Zilla Fatu interrupts main event as NXT builds toward Heatwave

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Dead & Bloated NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN 🚨 Zilla Fatu with a REALITY CHECK for #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/hyxFiQAZZw — WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 12, 2026 There’s a running theme on NXT the past few weeks: The men are kinda meh and need an infusion. Now, I’m not sure how smart it is to repeatedly tell the audience that the people competing on your wrestling program aren’t up to snuff as it bakes in the idea that they’re not worth one’s time. Sure, Grayson Waller is a heel who can and should say anything to get under everyone’s skin. But when everyone reacts to it in a way that validates his message, that’s where it gets murky for me. Especially when it comes at the cost of other matches, like when Saquan Sugars and Dion Lennox interrupted Wren Sinclair vs. Zaria with their drama all because Grayson got in Saquan’s face about stepping up. The irony of the men interrupting a women’s match isn’t lost on me either. However, the call to action on the men’s side opens the door for something different. On one hand, there’s Waller, and there’s Zilla Fatu on the other. Zilla cooled off NXT’s Heatwave plans. He wrecked the main event between Grayson and Cruz Santana when he attacked Cruz. Now, that should result in a Cruz win since that would disqualify Grayson. But NXT always plays fast and loose with established wrestling rules for the sake of story. That aside, Zilla’s entrance was the most exciting moment of the night, and possibly an even bigger indictment on the men’s locker room: There’s no one or nothing exciting about NXT men’s division. Look no further than Tony D’Angelo’s commentary during the main event. I like Tony D a lot. But they put the man on the announce table and he added nothing. He sounded monotone, flat, and showed very little character. Even worse, most of what he said came out of pro wrestling cliche 101. And because NXT is mostly men, that makes the product overall uninspiring. Zilla has eyes on Tony’s gold. Guess what? That’s the storyline for basically everyone in NXT. I know, I know: Pro wrestling is a pre-determined sport built on wins and losses. Championship gold should be everyone’s goal. But there are barely any stories not about a championship. More to that point, NXT is reheating the same stories and templates on a yearly basis now. The faces change but the ideas remain the same: Get a bunch of people in the ring together, make them say “opportunity” a dozen times, design a few matches around one or two of them earning a title shot. Rinse and repeat. That framework is even more pronounced now with a GM finding his footing and a locker room hellbent on proving an Aussie wrong. Zilla won’t cure what ails the men’s locker room because those issues are systemic. He’s a band-aid at best; something to stop the bleeding on a show that desperately needs a new direction. The wrestling is still solid in spots but at this point, NXT is so far removed from its heyday that it might be hard for someone new to comprehend that Black and Gold Era existed. It’s not even near the NXT 2.0 days. B-Sides No Shawn Spears? No problem. EK Prosper filled in for the Chairman as Lizzy Rain’s partner against Izzi Dame & Niko Vance. Why? Because of the continued storyline about the men needing to step the F up. EK’s initiative paid off later as Rey Mysterio chose him to dance with La Parka and two other wrestlers for a shot at Rey Fenix’s AAA Cruiserweight Championship. The brief opening match pushed Lizzy’s beef with what’s left of The Culling forward while segueing to the territory putting EK in a good position. It didn’t standout but it accomplished its goals. Which is a highlight for NXT these days. Dion and Saquan are still battling. I understand the DarkState fallout needs to be a big deal, but it’s still going weeks later with no real forward movement. Saquan is still battling an entire crew with nothing or nobody by his side but a baseball bat. DarkState is still supposedly ready to dominate again but have to use three people to defeat one. Wren Sinclair had Zaria beat. Possibly. Dion and Saquan showed up like the Road Runner and Wil E. Coyote, threw off her mojo, and Zaria got the W. That set the stage for a rematch at Heatwave in a title unification match. That’s right, NXT is getting rid of the Women’s Speed Championship. That’s probably a smart move at this point. Speaking of Speed titles, Lucien Price’s victory over Lexis King this week earned him a Speed Championship match. Lucien chopped that man so hard that his chest bled. How is that even possible? Lucien is a heavy hitter who is finally getting some character. BirthRight keeps looking like an experiment gone wrong. And I think that’s partially because Lexis is the front man. No diss to him at all but leading a crew, specifically this crew, isn’t his forte. Despite my feelings on NXT overall, Mason Rook keeps shining. He does things a person his size shouldn’t do, like a freaking Enziguri. Kam Hendrix defeated my favorite big man through chicanery a la an exposed turnbuckle. That means this war between he and Kam is nowhere near finished. NXT is a messy show right now. As we said in the Cageside offices, it’s pretty much the same show every week. It relies on a surprise finish for excitement rathe than interesting storytelling. The matches are fine but stay at that level because they aren’t doing much work between matches to make me care about the wrestlers in the match. If everyone’s sole motivation is “I want my opportunity” then that leads to a bland show all around. NXT has a variety of wrestlers. Shiloh Hill is not like Jackson Drake. What it needs is a variety of stories in which to make the wrestlers flourish. What say you, Cagesiders?