Welcome to WrestlePurists’ Coverage of the August 15th Episode of WWE NXT
NXT Stage Team Championship Match: Tony D’Angelo & Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo Defeat The Dyad (Rip Fowler & Jagger Reid)
A lot of good looking tandem offense in this well paced opening tag match. Tony D and Stacks retain after Ivy Nile came down and attracted the attention of the Schism who were ringsjde. Two of the Schism members helped Tony D and Stacks win by pinfall.
After the match we see a well produced vignette for Eddy Thorpe. Thorpe talks about his native roots and how he applies what he learned from them to his wrestling career. He says his next target is Dijak.
We then see Carmelo Hayes signing autographs backstage when Wes Lee approaches. Lee says that after he wins the number one contender match tonight against Dijak, the next thing Carmelo will be signing is a contract for their NXT title match at Heatwave.
We return from commercial to see Duke Hudson and Andre Chase in the locker room. Chase says he wants to try to helping Thea Hail work through her emotions and get back on the winning track. Hail walks in and is clearly still very upset with Chase and questions his motives. This causes Hudson to also question Chase. At this point, Hail leaves the room. An angered Chase asks Hudson what his deal is. Hudson sneers and says that it wasn’t him who threw in the towel.
Blair Davenport Defeats Dana Brooke
This match was over quickly with Blair Davenport getting the pinfall victory.
Following a commercial we are backstage again with Carmelo Hayes signing autographs. This time Dijak arrives and tells Carmelo to save a picture for him. Hayes says that he should worry about Wes Lee. Dijak tells him that it’s only a matter of time before he comes for the NXT title.
Trick Williams Defeats Drew Gulak
Charlie Dempsey and Damon Kemp got involved from the outside a couple of times in this one. However, that didn’t seem to phase Williams who controlled this match throughout. Trick wins via pinfall.
Baskstage, Sara Schreiber is interviewing Baron Corbin who asks her “do you really want to hear what I have to say? She responds with a yes and Corbin walks out of frame, seemingly heading towards the ring.
We see a small vignette on Dabba Kato who “returns soon.”
Baron Corbin In Ring Promo
Baron is in the ring and he says he can say whatever he wants. He calls the NXT locker room soft. He says he is here to be in the main event scene which is exactly where he belongs.
Suddenly out comes Mr. Stone and Von Wagner. Stone says that their is one guy in Baron’s way to the top and that guy is Von Wagner. Corbin asks Stone to give Von the microphone so he can speak for himself. Corbin tells him that if he wants to make it in the business, he needs to be able to talk in the ring. Wagner says that maybe he doesn’t say much, but maybe it’s just that Corbin talks too much. Wagner says he can come with any of his gimmicks but it wont matter. Wagner than challenges Corbin to a match at Heatwave. Wagner knocks Corbin out of the ring and attempts to powerbomb him onto the announce table but Corbin is able to break free. Officals come down and separate the two. I was very impressed with Von Wagner here. He cut a solid promo on Corbin. Definitely his best work in NXT.
We then see Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio in the locker room. Rhea says that Lyra Valkyria should have been happy with her endorsement but instead, kicked her in the face. The two challenge Dragon Lee and Lyra Valkyria to a tag match at Heatwave.
Mustafa Ali Video Package
We return from commercial to a Mustafa Ali video package. Essentially, the video is a campaign advertisement highlighting Ali’s ambition to become the NXT North American Champion. He says that he will elevate the title to a level it’s never been. He says that North America deserves someone like him to be their champion. Ali says that he is someone the NXT Universe can trust. I found this highly entertaining and I am really enjoying the run Ali is having right now in NXT.
NXT Championship Number One Contender Match: Wes Lee Defeats Dijak
Late in this match, Eddy Thorpe came out with a slight distraction. This allowed Lee to take advantage. He then hits Dijak with the cardiac kick and wins via pinfall. This was a very good match. I am such a fan of both of these guys.
Backstage, Lyra Valkyria and Dragon Lee are talking about their match against Rhea and Dominik at Heatwave. Lee says that if it wasn’t for Rhea, he would be North American Champion. Lyra says that if they want to beat them, they need to get to know each other as well as Dom and Rhea know each other.
We then get another NXT Anonymous video which shows Joe Coffey confronting Tyler Bate. After the video, McKenzie Mitchell is interviewing Bate who says that he does not react to angry people. He says that Coffey needs to find serenity and that he will be the one to show him in their match.
We then get a Ilja Dragunov video package. He’s coming for Trick Williams at Heatwave. He says that he will bring his raging fire and it will be nothing like Williams has seen before.
Backstage we see Wes Lee leave Shawn Michaels’ office with the contract for an NXT Championship Match at Heatwave.
Joe Coffey vs Tyler Bate Ends in No Contest
This match was cut short as Dabba Kato returned, attacking both Coffey and Bate.
In the parking lot, Baron Corbin is confronted by Bron Breakker. Breakker tells him that he isn’t finished with Von Wagner yet. Corbin tells him that he looked finished last week when Von put him through a table. Corbin then tells Bron that he isn’t intimidated by him.
Hard Hitting Home Truths with Nathan Frazer
Frazer covers his upcoming match at Heatwave when he defends the real Heritage Cup against Noam Dar. He then interviews the Meta Four. He asks Noam which Cup is the real one and reminds him that he already admitted his cup wasn’t the real one last week. Frazer then says that Noam has been making up conspiracies about him and produces a “fraud button” that he presses everytime Noam tells a lie. He presses the button incessantly before ending the Meta Four’s live feed and concluding tonight’s episode of Hard Hitting Home Truths.
Jacy Jayne Defeats Thea Hail
It looked like Hail had control of this match when Andre Chase stepped onto the apron to help protect Hail fron getting smashed face first into the turnbuckle. Hail asks Chase what he his doing which distracts her enough for Jayne to roll her up and steal the victory.
We get a video package highlighting the problems between Los Latharios members Angel Garza and Humberto Carrilo. We then meet their grandfather, Humberto Garza who tells them to start over with a new beginning, this time with no distractions.
We then see Wes Lee confront Carmelo Hayes backstage. He knocks all of Carmelo’s autographed pictures to the ground and demands that he signs the contract for their match right now. Lee grabs the autograph table to bring it down to the ring for a contract signing.
NXT Championship Match Contract Signing
Wes Lee awaits as Carmelo Hayes comes down to the ring. Hayes says that Lee is real close to turning him back into the old Hayes. He says that Lee can’t handle adversity. He isn’t convinced that Lee can be “him.” Lee says that he has always been told he couldn’t do things he wanted to do. He says that they said he couldn’t do it, but that he DID do it. He calls himself the greatest NXT North American Champion in history. Hayes responds by telling Lee that next week he won’t, and can’t beat him. Lee says that he will not fail anymore. He signs the contract and tells Hayes to do the same. Hayes says that he will, because Lee earned it. Carmelo signs the contract then holds the belt high. Lee suddenly jumps onto the signing table, breaking it in half.
This was another very strong episode of NXT this week. We saw some solid promo work and the wrestling was very good. Heatwave is shaping up to be a great night of sports entertainment.
