WWE NXT Review - August 26, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Josh Briggs Confronted Ricky Saints

It's nice to see Saints back to being a focal point on NXT. He was cooled down a bit during his mini feud with Jasper Troy, but he finds himself in a prominent spot on the show once again now that he's chasing the NXT Championship. This was a standard segment with him and Briggs exchanging words, leading to the announcement they'd meet in a number one contender's match for the NXT Championship later in the night.

Kelani Jordan def. Blake Monroe

Jordan previously beat Monroe by count-out (which I totally forgot about). If Monroe wasn't going to get her win back, I wouldn't have done this match, at least not now. It's still too early in Monroe's run for her to be getting pinned, and Jordan isn't even next in line to challenge Jacy Jane for the NXT Women's Championship. The match was too short to be anything out of the ordinary, and Jordynne Grace costing Monroe the victory was a weak way to further that feud.

Lexis King def. Myles Borne in a Blindfold Match

Apparently the last WWE Blindfold match took place in NXT five years ago between Dexter Lumis and Cameron Grimes (I have even less recollection of that than Jordan vs. Monroe from a few weeks ago). It's a silly stipulation, but to the credit of King and Borne, they made the most of it, not to mention it was befitting of the feud. I liked King cheating to win and I assume this sets up a rubber match between the two.

The Culling (Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley) def. Wren Sinclair and Kendal Grey

Similar to Jordan vs. Monroe from earlier in the episode, I don't understand how much these matches are supposed to mean when they're so brief. It told the story it needed to with Dame caring more about picking up the win than breaking up a submission that Grey had on Paxley, but the match itself was whatever. Grey being Paxley's mystery partner was underwhelming, but I can appreciate that they're trying to spotlight more fresh faces.

Ricky Saints def. Josh Briggs in an NXT Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

I figured this would be saved for the main event slot, but I guess not. They worked well together and had an enjoyable outing that was similar to the David vs. Goliath story that Saints' matches with Jasper Troy had. Oba Femi is another monster for Starks to conquer. The stuff with DarkState set up next week's eight-man tag team match, but I genuinely have zero interest in seeing Saints and Femi being involved with them.

Tyra Mae Steele def. Alba Fyre

That squash win Fyre picked up on NXT TV recently makes more sense in retrospect. That was designed to give Fyre a (much-needed) credibility boost before losing to Steele here. Needless to say, Fyre deserves better, but I gave up on that a long time ago. This was a solid showcase for Steele, though I was surprised that Ethan Page and Chelsea Green again stood tall over Tavion Heights and Steele afterward.

Lola Vice, Zaria and NXT Women's North American Champion and WWE Women's Speed Champion Sol Ruca def. Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley, Jazmyn Nyx and NXT Women's Champion Jacy Jane)

All things considered, this was a fairly standard six-woman tag team match, but it had some fun moments. It was logical for Vice to go over for her team since she's the number one contender to the NXT Women's Championship, but Ruca's NXT Women's North American Championship feels like an afterthought at the moment. In fact, she'll be busier with her WWE Women's Speed Championship for the time being after it was announced the Speed titles will be exclusive to the NXT brand going forward, and I have no idea why that'll be necessary.

Overall Show

Heatwave was a good show albeit inconsequential despite two title changes, and that's the problem with NXT as a whole right now. The weekly shows and monthly premium live events aren't awful, but it's a lot of basic booking with little long-term direction. This was an adequate edition of NXT and I'm glad the main event for No Mercy is already set (they waited way too long to confirmed Femi vs. Je'Von Evans for Heatwave), but the brand is lacking life and desperately needs a shot in the arm.

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