WWE NXT Notes: Rey Fenix Appears, EK Prosper Wins Shot at AAA World Cruiserweight Title, Zilla Fatu Signs NXT Contract, Jackson Drake vs. Myles Borne for NXT North American Title, Vanity Project vs. Borne & Heights for NXT Tag Titles, and NXT Title Fatal Four-Way Matches Set for NXT Heatwave 2026, 8/25 Show Card

WWE
Aug 18, 2026

Rey Fenix Makes Surprise Appearance

Tuesday’s WWE NXT show at the Performance Center featured AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix making a surprise appearance.

During the show, Cruz Montana came out to the ring and called out Zilla Fatu over his issues with Fatu for costing him the chance at competing for the NXT Championship at Heatwave. This led to a production crew member showing up and informed Montana that Fatu was not here yet.

This led to Fenix’s music playing and came out to the ring. Fenix stated that he was just here to find out who he was going to defend against, but if someone cost him a title shot, he would be ready for them too. Cruz responding talking about their past history together in AAA, TNA, and the indies and his respect for Fenix and will give him the ring. Montana then talked about the NXT parking lot being the most dangerous place in NXT and he will be out there waiting for Fatu.

EK Prosper Wins Shot at AAA World Cruiserweight Title

Tuesday’s WWE NXT show also featured EK Prosper defeating Tristan Angels, La Parka, and Romeo Moreno in a #1 Contender Fatal Four-way match for the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship.

As a result of his victory, EK Prosper will be facing off against Rey Fenix for the AAA World Cruiserweight title at next week’s show.

Zilla Fatu vs. Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana vs. Tony D’Angelo for NXT Title Announced for NXT Heatwave 2026

Tuesday’s WWE NXT show also featured one newly updated match announced for the card of NXT Heatwave 2026.

This newly updated match announced was a NXT Championship Fatal Four-way match of Zilla Fatu vs. Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana vs. Tony D’Angelo (c).

This newly updated match was initially setup over recent weeks shows over both Waller and Montana wanting a shot at D’Angelo’s NXT title and Zilla Fatu interrupting Waller and Montana’s #1 Contender’s match causing the match to be thrown out. During tonight’s show, Waller came out and gave another rant style promo insulting Fatu and The Bloodline family.

Waller then declared himself as the #1 Contender for the NXT title which led to D’Angelo coming out and stating that Waller can have it since he doesn’t care who faces him for his title nor where they come from. This led to Montana coming out through the crowd and talked about how he had been waiting for Fatu in the NXT parking lot and if he had “spun the block” too hard on Waller since he had already laid him out before Zilla interfered. Cruz then proposed that he and Waller finish their business from the previous week and the winner faces D’Angelo for the title at Heatwave. This led to NXT GM Robert Stone showing up and talked about Fatu not being officially signed to NXT yet and told Waller and Montana that they both will be facing off against D’Angelo in a Triple Threat for the NXT title at Heatwave.

In a follow-up segment, Fatu came out to the ring to sign his NXT contract to officially join the NXT brand. After some words by Fatu, D’Angelo, Waller, and Montana showed up leading to NXT GM Stone revealing that Fatu’s contract includes his first match being for the NXT title. Stone then announced that at Heatwave, it will now be a Fatal Four-way for the NXT title, which was made official after Zilla signed his contract.

NXT Tag Titles and NXT North American Title Matches Announced for NXT Heatwave 2026

Tuesday’s WWE NXT show also featured two new matches announced for the card of NXT Heatwave 2026, which takes place on August 30 at the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg, Texas.

The first new match announced was a NXT North American Championship match of Jackson vs. Myles Borne (c).

The second new match was a NXT Tag Team Championship match of The Vanity Project (Ricky Smokes & Brad Baylor) vs. Tavion Heights & Myles Borne (c).

This new match was setup following Drake defeating Shiloh Hill in a singles match that featured a special stipulation. This stipulation was if Drake won, then he would get a shot at the NXT North American title against Borne and The Vanity Project would get a shot at NXT Tag Team titles against Borne & Tavion Heights at Heatwave but if Hill, won he would get the shot at Borne’s NXT North American title and Vanity Project would not get the NXT Tag titles shot.

Current card for NXT Heatwave 2026:

  • NXT Championship Fatal Four-way match – Zilla Fatu vs. Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana vs. Tony D’Angelo (c)
  • NXT Women’s Championship – Kelani Jordan vs. Kendal Grey (c)
  • NXT North American Championship – Jackson Drake vs. Myles Borne (c)
  • NXT Women’s North American Championship and WWE Speed Women’s Championship Unification match – Zaria (NXT Women’s North American) vs. Wren Sinclair (WWE Women’s Speed)
  • NXT Tag Team Championship – The Vanity Project (Ricky Smokes & Brad Baylor) vs. Tavion Heights & Myles Borne (c)

Current Card for Next Week’s WWE NXT Show

Tuesday’s WWE NXT show also featured three new matches announced for the card of next week’s show on August 25 at Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Current card for August 25th WWE NXT show:

  • AAA World Cruiserweight Championship – EK Prosper vs. Rey Fenix (c)
  • Weaponized Steel Cage match – Dion Lennox vs. Saquon Shugars
  • Kali Armstrong vs. Zaria
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