secret Hervice accompanied her down the ramp. She started talking up Page as an American hero from Canada. She said she came out to support her countryman. Green told Heights he’d never have the balls to hit a woman. He said she was right and he punched Page in the nose as Green jumped into Piper Niven’s arms.
-In the women’s locker room, Lola Vice was congratulating Kelani Jordan when Fatal Influence walked up to talk trash. Jazmyn Nyx walked up and handed Jayne her belts that she had just shined up. She said while she was shining the belts, she talked to Ava and got them a tag team match next week. It was a little unclear if she meant Fatal Influence vs. Jordan & Henley. They all looked confused, too.
-Sol Ruca was warming up for her match and talking to Zaria when a still-battling Nia Jax and Lash Legend crashed through them. An exasperated Ava yelled at them that if they wanted each other so bad, they could have each other next week. [c]
-Ava came up and told Moose, Evans, Williams, and Femi that next week they’d take on Darkstate in an 8-man tag team match. Hank and Tank rushed up and demanded Darkstate, too. She said they could have two members of Darkstate at HeatWave then told everyone to get out and not let the door hit them on the way out.
-In a sit-down interview, Ricky Saints talked about Jasper Troy and the target that was painted on his back with the reputation he came to NXT with. He talked about the difference between Ehan Page and Troy, with Page having direction and Troy running on rage.
-The Culling made their way to the ring. [c]
(5) SOL RUCA (c) (w/Zaria) vs. TATUM PAXLEY (w/The Culling) – NXT Women’s North American Championship Match
The two women immediately locked up at the bell. Paxley hit a stiff cross body on Ruca in the corner. Ruca came back to lock in a surfboard. Really hard-hitting action here. Shawn Spears climbed to the apron as Ruca was about to leap off the ropes. The Culling began to bully Zaria away from the ring, but Ruca leaped off the top turnbuckle and flattened them before they cut to split-screen commercial break. [c]
Paxley hit a neckbreaker variation as Ruca was leaning backward across the second rope. She continued to work on Ruca’s neck until Sol cartwheeled out of it. She rocked Paxley with dynamite, high-flying offense. Paxley retreated to the outside, but used the apron for a step up boot to Ruca’s head. Paxley went for a superplex, but Ruca fought her way out with a top rope sunset flip.
Paxley got a very close near-fall. Ruca went for a top rope leap, but lost her balance and landed on the floor on her feet. A brief derogatory chant regarding the botch broke out. Ruca went back to the top, but Paxley hit a devastating top rope neckbreaker.
The audio went out as Spears and Dame appeared to argue over the doll Dame gifted Paxley with. Not sure what that was about. Suddenly, Nia Jax and Lash Legend continued brawling their way into the arena. Jax speared Legend through the barricade. Ruca took advantage of the confusion to hit a Sol Snatcher for the win.
WINNER: Sol Ruca at 9:34 to retain the NXT Women’s North American title.
(Miller’s Take: That was wildly fun! Ruca is always amazing, even if she did lose her balance on the top rope leap, and she works very well with Paxley, who also shined brightly here. It seemed like it was much shorter than it actually was, probably due to the nonstop action.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was an action-heavy show. Great pacing, one match after another, and it worked. This was a fun two hours. Great stuff from beginning to end. Not a single complaint from me and nothing but good things to say about the whole show. I’d like to see the pacing they had tonight become commonplace. There was great action, good promo segments, and surprise appearances. HeatWave is looking really good. See you tomorrow for Evolve!
Announced Matches & Appearances
- Sol Ruca vs. Tatum Paxley – NXT Women’s North American Championship match
- Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs. Uriah Connors & Kale Dixon – NXT Tag Team Title match
- Blake Monroe vs. Kelani Jordan
- Yoshiki Inamura vs. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo
- Lexis King vs. Myles Borne
- Nia Jax vs. Thea Hail
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