WWE NXT: Heatwave Review - August 22, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Ilja Dragunov def. Trick Williams

NXT has done a really nice job of building up Williams since his soft split from Carmelo Hayes and I thought was his best singles showing to date. Obviously, having an opponent as skilled as as Dragunov doesn't hurt, but to his credit, Williams more than held his own here and looked excellent in defeat. He definitely gained a lot from this performance and I'd be down for a rematch if they want to continue the feud through No Mercy.

Ivy Nile def. Ava

We really haven't seen anything from Ava in the ring for as long as she's been on NXT TV. The problem is that her matches are too short to get an idea of what she can do, and while I can't imagine her matches would be much better if they were longer, she also won't improve if she doesn't get experience. That's the whole point of Level Up. At any rate, this was fine. The Creed Brothers returned later on in the episode dressed as druids and they'll face The Dyad in a Steel Cage match next week. Please let that be the end of this storyline.

Noam Dar def. Nathan Frazer to Win the NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship

Personally, I can't bring myself to care about the Heritage Cup stuff and who's holding it, but I will say I'm surprised that Frazer lost it so soon after winning it. Hopefully this means he'll be moving onto something bigger, but time will tell. Nonetheless, this was the expected well-wrestled outing from these two. The Heritage Cup rules are usually a detriment, but they made the most of the rules here.

NXT Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton, Roxanne Perez, Blair Davenport, Kiana James and Gigi Dolin Brawled

There hasn't been a clear challenger to Stratton's NXT Women's Championship since The Great American Bash, so I figured we would get some sort of multi-woman match to determine a new number contender and that's exactly what this segment set up. James and Dolin just got done feuding as well as Perez and Davenport, but I think Perez would make the most sense because she wasn't pinned for the title in that Ladder match at Stand & Deliver back in April. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this segment, but it accomplished what it needed to.

Dragon Lee and Lyra Valkyria def. The Judgment Day (NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio and Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley)

It's strange how we get to see more of Ripley in the ring on NXT than we do on Raw. She's had squash matches on Raw in recent weeks, whereas her last two NXT matches have been competitive. This was fun stuff with all four working well together. Raquel Rodriguez showing up to cost Ripley the win was a cool surprise and Lee pinning Mysterio was the right call as it should set up an NXT North American Championship rematch between them.

Von Wagner vs. Baron Corbin Went to a No Contest

Admittedly, I was morbidly curious how this match would go. It had the potential to be a total dud, but it also could have exceeded expectations. Well, we never got to find out before Corbin attacked Wagner before the bell and then Bron Breakker laid them both out at ringside. If a match had to be cut from this show for time constraints, it was this one (unless this was always the plan). I'm still wondering why Breakker is wasting his time on these two.

NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes def. Wes Lee

I was worried when this started so close to the end of the episode that they wouldn't get the time they deserved, but even in the 11 or 12 minutes they were allotted, they went all out and had an awesome main event. Lee is getting closer and closer to being NXT Championship material, but he's not quite there yet, so Hayes retaining was the correct outcome. He won decisively, so I'm interested to see if Lee remains in chase mode heading into No Mercy or if Hayes will move onto another challenger. Dragunov is a possibility now that he's beaten Williams.

Overall Show

All in all, this was another entertaining television special from NXT. I wasn't looking forward to Nile vs. Ava, Dar vs. Frazer or Wagner vs. Corbin coming into the episode, but everything ended up working out and serving a purpose. The three main matches (Hayes vs. Lee, Dragunov vs. Williams, and the mixed tag team match) delivered and made this an above-average edition of NXT. Now the focus should be on building a compelling card for No Mercy next month.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews