WWE NXT - 7/21/2026: 3 Things We Hated And 3 We Loved

The road to WWE NXT Heatwave rolls on, and the roster is getting into plenty of shenanigans to kill time before the August 30 event. Tony D'Angelo defended his WWE NXT Title against Naraku in a street fight, Jaida Parker had one more fight with Nattie, and Thea Hail got involved to get Parker the win. You can read more on the 7/21/2026 WWE NXT Results Page.

Now, it's time for the Wrestling Inc. staff to get deep in their feelings and tell you what they loved, and what they absolutely hated. As always, there was plenty to love, like the surprise appearance of former TNA World Champion Mike Santana, or the debut of Reina Volcan. However, there was also plenty to hate, like the weird choice by Myles Borne to defend his WWE NXT North American Title, in hopes of getting a misguided NXT tag team title shot down the road. It simply wouldn't be an episode of "WWE NXT" without a little bit of the strange and a little bit of the sublime.

If you want to keep the conversation going, the comments section is open, but for now, let's get into the best and the worst of Tuesday's show in the WWE Performance Center.

I can't deny that it's not an impressive feat for three separate men in Hank Walker, Tank Ledger, and EK Prosper to have to work together in order to take down one single strong man in Keanu Carver. With that being said, I don't know if it was a good idea to go through all of the effort of having Carver beat Walker one-on-one in relatively quick fashion before he beat down Walker and sent Ledger crashing into the announce desk only for Prosper to be the deciding factor that turned the tides around.

I think it would've been a far more effective move to just have Carver as the one who stood tall in all of this regardless of if Prosper was involved. "NXT" has pushed Carver as a force to be reckoned with and has made him look dominant more often than not. While the concept of it taking three men to leave him laid out is sound enough in theory, it kind of took away from all the work "NXT" had done just before that to make Carver look strong and made it feel like it was all a bit unnecessary to just have him laid out in the middle of the ring at the end of it all.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

The manner in which we got to a Lola Vice-Kendal Grey rematch still seems unnecessary (more on that in last week's Loved/Hated edition). Once we move past that, however, the bout itself has real potential to steal the August 4 edition of "WWE NXT."

To up the stakes for their NXT Women's Championship rematch, Vice challenged Grey, the defending champion, to an additional "NXT" Underground stipulation, meaning the ring ropes will be detached and one can only win by knockout, submission, or referee stoppage.

On paper, Vice has a glaring advantage heading into the Underground as she's currently carrying a 4-0 record in the environment. This consists of victories over wrestling veterans Natalya and Shayna Baszler as well as her fellow "NXT" stars Jaida Parker and Kelani Jordan. Nevertheless, I don't expect Vice's record to stay undefeated coming out of her faceoff with Grey, and that's okay.

Someone is bound to hand Vice a loss, and frankly, there's no one more ideal to do that than Kendal Grey, a talented woman looking to make a name for herself in WWE. Grey has already impressed on the "WWE EVOLVE" and "NXT' brands. A win over Vice will give her that extra edge that makes fans want to invest in her even more, though.

On a personal level, I'm also curious to see how Grey, a former amateur wrestler, stacks up in a match that greatly favors Vice's MMA background. So with all of this being said, sign me up for the Underground!

Written by Ella Jay

While I expected Jaida Parker to finally get the victory over Nattie tonight, I did not expect her win to be thanks to anyone throwing in the towel on behalf of the "Lowkey Legend," especially not Thea Hail. Parker had Nattie locked in a sharpshooter of her own in the middle of the ring, as Nikkita Lyons and Karmen Petrovic looked on horrified from ringside, and it seemed like Nattie was going to tap to her own move to put over the "NXT" star.

However, Lyons and Petrovic had a towel they were previously fanning Nattie with, and the women were fighting with it. As the camera was locked in on Nattie in the hold, the white towel went flying into the ring. I assumed Lyons had thrown it, or maybe Petrovic knocked it out of her hand, but it was Hail. The cameras cut back to ringside, and Hail was casually leaning over the commentary desk.

I had a feeling earlier in the night, after a backstage segment, that Nattie would be sticking around "NXT" for a while longer. She, the EVOLVE Women's Champion, and Petrovic confronted Hail, with Nattie telling her she was happy to train her and "make her relevant again." I thought that just meant Nattie's group was looking for another member, after an injury took out Layla Diggs. Nattie told Hail that what she was doing on her own wasn't working for her, and she could "aspire to be a legend." For whatever reason, that screamed to me that Nattie was looking to expand her group, not that Hail was going to insert herself into this feud, considering Hail and Parker have had their own issues backstage.

I don't need the Nattie and Parker feud to continue, and now it feels like we're headed toward some kind of tag match involving Hail with "Miss Parker" and either Petrovic or Lyons with Nattie. Then, I'm sure, we'll get one final singles match between Parker and Nattie, hopefully with everyone banned from ringside, where Parker hopefully gets a definitive victory. It's usually the main roster that's good for extending feuds beyond their expiration date, but the Parker/Nattie feud in "NXT" is getting dangerously close to just that.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Reina Volcan, formerly known as Nikki Blackheart, made her in-ring debut against Skylar Raye this week, though she wasn't exactly in the mood to savor the experience as she quickly dispatched her opponent.

It's always cool to see the arrival of a new prospect on the brand, feeding into the old future of WWE cliche that this is the future of the company. Volcan has a great look and presence on the level of reigning Women's North American Champion Zaria, at a time when the division has a plentiful supply of nimble and agile competitors like Kendal Grey, Kelani Jordan, or Lola Vice.

Squash matches are great to establish a dominant force, and her arrival is welcome. It was a small aspect of the wider show, and no one's going to pretend that this was a game-changer in itself, but it's clear that there is an intention behind her booking from the get-go, and that's all that can be asked for at this moment.

Beyond all of that technical justification, it's just really awesome to watch someone who could become a prominent fixture in the near future. She does legitimately have the potential to do that, and it really feels like she has a place carved out in the current women's division. So what's not to love?

Written by Max Everett

We at Wrestling Inc. have said this for weeks: Tavion Heights' booking has been nothing but counterintuitive. When we expected him to turn heel, he instead stood firm in his status as a babyface and ally to NXT North American Champion Myles Borne. Tonight, he now went against his clear wishes for singles gold.

I don't have a problem with Borne setting up an NXT NA Title match against Kam Hendrix next week. In fact, he, as a babyface, should want to be a defending champion. If he retains his title, however, that means he and Heights will earn the right to challenge Vanity Project for the NXT Tag Team Championships.

Both Heights and Borne previously left the No Quarter Catch Crew so they could pursue more singles opportunities. Heights even voiced frustration in seeing Borne achieve singles success, while he had yet to taste any. Just weeks later, both are now somehow on the same page again with a mutual desire for tag team gold?

Either Heights doesn't know what he wants anymore, or WWE is purposely backtracking his character for some bigger reason. What that potential reason may be is unclear to me, but unless it revolves around Heights' long-awaited heel turn, I can't confidently say I'll be on board with it.

Heights has potential to be a big player in WWE. His erratic booking is only hindering that, though.

Written by Ella Jay

If there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's a good ol' plunder match in WWE. If there's another, it's goofy ol' "NXT." Put the two together, especially during a time where main roster television is at some of its worst, and I'll be a happy gal. Tonight's street fight pitting NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo against Naraku was a fun way to end the night, and the appearance of former TNA World Champion Mike Santana to cap off the broadcast was some excitement WWE overall needs right now.

Naraku started off the match super hot, spraying red mist in D'Angelo face, rendering him useless for a good portion of the first part of the bout. It was the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion to get most of the weapons in the ring, and he went to town on D'Angelo using the ring steps and chairs. D'Angelo was able to counter at one point with a back body drop, sending Naraku crashing onto a pile of chairs, and with that, we had a more even bout.

The rest of the match wasn't entirely anything to write home about, outside of being fun with weapons, until Naraku went for the mist a second time, and D'Angelo blocked it with his hands. He did something I haven't seen before, or at least can't remember ever seeing, and put the mist coating his palms right into Naraku's eyes. The champion hit a nasty low blow, complete with kendo stick, to the challenger, before standing on the steps still in the ring, and sending Naraku through a table below with the Dead to Rights for the victory.

D'Angelo won with no outside interference or any shenanigans outside of the street fight stipulation, which always feels refreshing in WWE. "NXT" General Manager Robert Stone had been talking to someone on the phone all night, teasing a debut, and that person easily could have been the rumored "NXT"-bound Hiromu Takahashi rolling up right before the match to assist Naraku in the end.

As D'Angelo was posing with the title, it was Santana's music to hit, and he came out through the Performance Center crowd to stare the NXT Champion down. While I definitely do not love that both commentary and WWE's social media didn't call him "Mike Santana," I'm really glad to see him back at the PC. Despite the influx of new talent "NXT" got post-WrestleMania 42, there's no one really established, outside of Naraku, to challenge D'Angelo and compete at that higher level. While I hope he remains "Santana," because that will certainly be a change to get used to, I'm glad the former TNA Champion is, seemingly, officially in "NXT" and headed to the top.

Written by Daisy Ruth