WWE NXT Review - July 21, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

DarkState (Osiris Griffin, Cutler James and Dion Lennox) def. Romeo Moreno, Noam Dar and Saquon Shugars

Dar and Moreno haven't been a team for very long, but they've already developed great chemistry as tag partners. It's probably the best role for the both of them right now. This was a fun opener with constant action. DarkState going over was fine since they're more of a trio and they pinned Moreno, not to mention Shugars will likely win the eventual rematch with Lennox.

NXT Women's Champion Kendal Grey and AAA World Tag Team Champion Lola Vice Faced Off

Considering neither of these women are masters of the mic, I thought this was a surprisingly strong verbal exchange. They effectively hyped up their championship clash for the August 4th episode and established that it will be an NXT Underground match, a stipulation Vice is undefeated in. I assume that ends up being Vice's NXT swan song and she puts over Grey on her way out.

Keanu Carver def. Hank Walker

Carver previously knocked off Walker's tag team partner Hank Ledger, so this was more of the same. These two had a perfectly passable match. Walker scored some offense, so it wasn't a total squash, but Carver was largely dominant as he should have been. Post-match, Carver attempted to attack Carver before EK Prosper made the save, so we should be getting the third match between them soon.

Jaida Parker def. Nattie

​I enjoyed this more than their last match together. Both women put forth an admirable effort and made the most of the time they had. I wasn't fond of Parker winning via the towel being thrown in (especially since it was Thea Hail who threw it to outsmart Nattie), but the important thing is that Parker avenged her loss to Nattie. Plus, Hail is finally involved in something of note for a change.

Shawn Spears def. Niko Vance by Disqualification

I didn't have high hopes for this coming into the show, so I wasn't disappointed that it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. They got some time, but it was pretty unspectacular. Spears isn't a miracle worker and Vance is, well, boring. The disqualification didn't help (why the hell would Spears of all people be doing the Eddie Guerrero spot?), but I guess it means their feud will continue, for anyone who cares, that is.

Reina Volcan def. Skylar Raye

I only know of Volcan through clips I've seen online (maybe only pictures, I honestly don't remember), so I was curious to see how she'd do here. Ultimately, she came across well. It was smart to put her in there with Raye for her in-ring debut as Raye is significantly smaller and was able to bump around for her. In other words, this was exactly what it needed to be. Volcan is off to a solid start in NXT.

NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo def. Naraku in a Street Fight

Apparently this marked the first-ever Street Fight for the NXT Championship, which is wild considering the title has been defended in practically every sort of gimmick match over the last 14 years. Although it was a fairly standard Street Fight by WWE standards, it was still an improvement over their encounter from The Great American Bash. They utilized the extreme environment nicely and it was an entertaining main event. Mike Santana showing up afterward (indicating he's officially signed with WWE) was an awesome moment to close the show with.

Overall Show

This felt like a mini premium live event from NXT. Hell, it felt more special than some of the NXT PLEs we've gotten this year, including The Great American Bash. That isn't to say everything was a home run, but the bigger stuff delivered and Santana's arrival was newsworthy. We got progression with some other storylines and hype for Grey vs. Vice in two weeks, so it was an above-average edition of NXT on the whole.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews