WWE NXT Review - August 12, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nia Jax def. Lash Legend

This was the correct choice as the opener because they worked with a great sense of urgency and the crowd was into the action. I liked the story they told with Legend fighting valiantly and nearly winning only to fall short. It will make her eventual win over Jax mean that much more. This feud is an excellent way to get Legend more over and establish her as a singles star.

Joe Hendry def. Charlie Dempsey

It's hilarious how Hendry is basically a member of the NXT roster at this point. He was a regular on the show all of last summer, and then reappeared this past spring to lose his TNA World Championship to Trick Williams, and now he's back for... some reason. Hey, I'm not complaining, and I suppose we'll soon see who his next feud will be with. At any rate, this was a fairly basic bout and I'm surprised it was so short with Hendry winning decisively.

Yoshiki Inamura Attacked Josh Briggs

Briggs explained his reasoning for betraying Inamura last week and I thought he did a decent job. It was a long time coming, so I'm glad we can finally see these two feud. Inamura kept his part short and sweet. The NXT audience is behind him, so hopefully he sticks around once this rivalry runs its course. It was later announced that they'll meet in a Street Fight on next week's show.

Kelani Jordan and Lola Vice def. Fatal Influence (NXT Women's Champion and TNA Knockouts World Champion Jacy Jane and Fallon Henley)

Masha Slamovich and Ash by Elegance sitting in the crowd was a nice touch. They've both had championship opportunities interrupted in recent weeks on iMPACT! and will challenge Jane for the TNA Knockouts World Championship in a three-way at Heatwave. As for this match, it was well worked. Jane complaining about not being a beatable champion only to get pinned or disqualified half the time is a funny bit, I won't lie. Jordan will obviously get the next shot at the NXT Women's Championship, but it doesn't look like it will be at Heatwave unless Jane pulls double duty.

Alba Fyre def. Kendal Grey

Fyre has been nothing but an enhancement talent on the main roster for the last two years, so it was refreshing to see her spotlighted on her own for a change here. This served as a simple showcase for Fyre. Post-match, Tavion Heights introduced Tyra Mae Steele as his partner for the upcoming mixed tag team match against Ethan Page and Chelsea Green, which makes sense given their similar backgrounds in the Olympics.

DarkState (Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, Cutler James and Saquon Shugars) def. Je'Von Evans, Moose, TNA World Champion Trick Williams and NXT Champion Oba Femi

The DarkState tag team matches have gotten a tad ridiculous. When their opponents aren't random, it's the "Can they coexist?!" nonsense. That aside, this was an entertaining main event thanks to the star power. DarkState needed to win to bounce back from their defeat at Slammiversary, while the loss for the other team adds to the animosity that the four of them already have for each other.

Overall Show

The build for Heatwave feels super rushed, but I can't say I'm shocked because the sole reason it's happening is to counterprogram AEW's Forbidden Door pay-per-view that day. Hopefully it ends up being better than The Great American Bash from last month. As for this edition of NXT, it was solid yet more of the same where you didn't miss much if you didn't tune in with the opener and the main event being the biggest highlights. The atmosphere in Philadelphia for next week's episode should provide a welcome boost.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews