Kendal Grey defends NXT Women's Title against Lola Vice tonight

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For much of 2026, the rivalry between Kendal Grey and Lola Vice has been the focal point of not just the NXT women’s division but the entire NXT roster. Vice outlasted Kendal in a triple threat match with Jacy Jayne back at Stand & Deliver to become the NXT Women’s Champion and held the belt until Grey bested her at the Great American Bash at the end of June. After winning a #1 contender’s match a few weeks ago, Lola set herself up to recapture the championship and become just the fifth woman in history to hold the NXT Women’s Championship multiple times. A rivalry that was relatively civil and respectful heading into the Bash got cranked up a notch two weeks ago when Vice and Grey agreed to compete in the NXT Underground. Kendal has been riding high since becoming champ a little over a month ago, but it was fair to wonder if she had bitten off more than she could chew, having to defend her title in a match type that Lola Vice had never lost. After seeing training montages from both women last week, the stage was set for a huge showdown in tonight’s main event, and as we’ve come to expect from all of the NXT women’s division, Vice and Grey did NOT disappoint! Kendal Grey goes Underground… and survives! Kendal Grey and Lola Vice got the big match introductions from Mike Rome prior to the match with members of the NXT and Evolve rosters surrounding the ring, including Kendal’s bestie Wren Sinclair. Both ladies took their time sizing each other up at the outset. Kendal hit a slick sliding hurricanrana on Vice, sending her crashing into the announce table. A vicious back-and-forth on the floor saw Lola take a brutal bump into the ring steps and post. Shortly after, Lola returned the favor, pulling Kendal off the ring and headfirst into the steel steps. Kendal was bleeding from her ear, and the match was paused for the medical team to wrap her head with gauze. Kendal’s balance and equilibrium were clearly off, but the champ fought valiantly despite her injury. Lola hit what looked to be a knockout blow that sent Kendal flying off the ring, but Hank & Tank caught her, and sent the champ back into the fight. Moments later, Lola went for a backfist on Kendal but connected with referee Darryl Sharma Adrian Butler instead. Lola locked in a rear-naked choke and Kendal passed out but the referee was still down. As Lola went to wake the ref, Wren slapped her friend, trying to help her come to. With the ref back up, Kendal hit a superkick, Lola responded with a kick of her own, but when she went to follow up, Grey rolled over and locked in an armbar. Kendal torqued Lola’s arm in a direction that arms aren’t supposed to bend and Lola tapped! And STILL NXT Women’s Champion! Reaction: After watching this match back, I’m still not 100% sure if Kendal’s ear injury was a work. That’s how well everyone involved sold it. Once that spot occurred, it seemed clear that there were two paths they could take. Either Kendal toughs it out, can’t overcome the ear injury, and loses her title while still looking like a badass… or she perseveres, finds a way to fight through the injury… and still looks like a badass. They went with the latter option, and I, for one, am glad they did. I’m not typically a huge fan of the Underground matches, as I feel like it really limits what they can do in the ring, but I thought this match was laid out in a way that made it feel unique and different from any of the past iterations of it. Kendal adds another impressive notch to her ever-growing belt, and Lola moves on (potentially to the main roster) without losing much momentum. This felt like the final chapter between these two ladies, and I’m intrigued to see what comes next. Is Lola headed to Raw or SmackDown? Or will she make some more appearances in AAA? Who’s next for Kendal? With Heatwave coming up, you gotta figure they’ll find a way to get her on that show, but against who? Wren Sinclair earns a shot to become double champ When both Zaria and Wren were looking for their next respective challengers on last week’s show, both women ended up with opportunities to become double champions. Wren said she’d love a North American Title shot, and Zaria suggested that she was deserving of a chance to be a double champ and shouldn’t need to go through a tournament to get there. GM Stone’s solution was to have Wren defend her Speed Title on tonight’s show against Zaria. If Wren could retain her title, either by pinfall, submission, or surviving the 5-minute time limit, she would be next in line for the North American Title. When the match rolled around, both women showed a sense of urgency from the jump, knowing that those five minutes would go by quickly. After an evenly matched first four and a half minutes that saw several near-falls, Zaria seemed to have one last chance to put Wren away with a little under 20 seconds left. Unfortunately for Zaria, Wren slipped out, and both women spilled to the outside of the ring. By the time Zaria could get herself and Wren back in, she was rushing an F-5 attempt just as time expired. By Speed Title rules, Wren retains the championship, which also means she’s now the #1 contender to Zaria and her North American Title! Zaria made sure to set the tone for that upcoming match by decking Wren and hitting her with a proper F-5 after the bell. The North American Championship match will go down on next week’s show! Reaction: This match basically served as an eliminator match for Zaria’s title, and both women left me excited for their eventual standard singles match. Zaria continues to grow into her heel persona, and Wren keeps endearing herself as one of the better babyfaces in NXT. With such a deep division, putting two champions against each other seems like it could be wasting spots that could be used for someone else in the women’s division, but as a fan of both Wren and Zaria, I’m not complaining too much. NXT Championship picture comes into focus The top of the NXT card on the men’s side got injected with some fresh blood last week when Cruz Montana and Grayson Waller both got time on the mic and made it clear that NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo was in their respective crosshairs. That show ended with Waller slipping out the back door and Montana leveling the champ with a Spin the Block intended for Grayson. Tonight, it was Tony’s turn to address his new contenders on the mic. After dismissing Grayson and vowing not to be a stepping stone for the former WWE Tag Team Champion, Tony called out Cruz, hoping to get some answers after Montana’s errant clothesline last week. Before Cruz could come out, a bored Grayson Waller popped up on the Performance Center perch instead. Waller’s bravado was put in check when the NXT Champion called him a b*tch and ran down the accomplishments of the new-school War Games team from NXT 2.0, reminding Grayson that he’s the only one who hasn’t been a singles champion yet. Just as Grayson was about to respond, Cruz Montana interrupted and addressed Waller first, talking about how he was once in Grayson’s shoes. Unlike Waller, though, Montana chooses to let his actions speak louder than his words, and he’s spent years proving he belongs in the WWE, while Grayson has spent years just trying to get people to notice him. Waller made sure Cruz knows that he has demons just like he does. Tony interrupted the back-and-forth, saying he didn’t really care about what either of them had to say, but suggested they talk to GM Stone about signing a #1 contender’s match so he can face one of them at Heatwave. That match was made official for next week later in the night. Reaction: Standard talking segment here that shed a little more light on Santana’s character and Grayson’s motivations. Only minor critique was that Tony D turned into a bit of a background character here and didn’t get any answers from Montana about the clothesline last week. Having a former TNA Champion and a recent main-roster star coming down and vying for the NXT Title is a quick way to make the division feel more important than it has been. Time will tell if that continues to build, but NXT is doing a helluva job of trying! NQCC reunites and wins the gold! Tavion Heights has been all up in his feelings lately. With the rest of the former NQCC all moved on to bigger and better things, Tavion’s been stuck in neutral. After shooting his own shot and coming up short against Myles Borne at Great American Bash, Tavion finally made things right with his former tag team partner a few weeks ago. After a dustup with the Vanity Project, Borne finally gave in and agreed to team up with Heights once again, despite wanting to dedicate his focus to his North American Title reign. After a successful title defense against Kam Hendrix last week, Borne was scheduled to reunite with Heights and vie for the NXT Tag Team Titles tonight against Swipe Right. A pre-match backstage segment with Myles and Tavion set the stage for tonight’s match, with Heights referring to tonight’s match as the biggest one of his career so far. Thanks to some help from Jackson Drake, Baylor and Smokes controlled the proceedings for much of the early action, isolating Myles Borne in their corner. Things started to break down shortly after Tavion checked into the match after a hot tag. With all four men down after Borne and Heights hit powerslams in stereo, referee Derek Sanders caught Drake and Myka Lockwood trying to interfere and ejected them both from ringside. Back in the ring, Smokes and Baylor had a malfunction at the junction, Borne hit a Borne Again, Heights followed with a Height of Glory, and just like that, we’ve got NEW NXT Tag Team Champions! Reaction: I still vividly remember a match from Deadline 2024 where Borne and Heights challenged Fraxiom for the NXT Tag Team Titles. I thought they had a ton of potential, and I was pulling for them to win the titles that night. Fast forward over a year and a half, and tonight’s win was still a pretty cool moment. With the huge void at the top of the men’s division in NXT, I’ve been pulling for Borne and Heights to be two of the guys who rise to fill it. While they haven’t quite gotten there yet, I still think both of them have a ton of potential, and this win will allow them to kick their games up a notch and keep themselves in the mix going forward. Thea & Jaida prevail over Nattie’s crew The ongoing feud between Nattie and Jaida Parker rolled on this week. After Thea Hail threw in the towel on the Low Key Legend’s behalf, giving Miss Parker a big win two weeks ago, it was Nattie’s henchwomen, Nikkita and Karmen, taking on Jaida and Thea in tag team action tonight. Jaida and Thea took control with a flurry of offense at the outset, but, with a little help from Nattie on the outside, Lyons and Petrovic were able to take control, isolating Hail in their half of the ring. Later, the tables turned when Thea slipped out of a double team attack, rolled through, and got the hot tag to her partner. Nattie would get involved again to try to quell Jaida’s momentum, but Miss Parker was cooking and knocked her off the apron with a Hip-notic. The finishing sequence saw Jaida hit an elevated hip drop on Nikkita in the corner, setting up Thea for her springboard back senton (that I think Vic Joseph called “Boing!”), giving the Chase U alum a win over the Evolve Women’s Champion! Not happy about the loss, Nattie’s crew tried to stage a 3-on-2 beatdown after the bell, but Thea and Jaida fought them off, sending the trio retreating. Reaction: This was a fun little tag team match to get the night started. Teaming with Thea seemed to bring out a different side to Jaida’s personality. She seemed to smile a bit more than usual and even did the Quad City DJ’s dance that Thea’s been doing recently before hitting tandem moves to the outside. It feels like Jaida’s reached the point in her NXT stint where they’re trying to see what kind of character range she has. She’s spent most of her time on Tuesday nights being intense and no-nonsense, so a partnership with a more light-hearted character like Thea could be good for her growth. Quick Hits After a distraction from Angel and Berto of Los Perros del Mal cost them their match with Birth Right last week, Bronco Nima and Lucien Price tried to clear the air and get back on the same page tonight. Price seemed to forgive his partner, saying that if Bronco’s got his backup plan in AAA, maybe he needs to find his own. On cue, Birth Right walked up to stir the pot further. Price challenged the Speed Champ and Birth Right’s de facto leader, Lexis King, to a singles match, much to the surprise of not only Birth Right, but also Bronco Nima. After playing a few notes on the world’s tiniest violin for Kelani Jordan’s ongoing grievances, Grayson Waller was confronted by Mason Rook, who took exception to Waller’s assessment that the NXT men’s division is soft and lazy. Just as Grayson told Mason to come back and talk to him after he goes through puberty, Kam Hendrix launched a sneak attack on Rook as months of tension between the two continued to boil over, resulting in a pull-apart brawl backstage. Grayson, for his part, seemed to appreciate the fire that Hendrix and Rook were showing. Lizzy Rain found herself surrounded by Izzi Dame and Niko Vance backstage. Izzi claimed that Lizzy would’ve never beaten her last week if it weren’t for Shawn Spears, who then walked up to join the convo. Spears informed the others that there will be a mixed tag team match next week with Izzi and Niko taking on him and Lizzy. Once what’s left of The Culling had walked off, Lizzy let Spears know that she doesn’t trust him and that it’ll turn into a 3-on-1 really quickly next week if things go sideways. EK Prosper returned last week to save Hank & Tank from another Keanu Carver beatdown. Prosper, who has seemed to be Keanu’s kryptonite, is the only person to score multiple victories over Carver since his arrival in NXT. After last week’s brawl, the two were scheduled for another one-on-one match this week, and both men broke out some innovative moves. Prosper’s swanton blockbuster and Carver’s pop-up German suplex were my personal favorites. In the end, the powerhouse Carver won with a small package, shocking both Prosper and Vic and Book on commentary. After the match, Carver continued his uncharacteristically level-headed behavior and tapped Prosper on the shoulder in a show of respect. A few weeks after DarkState beat Saquon Shugars, Noam Dar, and Romeo Moreno in 6-man tag action, Dion was still in a foul mood tonight over being slammed through a wall by Saquon during the match. Dion wants DarkState to reach their full potential and instill fear in the NXT locker room just like they used to(?). He’ll get a shot to work towards that goal himself when he faces Shugars in a grudge match next week. Shiloh Hill appeared in an Instagram video, letting us know he had fractured his maxilla in his match with Tristan Angels last week. He then lamented about Kam Hendrix’s health meter, mentioned Kali Armstrong’s record-breaking collegiate track career, brought up the controversy surrounding Pat Patterson and the origins of the Intercontinental Title, and revealed that he learned that the poison mist utilized by Asuka, Naraku, and others actually originated in Texas. If Shiloh truly is hurt and needs to miss time, this type of segment could be a cool way to keep him involved in NXT programming in the meantime. Right before letting Cruz Montana know he’d be facing Waller next week, GM Stone was on a phone call talking to an unknown free agent. When Stone walked off to continue the call, Tristan Angels walked up and expressed his resentment that Montana could walk in and immediately get a #1 contender’s match. Montana reminded Angels that he put in a ton of work in NXT last year, rambling off all the PLEs that he competed on. Final Thoughts I thought this was a pretty solid showing for NXT tonight. The women knocked the in-ring action out of the park as usual, but the two men’s matches were no slouches either. Like always, there was a ton of moving parts with a ton of stuff going on, but I’m starting to feel more invested in some of the stories than I have in quite a while. With Heatwave coming up at the end of the month, I’m intrigued to find out how they start to fill out that card in the coming weeks. Chef HBK might be starting to cook again. Match Results Jaida Parker & Thea Hail def. Nikkita Lyons & Karmen Petrovic Wren Sinclair & Zaria fight to a time-limit draw Myles Borne & Tavion Heights def. Swipe Right to become NEW NXT Tag Team Champions Keanu Carver def. EK Prosper Kendal Grey def. Lola Vice in an NXT Underground match to retain the NXT Women’s Title Now it’s your turn, Cagesiders! What stood out to you most on tonight’s show? Let us know in the comments below!

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ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JULY 21: Lola Vice and NXT Women's Champion, Kendal Gray face off during NXT at the WWE Performance Center on July 21, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Harry Aaron/WWE via Getty Images) | WWE via Getty Images NXT will emanate from the Performance Center in Orlando tonight, with less than 4 weeks until NXT’s summer PLE, Heatwave. The NXT Women’s Title will be defended in an NXT Underground match. Plus, the NXT Tag Team and Women’s Speed Titles will also be up for grabs. Be sure to tune into the action on the CW starting at 8 PM ET, and follow along with all the action right here on Cageside! The NXT Women’s Champ faces a tough test Kendal Grey is entering her second month as NXT Women’s Champion after defeating Lola Vice at the Great American Bash at the end of June. After securing her first title defense under her belt a few weeks ago, her second one is going to test her in ways she has yet to be tested in her short professional wrestling career. After the buildup to their match at the Bash was relatively calm and respectful by wrestling standards, the heat was turned up several notches two weeks ago during an in-ring confrontation between Kendal Grey and her #1 contender, the former champion, Lola Vice. Looking to head into their rematch with an edge with her sights set on regaining the title that she recently held for 85 days, Lola made sure to let Kendal know that, while she may have beaten her in one wrestling match at Great American Bash, there’s no way she can beat Lola in a fight. It looks like @lolavicewwe and @kendalgreywwe are headed UNDERGROUND!! 😤 pic.twitter.com/4Of1A1XX4u — WWE (@WWE) July 22, 2026 The logical progression of this fiery interaction led to Kendal agreeing to defend her title in the NXT Underground, a match that Lola Vice has never lost. We’ll find out tonight if Kendal has what it takes to step into what’s become Lola’s signature match and walk out as champion. If not, Lola Vice will become the fifth woman in NXT history to hold the brand’s top women’s title for a second time. Last week, to get us hyped for the match, we saw training montages for both women, including a Kendal Grey training session with Julius Creed, where the champ made it clear that she was going to be ready for Lola. While Kendal’s title reign seems to be just getting started, it would be considered somewhat of an upset if she were able to knock off Vice in an Underground match. But with rumors of Lola potentially making her way up to the main roster in the coming weeks swirling, this could end up being her NXT swan song. NQCC takes on the Vanity Project NXT North American Champion @mylesborne_wwe will defend his title against @wwekamhendrix NEXT WEEK! 🏆 What an ANNOUNCEMENT! pic.twitter.com/aufnzPWeX0 — WWE (@WWE) July 22, 2026 After trying to convince his former partner to team up again for months, Tavion Heights finally got the NQCC reunion he’d been clamoring for two weeks ago. After GM Robert Stone expressed concern about Myles Borne neglecting his duties as North American Champion in the pursuit of tag team gold, Borne offered to defend his singles gold last week if Stone agreed to give him and Heights an NXT Tag Team Title shot on tonight’s show. Borne would go on to defeat Kam Hendrix, setting the stage for the showdown with the Swipe Right boys of the Vanity Project tonight. While Borne’s trajectory since leaving the NQCC has pointed upwards, Tavion hasn’t had nearly as much as success. Myles has put together a solid reign as North American Champion, while Heights has come up empty in his pursuit of the first championship of his career. Is reuniting with his former tag team partner going to provide the spark that Tavion needs to finally get over the hump? Or will this be the latest setback in the former Olympian’s time in NXT? Looking across the ring from Borne and Heights will be Swipe Right. Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes are entering their 6th month at the top of NXT’s tag team division and will this will be their fifth title defense. With Jackson Drake and Myka Lockwood sure to be lurking, will the numbers game be enough to ensure that Smokes and Baylor retain? We’ll find out on tonight’s show! Waller & Montana take aim at Tony D NXT kicked off last week’s show similarly to how it ended the week before: with a new top contender to NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo making their presence known. Two weeks ago, it was Cruz Montana, formerly TNA World Champion Mike Santana, who made his signature entrance through the crowd at the conclusion of Tony D’s successful title defense against Naraku. We would hear from Montana on last week’s show, where he reintroduced himself to a crowd that had grown quite fond of him last year when TNA talents frequented WWE’s Tuesday night show. Cruz cut a promo that was personal and authentic in ways that most wrestlers don’t do it, and made sure to let everyone know that he intends to become the NXT Champion. Earlier in the night, though, the show got off to an unexpected start when former WWE Tag Team Champion Grayson Waller tried to do his best 2011 CM Punk and put the entire NXT locker room on blast. After winning the WWE Tag Team Titles in a memorable ladder match over two years ago at WrestleMania 40, Waller’s partnership with Austin Theory ended last year when Theory got hurt and then joined The Vision upon returning. Grayson would serve for several months as the New Day’s hype man until Kofi and Woods left the company this past spring. In an attempt to accomplish something he was never able to in his first stint in NXT, Waller made clear that he, too, was gunning for Tony D’Angelo and the NXT Championship. THIS was absolute chaos 😳 pic.twitter.com/lxubMekZWs — WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 1, 2026 Both Waller and Montana would converge in the ring at the end of last week’s show, which ended with Grayson slipping out the proverbial backdoor as Cruz Montana spun the block on Tony D. With Heatwave coming up in a few short weeks, will one of these newcomers further position themselves for an NXT Title match tonight? Or perhaps, is a Triple Threat for the gold on the horizon? Quick Hits While her WrenQCC buddy has her hands full against Lola Vice, Wren Sinclair has her own title defense tonight, when she takes on North American Champion Zaria for the Women’s Speed Title. If Wren retains, either by pinning or submitting Zaria, or just lasting the 5-minute time limit, she will earn herself a shot at Zaria’s title. Will the Aussie powerhouse become a double champion? Or will Wren get a chance to become one herself by surviving her title defense tonight? EK Prosper returned to NXT recently, saving Hank & Tank from a vicious beatdown at the hands of Keanu Carver, who put Prosper on the shelf in the first place. This week, EK gets the chance to beat Carver for the third time this summer when the two go head-to-head. Will Prosper continue to….. prosper….. against NXT’s unhinged enforcer? Or will Hank & Tank have to come to his rescue this week when Keanu is unleashed on him? Jaida Parker has found an unlikely ally in recent weeks in the form of Thea Hail. After throwing in the towel on Nattie’s behalf and helping Jaida pick up a win over the Low Key Legend two weeks ago. This week, Hail and Parker will team up to take on Nattie’s lackeys, Nikkita Lyons and Karmen Petrovic. Will all of that Hart family greatness rub off on Lyons and Petrovic and help them pick up a win? Or will Thea and Jaida send Nattie & Co. back to the dungeon and back to the drawing board? Angel and Berto showed up on last week’s show in support of their Los Perros del Mal stablemate in AAA, Bronco Nima. Unfortunately for Nima and his OTM partner, Lucien Price, Los Garza’s presence only served as a distraction, allowing Birth Right to beat them in tag team action last week. With Bronco needing to decide at which event he’ll appear on August 30th, when both NXT and AAA have big shows, will the tension between Nima and Price continue to grow this week? Shiloh Hill came up with another win over Tristan Angels last week, most likely putting an end to their ongoing rivalry. Will Angels decide he wants a chance to lose to Shiloh again and try to renew acquaintances this week? Or will Shiloh get the opportunity to take out some of his toothless aggression on somebody else? Mason Rook respected the wishes of Borne and Heights last week and waited until after the North American Title match to jump Kam Hendrix. With both men exchanging barbs on social media this week, is it finally time for Hendrix and Rook to collide in the ring? Or will Kam need some time to recharge his health meter after losing to Myles last week? What’s next for Reina Volcan, Kali Armstrong, Kelani Jordan, and the rest of the stacked NXT women’s division? Will any of them try to make an impact this week in hopes of being next up for a title shot? All this and more on the CW tonight as NXT heads towards their next PLE, Heatwave at the end of the month. Let us know what you’re most excited for on tonight’s show in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with the live coverage here on Cageside tonight, starting at 8 PM Eastern!

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ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JUNE 28: Kendal Grey enters the ring during The Great American Bash at the WWE Performance Center on June 28, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Matt Pendleton/WWE via Getty Images) | WWE via Getty Images WWE NXT is live tonight (Aug. 4, 2026) from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and tonight’s show gets us one week closer to NXT Heatwave. Advertised for tonight: Kendal Grey defends her NXT Women’s Championship against Lola Vice in the Underground! Plus, Swipe Right defend against the No Quarter Catch Crew, odd couple Jaida Parker and Thea Hail go up against Nattie’s goons Karmen Petrovic and Nikkita Lyons, and Wren Sinclair defends the Women’s Speed championship against Zaria, and if she retains she gets an NXT Women’s North American Championship match! Get ready with our preview here! Come right back here back at the normal start time of 8 pm ET. That’s when the NXT live blog will kick off in the space below once the show starts on the CW. WWE NXT RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR AUG. 4