&#8211; NXT Championship Match: Tony D&#8217;Angelo (c) vs. Zilla Fatu vs. Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana
&#8211; NXT Women&#8217;s Championship Match: Kendal Grey (c) vs. Kelani Jordan
&#8211; Title Unification Match: NXT Women&#8217;s North American Champion Zaria vs. WWE Women&#8217;s Speed Champion Wren Sinclair
&#8211; NXT North American Championship Match: Myles Borne (c) vs. Jackson Drake
&#8211; NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Myles Borne and Tavion Heights (c) vs. The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes)

Updated Card For NXT Heatwave 2026

&#8211; NXT Women&#8217;s North American Champion Zaria vs. Kali Armstrong
If Kali wins, she&#8217;ll be added to the Title Unification Match between Zaria and Wren Sinclair at Heatwave.
&#8211; AAA Cruiserweight Championship Match: Rey Fenix (c) vs. EK Prosper
&#8211; Weaponized Steel Cage Match: Dion Lennox vs. Saquon Shugars

Card For Next Week’s NXT (August 25)

Tonight&#8217;s episode of NXT took place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Below are the results:
&#8211; NXT kicked off with Rey Fenix and Cruz Montana. Fenix said he wants to see who he is going to face next week for the AAA Cruiserweight Championship. Cruz was upset that Zilla Fatu cost him his chance to face Tony D&#8217;Angelo for the NXT Championship at Heatwave, and he is going to wait for Zilla in the parking lot.
&#8211; Fatal 4-Way No.1 Contender&#8217;s Match For The AAA Cruiserweight Championship: EK Prosper def. La Parka, Romeo Moreno, and Tristan Angels to earn a title match against Rey Fenix next week
&#8211; Nattie def. Thea Hail
After the match, Nattie put Thea into a Sharpshooter while Nikkita Lyons and Karmen Petrovic held Jaida Parker and made her watch.
&#8211; WWE Speed Championship Match: Lexis King (c) def. Lucien Price to retain the title
After the match, Charlie Dempsey, Channing &#8220;Stacks&#8221; Lorenzo, and Uriah Connors attacked Price, which led to Bronco Nima making the save. OTM reunited and hugged.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="525" data-dnt="true">
Lexis King retains, but OTM shows they are as strong as EVER! 😎 <a href="https://t.co/MfY0WdtKFB">pic.twitter.com/MfY0WdtKFB</a>
&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://x.com/WWE/status/2089879245208113165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8211; Tony D&#8217;Angelo (c) vs. Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana in a Triple Threat Match for the NXT Championship was announced for Heatwave.
&#8211; Keanu Carver was upset that he was being left out of the NXT Title match at Heatwave.
&#8211; Kelani Jordan and Kali Armstrong def. WrenQCC (NXT Women&#8217;s Champion Kendal Grey and WWE Women&#8217;s Speed Champion Wren Sinclair)
&#8211; Kali Armstrong will face Zaria next week. If Kali wins, she&#8217;ll be added to the Title Unification Match between Zaria and Wren Sinclair at Heatwave.
&#8211; Jackson Drake def. Shiloh Hill with help from Naraku
It was announced that double champion Myles Borne will defend the NXT North American Title against Jackson at Heatwave, and the NXT Tag Team Titles with Tavion Heights against The Vanity Project&#8217;s Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes.
&#8211; Zilla Fatu signed his NXT contract and officially joined the NXT roster. Robert Stone added Zilla to the NXT Title match at Heatwave and made it a Fatal 4-Way match. This will be Zilla&#8217;s WWE debut match.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="525" data-dnt="true">
ZILLA!! ZILLA!! ZILLA!! 🥶<a href="https://x.com/Zillafatu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Zillafatu</a> <a href="https://t.co/qf3tE5dyT2">pic.twitter.com/qf3tE5dyT2</a>
&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://x.com/WWE/status/2089894416790032788?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="525" data-dnt="true">
What a cool moment between <a href="https://x.com/Zillafatu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@zillafatu</a> and <a href="https://x.com/BookerT5x?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BookerT5x</a> 🤝 <a href="https://t.co/0hEeji9Kj3">pic.twitter.com/0hEeji9Kj3</a>
&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://x.com/WWE/status/2089894703634186604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="525" data-dnt="true">
ZILLA FATU IS HERE 💪<a href="https://x.com/Zillafatu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Zillafatu</a> <a href="https://t.co/VXsFXuMUPF">pic.twitter.com/VXsFXuMUPF</a>
&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://x.com/WWE/status/2089895095700963758?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="525" data-dnt="true">
FATAL 4-WAY 🔥<a href="https://x.com/Zillafatu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZillaFatu</a> has been ADDED to the NXT Title Match at Heatwave! <a href="https://t.co/Ii0tZCaINh">pic.twitter.com/Ii0tZCaINh</a>
&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://x.com/WWE/status/2089895623101198541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

NXT Results – Zilla Fatu’s WWE Debut Match Announced

During an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, AEW World Tag Team Champion Adam Copeland aka Edge was asked about the rumors of him being John Cena&#8217;s final opponent in December 2025.
Copeland claimed that AEW President Tony Khan would&#8217;ve allowed him to go to WWE to wrestle Cena one last time, but WWE didn&#8217;t want it to happen:
&#8220;One place didn&#8217;t want it to happen. Absolutely, (Tony Khan would have allowed it).
I can see it from all sides. John knew I was there in spirit. Both of our careers would have been great, but I think that angle, that story, those two opponents kind of propelled us to a different place.
I [never pursued it]. Having been there long enough and kind of knowing how the mindset is there, I realized it ain&#8217;t gonna happen. If it were up to me and John? Sure.&#8221;

Adam Copeland Says WWE Didn’t Want Him To Return To Face John Cena One Final Time

As we previously noted, TNA wrestler Mustafa Ali publicly criticized AEW’s Dustin Rhodes. Ali quoted a post from Rhodes and wrote: “I respect you and your family immensely. You showing support to something like this is really disappointing.”
Days earlier, Dustin Rhodes had replied with a heart and rock-on emoji to a post that said “Hey ISLAM, come at take it. I dare ya.” The post included a photo of a woman wearing a “Come and Take It” shirt while carrying a gun.
https://twitter.com/JustJenRX/status/2088453908431614450
After receiving backlash, Dustin issued the following statement:
&#8220;My apologies for liking a firearm pic. Did not not read the caption and that is my bad. I by no means, and you all know, I am not a racist person. We all bleed red. Truthfully liked the firearm in picture, nothing more. I sincerely apologize.
Yall can think what you want, but I am or have selective reading. Not a lie. Once again, i am sorry for not reading the post. I am 110% against what she said after looking. I am being honest.
Think I’m gonna quit this app. No matter how many people i help, or how many i inspire, there is always so many trying to break you down. Tired.
Truly embarrassed for liking a pic. See y’all down the road.&#8221;
Dustin also apologized to Mustafa Ali:
&#8220;My apologies @MustafaAli_X. I am not that person. Genuinely like the photo. Did not read caption and don’t agree with that at all.&#8221;

Dustin Rhodes Apologizes To Mustafa Ali After Latest Controversy

IShowSpeed had a match at WrestleMania 42 this year. On Night 1, Speed teamed up with Logan Paul and Austin Theory of The Vision to lose to The Usos and LA Knight in a 6-man tag team match.
When a fan asked him about a WWE return, Speed replied the following during his Twitch stream:
&#8220;I&#8217;m coming back to WWE soon, bro. Don&#8217;t worry. Speed is coming back very soon.&#8221;
During an interview on The Pat McAfee Show in June, IShowSpeed talked about doing more in WWE in the future:
&#8220;WWE, I mean like, it makes sense. I genuinely think at some point in my career, I will take WWE a bit more serious and actually able to deliver my full self into it and immerse myself into it. Right now, I’m still figuring out what I really want to do.&#8221;

“I’m coming back to WWE soon” – IShowSpeed

CM Punk reportedly wants to perform as a heel again in WWE, but he believes that officially turning him into a bad guy right now would be bad for business.
According to Self Made Pro, Punk would love to have another run as a villain. However, because of his high popularity with the fans, he believes that pulling the trigger on a heel turn at this moment is not the right move commercially.
While WWE is not officially changing his character, Punk is prepared to play the heel in his upcoming Undisputed WWE Championship match against Kevin Owens in Toronto. The rivalry recently intensified on SmackDown, with both men trading highly personal insults regarding their respective pasts.
Punk is said to be fully aware that the Canadian crowd will treat him as the bad guy against Owens. Because of this, he has reportedly been crafting his recent promos with the specific mindset of walking into Toronto as a heel, allowing him to briefly play the role without a permanent character shift.

Updated Card For NXT Heatwave 2026

Card For Next Week’s NXT (August 25)

NXT Results – Zilla Fatu’s WWE Debut Match Announced

Adam Copeland Says WWE Didn’t Want Him To Return To Face John Cena One Final Time

Dustin Rhodes Apologizes To Mustafa Ali After Latest Controversy

“I’m coming back to WWE soon” – IShowSpeed

CM Punk Reportedly Wants A Heel Turn In WWE, But Thinks It Is Bad Business