WWE NXT Notes: Two Title Matches & Rey Mysterio Set for Aug. 8th Show, Santos Escobar Surprise Appearance

Tuesday’s WWE NXT show featured two NXT championship matches and a special appearance by Rey Mysterio announced for next week’s show on August 8th and a surprise appearance by Santos Escobar.

In regards to the first new match and Mysterio’s appearance, this was announced to be a NXT North American Championship match of Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio (c).

This match was setup following an in-ring promo segment between Judgement Day’s Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio, Dragon Lee, and Rey Mysterio. Ripley and Dominik gloated about Dominik’s win to retain his NXT North American title at this past Sunday’s Great American Bash 2023 event. Lee then came out and interrupted their celebration with Lee saying he was not going to let Dominik continue to disrespect the NXT Universe or his heritage any longer. Ripley responded by mocking Lee for looking like a Rey Junior Junior which led to Lee responding back stating that while Dominik calls himself the greatest luchador of all time, nobody actually believes that and instead Rey is the greatest of all time. After some more back-and-forth banter, Lee challenged Dominik for his NXT North American title for next week’s NXT show. Rey then appeared on the giant video screen stating that he would be paying a visit next week to NXT since he wanted the best seat in the house for this match and can’t wait to see Lee beat Dominik for the title.

The second new match announced was a NXT Heritage Cup match of Tyler Bate vs. Noam Dar (c).

This match was setup following a backstage segment between Meta-Four and Bate. Meta-Four celebrated their win over Wes Lee and Carmelo Hayes earlier in the show that was interrupted by Bate. After some banter, Bate challenged Dar for his Heritage Cup Championship at next week’s NXT show.

In regards to Escobar’s surprise appearance, this was setup earlier in the show following Gallus ambush attacking Tony D’Angelo and Stacks in the dreaded NXT parking lot. In a follow-up segment in a NXT medical room, D’Angelo stated that he wanted revenge against Gallus for what they did in the form of a tag team match later in the show. Stacks asked him if that was a wise idea since it would be just the two of them vs. all three of Gallus. D’Angelo stated that he would give a call to see if someone would have their back. This was later revealed to be Escobar who made his surprise return to NXT during his entrance for the 6-Man Tag Team match for the main event.