WWE NXT Review - August 18, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix Confronted Cruz Montana

Montana was quick to call out Fatu, who debuted by crashing his number one contender's main event last week. It was the usual quality promo from him and his interaction with Fenix was cool. The Lucha Brothers and LAX ripped it up in TNA years ago and again in AEW after that. I'm not sure if this was meant to plant the seeds for a future match or not, but perhaps they'll team if Montana does indeed need backup against Fatu eventually.

EK Prosper def. Tristan Angels, La Parka and Romeo Moreno in an AAA World Cruiserweight Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way Match

Unsurprisingly, this was a really fun four-way. Sure, it was a random assortment of talent, but that actually added to my enjoyment of it because you wouldn't normally see these guys in the ring together. Prosper has won more often than not as of late, so I'm glad he's trending in the right direction. Prosper vs. Fenix for the Cruiserweight title should be an absolute blast next week.

Nattie def. Thea Hail

This was part of the program between Nattie and Jaida Parker with Hail being a buddy of Parker, not to mention that Hail was responsible for Nattie's recent loss to Parker. These two had a nice match and I appreciated that Hail was made to look credible in defeat. The post-match angle with Nattie locking Hail in a Sharpshooter while Parker was forced to watch was well done. Hopefully the blowoff is coming at Heatwave because I'm ready for this rivalry to be over.

WWE Speed Champion Lexis King def. Lucien Price

This was certainly a match that happened. I understand it happened because Price beat King last week, but I can't say I cared about this in the slightest, especially with the five-minute time limit. Then again, it was probably best that it was kept on the shorter side. There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with this, but it was a basic bout with an obvious outcome.

Grayson Waller, NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo and Cruz Montana Addressed Zilla Fatu

Waller, D'Angelo and Montana took turns calling out Fatu, but only Waller's promo felt like it stood out because he was given the most time out of everyone. It was a solid segment on the whole, but this only existed to establish that it will be a multi-man match for the NXT Championship at Heatwave. Robert Stone announced it as a Triple Threat, but that would change by the end of the show.

Kali Armstrong and Kelani Jordan def. NXT Women's Champion Kendal Grey and WWE Women's Champion Wren Sinclair

The women consistently produce the best bouts on NXT TV week after week and this was no exception. All four of these women worked well together and delivered a very good match with a consistent pace throughout. Armstrong pinned Sinclair for the victory, so if Armstrong can also beat Zaria next week, she'll be added to Sinclair and Zaria's championship unification match at Heatwave.

Jackson Drake def. Shiloh Hill in an NXT North American Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

Both of these guys have been pushed pretty well over the last few months, so this one could have gone either way. Naraku costing Hill the win to kick off a feud between them is fine, though. This was a well-wrestled match with both guys having impressive showings. Myles Borne will have to pull double duty at Heatwave by defending both the NXT North American title and the NXT Tag Team Championship.

Zilla Fatu Signed His NXT Contract and Was Added to the NXT Championship Match at Heatwave

Admittedly, I'm not too familiar with Fatu's work on the independent scene, so I have no idea what he'll bring to the table on the mic and in the ring in NXT, but he's definitely off to a strong start. ​He already has a cool entrance theme and he came off well on the mic here. Adding him to the NXT Championship match at Heatwave feels premature, but I get wanting to capitalize on the momentum of his debut.

Overall Show

This was a very effective show as far as building toward Heatwave. The NXT Championship match is finally official and it's refreshing that the title picture is heating up for a change. We were also treated to some entertaining action and other storylines being furthered. King vs. Price was whatever, but everything else served a purpose, making for a thumbs-up edition of NXT.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews