WWE NXT Review - August 19, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Josh Briggs def. Yoshiki Inamura in a Philadelphia Street Fight

Yes, WWE just headlined Monday's Raw (which also emanated from Philadelphia) with an Extreme Rules match, but I actually thought this was better. It felt more "extreme" with them beating the hell out of each other with weapons and got an ample amount of time. Inamura losing both of his NXT Championship opportunities in addition to losing to Briggs here makes me wonder if he's on his way out of NXT, or if this is building to him picking up a big win soon.

Ricky Starks def. Jasper Troy

This has been a fairly tame midcard feud. Starks is obviously great and Troy has potential, but NXT hasn't done much with this program at all. Unfortunately, this was an underwhelming encounter. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary and the finish felt like it came out of nowhere. Troy has suffered so many losses so far in NXT that I can't say Starks beating him here really meant that much.

Jordynne Grace Threatened Blake Monroe

Woof. Grace is very talented and I understand that this NXT run is designed to help her hone her skills even further, but she simply isn't a natural talker and that was extremely apparent during this segment. Her promo was not good and the crowd was dead silent. Monroe played her role well and did what she could to salvage the segment, but this didn't exactly leave me looking forward to their match at Heatwave more than I already was.

Fatal Influence (NXT Women's Champion and TNA Knockouts World Champion Jacy Jane, Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx) def. TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions The Elegance Brand (Ash, Heather and M by Elegance) (Non-Title)

Elegance Brand just started defending their TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship by utilizing the Freebird Rule, and I'm not sure if it's technically possible for them to defend the titles in a six-woman tag team match, but I included in the headline that this was non-title for the sake of clarification. Despite the heel vs. heel dynamic, this was solid. I don't know why Jane would pin one of her challengers at Heatwave instead of Heather or M, but at least she wasn't the one pinned for a change.

Tavion Heights and Tyra Mae Steele Attacked NXT North American Champion Ethan Page and Chelsea Green

This segment was Green's attempt of brokering a "peace treaty" between the United States and Canada. Of course, it didn't work, but it was fun segment, nonetheless. As I've said before, I'm digging the alliance between Page and Green, but Heights and Steele have quickly developed quality chemistry as partners as well. Ava announced the two teams will meet in a mixed tag team match at Heatwave.

Je'Von Evans def. TNA World Champion Trick Williams in an NXT Championship No. 1 Contender's Match (Non-Title)

Although they were both involved in the Triple Threat match for the NXT Championship at Heatwave, I think this was the first time Evans and Williams have gone one-on-one. It was a super entertaining main event and that table bump Evans took was insane. While I would have preferred Evans win clean, I understand wanting to protect Williams in defeat to set up his next program with Mike Santana heading into Bound for Glory. Honestly, if Evans doesn't dethrone Oba Femi at Heatwave, who will?

Overall Show

I appreciate it whenever NXT hits the road and gets out of the Performance Center, but the Philadelphia crowd didn't make much of a difference here. The show they ran at the ECW Arena last November was more memorable and enjoyable in my opinion. The best parts were the opener and the main event. Everything else was serviceable but nothing special. Heatwave feels like another unnecessary, rushed event on paper, but hopefully it delivers, especially since I'll be in attendance (the Lowell Memorial Auditorium is an awesome venue to watch wrestling in, so I couldn't pass up the chance to be there).

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews