Closing out NXT Heatwave was Carmelo Hayes defeating Wes Lee to retain the NXT Championship. It was Hayes’ sixth successful title defense.
There is going to be an eight-man tournament to determine Noam Dar’s next challenger to the Heritage Cup trophy. The Global Heritage Invitational starts on 8/29 and the winner gets a shot at Dar’s trophy at NXT No Mercy on September 30th.
Raquel Rodriguez, who is challenging Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s World Championship at Payback, returned to NXT and went after Ripley. With Ripley out of the picture, North American Champion Dominik Mysterio was left to fend off Dragon Lee and Lyra Valkyria. Lee scored a pin fall victory over the champion.
.@RaquelWWE just took out @RheaRipley_WWE!@dragonlee95 just pinned @DomMysterio35!!!
What a chaotic ending 😱😱😱#NXTHeatwave pic.twitter.com/vEbJh7tmIg
— WWE (@WWE) August 23, 2023
Arianna Grace appeared in the Heatwave intro. She’s been recovering from surgery since April.
Kicking off the NXT special was a singles match between Ilja Dragunov and Trick Williams. Dragunov came out victorious.
