WWE NXT 2.0 8/16/2022

WWE NXT 2.0 8/16/2022

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2022/08/wwe-nxt-20-892022.html

Tonight is NXT Heatwave. Paul Heyman does narration for the intro video.

NXT North American Title - Carmelo Hayes vs Giovanni Vinci

Hayes burns a Vinci shirt during his entrance. They immediately mess up a crossbody spot where Vinci trips. VInci then shoulders him over. Melo then springboard reverse topes him. Vinci then spring twisting crossbodies him. Vinci hits hard chops and they trade shots. They then lariat each other in mid-air as we go to PiP break. We return and Vinci 2nd rope moonsaults him. Vincy goes for a springboard, is superkicked and stopped then Melo hits the springboard blind legdrop.

Hayes superkicks Vinci and gets a brainbuster. Hayes gets back body dropped over the top rope then Vinci walks up the buckles and crossbodies him outside. Vinci double jumpspringboard moonsaults Melo for 2. Vinci lariats him and Trick comes in. Melo is thrown at Trick then Trick takes a powerbomb. Vinci goes for a powerbomb and Melo hurricanrana's him.

They tried, but they just couldn't get on the same page from the very first move and had a lot of sloppy moments.

Toxic Attraction arrives and runs into Bron Breakker. They say he has an uphill battle and Bron says they do too. Mandy says they will see who leaves with their title.

We see clips of Julius Creed on twitter. He said he found what he was searching for in the video clips and said he will address it at Heatwave.

Robert Stone and Von Wagner do a promo about Solo Sikoa and about how big he is. They said anyone smaller or weaker will not survive in Von's jungle.

Diamond Mine comes out. Julius said it's been brought to his attention that someone is trying to destroy Diamond Mine. He says it's time to call that person out and says it's Roderick Strong. Roddy is confused and defends himself. Strong puts them over and says he believes in them. He says they are the future. Julius says they aren't just the future, they are the now. He says Strong will stab them in the back and Brutus says he has Julius' back. Strong warns him to be careful. Julius says he won't talk about it, he's going to show him. We see clips from the 8-man tag 3 weeks ago and we see Strong hitting Julius with a jumping knee. Julius accuses Strong of working with The D'Angelo Family during this match and Strong said he doesn't know. Strong accuses Julius of having something against him then Gallus from NXT UK jump The Creed's. Gallus then jumps Strong too and their music hits with Diamond Mine laying.

This angle didn't really work because most of the crowd didn't know who Gallus was and they didn't come across as tough.

Roxanne Perez is interviewed. She said she is nervous about going against Cora Jade. She said Cora wanted this and has nowhere to hide and Cora's music hits.

We see Nikkita Lyons talking with Zoey Stark and JD McDonagh taking an ice bath.

Roxanne Perez vs Cora Jade

Perez runs into the ring and goes after Cora. She then topes Cora. Perez topes her again and in the ring, Cora forearms her. Perez back body drops her then dropkicks her on the side. Perez goes for another tope and takes a forearm then Cora suplexes her on the floor. We go to PiP break. We return with Cora in control and Perez tries to fight her off.

They forearm each other at the same time then pump kick each other at the same time. Perez makes her comeback and russian leg sweeps her. Cora step up knees her then grabs her stick. Perez gets hold of it and throws it down after being talked out of it by the ref and Perez. Cora then hits her from the isde and ddt's her to win it.

This really wasn't too special and just didn't feel that different from a normal match.

Briggs, Henley and Jensen are interviewed. Gallus walks in and says the NXT UK tag titles don't belong in the US. they said they will bring the titles home with Gallus and B&J accept as security tries to keep them apart.

We get some clips of the D'Angelo vs Santos feud.

We see Bron and Mandy warming up.

Street Fight - Santos Escobar vs Tony D'Angelo

If Santos wins, LDF leaves the D'Angelo Family. If Tony wins, Santos leaves NXT.

Santos is show outside wearing a lucha mask and a robe then walks in. Ton gets jumped before he is ready and Santos hits knees. Santos then hurricanrana's him into a chair for 2. Santos gets some shots on Tony's knee and Tony hits shots in the corner. Santos pumping knees him then top rope crossbodies him. Stacks dives onto LdF outside but the camera's miss a lot of it. Santos dropkicks Tony. Santos tries to tope Tony but is hit with a trash can lid.

We go to PiP break and Tony belly to belly suplexes him. Tony turns a hurricanrana attempt into a powerbomb. Tony hits him with  a chair outside then puts his arm in the chair and rams it into the post. Tony bangs Santos' hand off the steps then boots the steps into this arm. We return from break and Tony suplexes him on chairs outside.

Tony falcon arrows him and Santos makes a comeback. Santos headscissors him down and top rope spinning chops him. Lopez hits Tony outside then Santos topes Tony near the post. Santos is thrown into the post. Tony asks for the crowbar but Cruz has it and nails Stacks with it. Wilde tries to give Santos knucks but they get dropped in the ring. Santos asks Lopez for the crowbar. Tony runs at Santos, Santos moves and Tony runs over Lopez. Tony then knees Santos in the crotch.

Tony gets the crowbar and is jumping kicked. They grab each other by the hair and yell at eac hother then both go for the weapons. Tony hits him first with the crowbar and wins it!

Not a classic, but it turned out to be a good match with a ton of chaos outside. The finish was pretty cool with them both going for the weapon to win but Tony getting it first. It really could have used some blood though. It's not clear why there wasn't more interference since there were no DQ's

Indi Hartwell talk with Chance and Carter in the back. She said she cried when they won the titles. Someone gives Indi a letter and it's a drawing from Dexter Lumis, who was her boyfriend until he got fired. Blair Davenport then arrives and grabs it. She said she is the future NXT women's champ and rips the letter up. 

Tiffany Stratton and Wendy Choo talk about each other. They both say they are tired of each other and they say next week will be a lights out match between them.

WWE NXT Women's Title - Mandy Rose vs Zoey Stark

Mandy gets her kick blocked and is hit with punches. Zoey hits a flying forearm then baseball slides her. Zoey is then thrown over the announcer's table and has her knee banged off the table. We go to PiP break and return. Gigi and Jacy are caught interfering and are kicked out. Nikkita Lyons comes out and attacks them to get them out. Zoey avoids a leg attack then Mandy clips her.

Mandy single leg crabs her and pushes Mandy out. Zoey hits some lariats and baseball slides her. Mandy does an unusual suplex on her and they trade forearms. Zoey flips her into a knee. Zoey gets her leg stuck in the middle rope and Mandy takes her knee brace off. Mandy puts Zoey's knee brace on hr knee and knees her with it to win.

Clever ending but they spent most of the match working the knee and it didn't play much of a finish in the ending.

Quincy Elliot does a promo. He is wearing a Bratz shirt and says he is bringing all of this to NXT. He talks about being excited at all kinds of different people in NXT and said he never struggles with being different. He said he is the "super diva". Quincy has a ton of potential, but he's going to have a hard time with this gimmick.

Grayson Waller is interviewed. He said he punked Apollo Crews out and Mckenzie accuses him of ducking Apollo. He says Apollo is selfish and said next week he will debut a talk show called, "The Grayson Waller Effect". He says Crews will be his first guest.

WWE NXT Title - Bron Breakker vs JD McDonagh

JD goes for the shoulder and Bron throws him off. JD goes for the shoulder again and gets slapped. JD tries various escapes out of the wristlock but it takes a forearm to get out. Bron gator rolls him into a delayed suplex. Bron picks him up his armpit then belly to belly suplexes him. Bron then standing moonsaults him for 2.

Bron running forearms him after slipping and JD goes out. We go to PiP break and return. Bron gets crotched on the top rope then JD neckbreakers him over the turnbuckle connector. JD hits an elbow flurry then Bron hits flying forearms. JD leapfrogs and is powerslammed in mid-air. Bron is thrown into the post and JD crippler crossfaces him.

Bron top rope frankensteiners him for 2 then JD top rope spanish fly's him. JD then brainbusters him for 2. JD misses a moonsault off the top and gets speared. JD rolls out. Bron brings him in and hits another spear. JD's mouth is bleeding and he pops up. JD holds his arms open and Bron spears him then hits a gorilla press into a slam to win.

The match was okay but it could have been better. JD's gimmick changed from a rich guy to an evil doctor and while it may be good down the line, the gimmick isn't quite ready yet and it hurt some of the match. It would have been so much better if JD could have just been his usual self and they could have had a more normal match.

Tyler Bate then walks out. They say he is the NXT UK champ, though there currently is no champ as they are during a tournament, so this is a big issue. Bate goes up to Bron and holds up his belt then Bron does it to him.

Overall thoughts: It was a pretty wild night with a lot of NXT UK wrestlers coming in and some of the programs ending. I really only thought the Tony/Santos match delivered with the main and the opener not living up to expectations. They also spoiled the NXT UK title tournament which wasn't good. There's been speculation that NXT UK may be coming to an end and with all the NXT UK wrestlers on this show, it seems like that could be the case. I really hope it's not and is instead just a way to get NXT on the Clash at the Castle show, but the thought of it really brought down the show for me.