WWE NXT Heatwave 2026 features multiple title matches today in Texas

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Kali Armstrong speaks during NXT at the WWE Performance Center on August 25, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. | Photo by Conor Kvatek/WWE via Getty Images WWE NXT’s Heatwave event is happening live today (Sun., Aug. 30, 2026) at Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg, Texas. While there will be a “Countdown” pre-show, the show itself begins at 3 p.m. ET — airing for free on The CW in the United States, and on Netflix pretty much everywhere else. The show is mostly made of title matches. The one for the NXT championship is a Fatal 4way, and one’s a Triple Threat that will start with two belts and end up with only one (it’s a unification bout; read more about WWE’s history with those and some interesting trivia about said history here). Along with those and three other title tilts, we’ll also have a submission match. And who knows what else Chef Shawn might serve up opposite AEW’s main event at Wembley? It can be a lot to keep up with, even if you watch every week. Luckily for you Cagesiders, our staff of learned wrestling blowhards is here to help figure out just how the event is going to play out with predictions for each match on the card. Josh will be along in a bit with a preview, too. That’ll be here. Let’s get it started. WWE NXT HEATWAVE PREDICTIONS Men’s NXT championship: Tony D’Angelo (c) vs. Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana vs. Zilla Fatu Geno Mrosko: There’s heavy influence here from rumors that Zilla is likely headed to the main roster sooner rather than later, and Montana may not be far behind him. Waller could do something here, but you risk type casting him if you push him too hard in NXT. Maybe they actually just keep it with The Don. Pick: Tony D’Angelo Sean Rueter: Multi-mans do tend to favor the champ, but I’m still salty we lost one of big-time wrestling’s only career-based gimmicks when they turned Tony D from The Don into good wrestler guy. Speaking of stuff I don’t agree with, Waller is a solid midcard heel. I like the guy a lot, but he’s had chances to break out if he was going to, and he’s not exactly young (36). He doesn’t need to be pretend-shooter guy, or around any brand’s main event at this point. Santana’s time as NXT champ will come, but I’m not sure the Bloodline’s future will be around, so I’ll say they get this on his resume while they can. Pick: Zilla Fatu Claire Elizabeth: For better or worse, Zilla’s got a racket chip (Get it? Because he pronounced that thing wrong that time? Nyuk nyuk nyuk) underneath him that I think is gonna carry him past NXT pretty quickly, Cruz Montana is both too familiar and underdeveloped, Grayson Waller is… Grayson Waller, you can’t ever count Tony D out, and four-ways favor the champ. Temperature’s gonna keep rising for a while longer, I reckon. Pick: Tony D’Angelo Marcus Benjamin: Zilla Fatu makes sense, right? Wrong. If the rumors are true that he’s not long for NXT, then he’s truly here for a good time not a long one. He’s here to give him main event status while the others seem like they’re truly capable of holding that championship. I see no reason to take it off NXT’s former Don right now, especially when the other two options aren’t really showing much. Cruz is underwhelming and Grayson’s schtick needs a refresh. Pick: Tony D’Angelo Josh Jagler: After the last few weeks, Zilla Fatu sure seems like the sexy pick to win this one, but I just don’t see them going that route. The Fatal 4 Way stipulation provides an avenue for some fluky things to happen, which is why I feel like Grayson Waller might be the pick here. Pick: Garrison Walter from NXT Australia Women’s NXT championship: Kendal Grey (c) vs. Kelani Jordan Geno Mrosko: We’re still in the push phase for Grey, who is trying to pick up steam. Jordan has been here for a long time, and maybe deserves the top spot at some point but it’s hard to imagine she gets it over Grey. Pick: Kendal Grey Sean Rueter: The only reason she won’t end up with one of the longest NXT Women’s title reigns in history is if they decide to call her up soon. Pick: Kendal Grey Claire Elizabeth: I almost want to pick Kelani just because I don’t want to have to liveblog the epic whinefest that’s gonna ensue when she fails now that she’s got the opportunity she’s been kvetching about for months, but I just don’t believe it. The straps are gonna come down and that’s gonna be all she wrote on this one. Pick: Kendal Grey Marcus Benjamin: I’m going against the grain here because, like Claire, I too tire of Kelani’s defining character trait being whining. Seriously, that’s all she does. And I’d love to see what happens when she finally gets what she’s asked for, then has to deal with the pressure of holding on to it. Pick: Kelani Jordan Josh Jagler: Plenty of women get called up to the main roster without ever winning the NXT Women’s Championship, Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair, to name two. Kelani, I think, has reached super-senior status and should be promoted to the main roster (probably Raw). I fully believe that Kendal should be champion until she’s ready for her own call-up, but I still think her NXT run has some juice to it. Pick: Kendal Grey Men’s North American championship: Myles Borne (c) vs. Jackson Drake Geno Mrosko: I think they see just as much in The Vanity Project as they do anyone else on the current NXT roster. Built to lead, not to chase. Pick: Jackson Drake Sean Rueter: The champ’s not leaving this 100%, perhaps due to a Vanity Project beatdown, or just a Myka Lockwood powerbomb. This will be before the tag title match on the card, btw. Pick: Myles Borne Claire Elizabeth: I like both these guys quite a bit and I could easily see this one going either way, but I think Swipe Right have been getting most of the shine in Vanity Project and I wanna see Jackson up on Myka Lockwood’s shoulders wearing the belt so it’s both around his waist and perched on top of her head like a giant tiara. Pick: Jackson Drake Marcus Benjamin: Myles is losing one title not both. This is the one he keeps. Pick: Myles Borne Josh Jagler: Not to spoil my pick for the tag title match a little further down on this page, but the most likely way this goes down is that Myles successfully defends the North American title first, then he and Tavion lose the tag titles afterward. NQCC resentment grows, leading to a Heights heel turn. Pick: Myles Borne Winner Takes All Triple threat match to unify the Women’s North American and Speed titles: Zaria (NA) vs. Wren Sinclair (S) vs. Kali Armstrong Geno Mrosko: They snuck Armstrong in there but I don’t think that changes much of anything as far as the intended result goes. Pick: Zaria Sean Rueter: Zaria should get to be the one to drop the Speed belt in the trash after becoming a champ-champ like Sol Ruca was. But I’m Team WrenQCC all the way, babies. Pick: Wren Sinclair Claire Elizabeth: Aw dangit I already used multi-way math for the men’s four-way. Well it’s a good thing too because I think this one’s gonna go sideways and Kali Armstrong is enough of a force of nature that she isn’t just gonna play spoiler, she’s gonna walk away with two titles. Pick: Kali Armstrong Marcus Benjamin: Zaria took a pin last Tuesday. That usually doesn’t bode well for her chances. Wren stood tall last Tuesday, which usually doesn’t bode well for her chances either. That only leaves one option. Pick: Kali Armstrong Josh Jagler: If you checked out my look at previous unification matches, you’d know that history favors a Zaria win here. The two powerhouses colliding and canceling each other out so Wren can swoop in for the win would be a lot of fun. Kali winning the gold by pinning Wren would be a good way to build some heat. But as I said with Kendal earlier, I think Zaria’s title reign has more left to give, so in the end, I think she walks away with the win here. Pick: Zaria NXT Tag Team championship: Myles Borne and Tavion Heights (c) vs. The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes) Geno Mrosko: See the aforementioned pick in the North American title match. Pick: The Vanity Project Sean Rueter: So many “refer to my NA title pick” answers… it’s almost like they’re connected via more than just the heels’ allegiances! Anyway, here’s my “refer to my NA title pick” answer. Heights isn’t gonna be happy his tag partner was moving at 3/4 speed in this one. Pick: The Vanity Project Claire Elizabeth: I kinda want to go with a sweep for the Vanities but I don’t think things go that way. I think a fresh Tavion goes the extra mile to pick up the bill here and that only leads to issues later when Myles is focused on getting his singles gold back to the detriment of their tag team. Pick: Myles Borne & Tavion Heights Marcus Benjamin: Myles & Tavion are great friends but I never saw them as long term answers in NXT’s tag team division. Vanity Project recaptures the gold, which puts Myles and Tavion on a collision course for each other once again. Pick: Vanity Project Josh Jagler: Heatwave feels like it’s going to be a critical point in the NQCC relationship. As I mentioned above, the most likely scenario is that Myles retains his title, but he and Tavion lose the tag titles later. I think I’ll stick with that. Pick: Vanity Project Submission match: Jaida Parker vs. Nattie Geno Mrosko: This is where Nattie finally puts Parker over completely, giving her as much of a rub as she can before she heads off. Pick: Jaida Parker Sean Rueter: It would pretty silly to have Nattie win at this point. Pick: Jaida Parker Claire Elizabeth: This sure seems like it should be a clear-cut “Jaida beats Nattie at her own game” match to end things but then I start thinking things like “gee it sure has been a while since we did a Montreal pastiche” and think about shenanigans. But no I’ll play it straight, Nattie taps. Pick: Jaida Parker Marcus Benjamin: This is the most obvious pick of all picks. Nattie said she came here to help Jaida. This is her helping. Pick: Jaida Parker Josh Jagler: Jaida Parker’s booking in recent months has been puzzling for a lot of us in the Cageside “offices”. Losing her first one-on-one with Nattie seemed goofy at the time, and only really makes sense if Jaida wins this one. If Nattie’s not down in NXT to eventually put somebody else over, then what are we even doing here? Pick: Miss Parker That’s how we see the afternoon’s matches playing out. In the comments, tell us where we’re wrong or why you agree, and give us your predictions for NXT Heatwave 2026!