On Sunday, August 24th, NXT returned to Lowell, MA, for its big event, “Heatwave.” The event was headlined by a huge main event, which saw Oba Femi put his NXT Championship on the line against one of the youngest and brightest stars in NXT today, Je’Von Evans. This was a rivalry that began a while back, but really came to a head when Evans had a run-in with the legendary Undertaker on a recent episode of NXT.

We also saw DarkState challenge for the NXT Tag Team Championships against Hank & Tank. Also, Jacy Jayne defends her TNA Knockouts Championship against Masha Slamovich and Ash By Elegance. We also saw a turf war between Team Canada and Team USA, and a new NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contender was crowned. So, what were the top three moments of the night for a very stacked PLE, courtesy of NXT?

3. DarkState Capture Tag Team Gold

Heading into tonight’s tag team championship match, we knew Hank & Tank would be defending the NXT Tag Team Championships against DarkState. However, we didn’t know which two members of NXT’s fearsome new group would answer the challenge. Ultimately, Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin would do the bidding for DarkState in their shot at tag team gold. They were accompanied by Cutler James and Saquon Shugars, who provided significant assistance for the two legal competitors in this match. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger knew they would have an uphill battle. Regardless of which two stepped up and answered their challenge, they knew that the other two would be ringside.

This was a rivalry that began months ago when DarkState started running roughshod over the entire NXT roster. They attacked anyone who stood in their way like a group of wild wolves. A couple of the people they attacked were Hank & Tank. DarkState first attacked Hank & Tank in June, anonymously. They continued to target them, and a month later, they attacked them yet again, this time after their NXT Tag Team Championship defense in the middle of the ring. So, Heatwave 2025 happened, and we witnessed DarkState finally meet Hank & Tank in a fair, tag team match.

In the end, Lennox and Griffin landed a Doomsday on Hank, and Griffin pinned him to win the match and the titles for his team. This is DarkState’s first gold since their debut in NXT earlier this year. DarkState has a plethora of potential, and they more than deserved this win. It should be interesting to see where things go from here, especially in NXT’s very thin tag team division. Hopefully, DarkState holds the NXT Tag Team Championships for quite some time. This is going to be a very fun ride if you’re a fan of DarkState. Buckle up.

2. Ash By Elegance Brings The TNA Knockouts Championship Home

Continuing with the unprecedented WWE & TNA partnership, we saw Jacy Jayne defend her TNA Knockouts Championship against Masha Slamovich and Ash By Elegance. This was a truly awesome moment. Not only is a WWE star the TNA Knockouts Champion, but we also saw a TNA Championship defended on a WWE show. While many fans, myself included, assumed we were going to see Jayne retain her TNA Knockouts Championship, since she’d probably be dropping it at TNA Bound For Glory in October, Ash By Elegance had a lot to say about that.

This was a very fun three-way match. Slamovich was the only one out there who didn’t have backup. Jayne had Fatal Influence by her side, and Ash By Elegance had the Elegance Brand by her side. However, the downfall for Jayne in this match was when her Fatal Influence counterparts got thrown out by the referee for interfering with the match too much. This was an interesting booking decision as a triple threat is usually no disqualification. So, it’s a bit confusing seeing Fatal Influence get thrown out in a no-disqualification match.

In the end, Ash By Elegance hit a Swanton Bomb on Slamovich and pinned her to win the match and bring the title back home. It was a fun three-way match between three of the top young women around today. Ash By Elegance more than deserves this win. She has been to hell and back as a professional wrestler. Since going to TNA following her WWE departure, Ash has improved a great deal. The one thing we know for sure is that the TNA Knockouts Championship is once again back under the TNA banner.

1. Oba Femi Retains After A War With Je’Von Evans, Ricky Saints Makes His Presence Felt

    The main event of the show saw Oba Femi and Je’Von Evans go to war for the NXT Championship. This wasn’t Evans’ first shot at the NXT Championship. However, you can make the argument that this was the most fired-up we’ve ever seen him. After his chat with The Undertaker, we’ve seen a different, more hungry side of Evans. Undertaker told Evans he should “go after the biggest dog in the yard.” Evans took that to heart and jumped on Femi. Evans defeated Trick Williams to earn a shot at Femi tonight at Heatwave. While Evans had a massive hill to climb in the current NXT Champion, Femi, he more than has the potential to knock him off the top of the mountain.

    This was the match of the night, and very well could have been one of the top matches of the year for NXT. Femi and Evans truly left it all out in the ring, with Evans hitting Femi with stuff I don’t even know if Femi was ready for. In the end, we saw Femi throw Evans from the ring through the announce table. From there, it was easy pickings for Femi, as he put Evans away when the match got back into the ring. In the end, Femi remains on top of the NXT mountain. However, his next challenger has already made his presence felt.

    Following the match, Ricky Saints’ music hit, and he made his way down to the ring and faced off with Femi. Femi has truly been an unstoppable force in NXT. He’s the best NXT Champion that NXT has seen since Bron Breakker. However, one day, everyone will fall. Could Saints be the one to dethrone Femi and end his reign of terror? That remains to be seen. However, one thing we know for sure is that Femi remains the guy to beat. He is truly the standard of what NXT stands for, and he has an incredibly bright future.