WWE NXT Winners, Grades and Reaction From June 16

Building forward to Great American Bash, WWE NXT delivered important matches with championship implications throughout its June 18 episode.

Tensions continued to rise between Lola Vice and Kendal Grey. Tony D'Angelo made clear to Naraku that he did not trust him.

The Women's Speed Championship Tournament began, and the road to NXT Great American Bash became all the clearer.

Who rose, and who fell short? Results, grades, and reactions follow for this important show airing from the WWE Performance Center.

Kelani Jordan, Kendal Grey, and Lola Vice Ruin Zaria's Championship Celebration

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Zaria

There may not be a worse trope in NXT today than the repeated interruption promo segment, yet the company keeps giving it weekly to the top women.

All that was truly necessary in this segment was Zaria speaking on her big moment last week. She should have been allowed to gloat as long as she wanted.

Instead, Kelani Jordan came out to supposedly give Zaria advice about what the future could hold for her, quickly turning the focus to her own complaints.

Kendal Grey and Lola Vice focused entirely on Jordan rather than the champion, and the tag match set-up was so obvious that Vice was scripted to call out the trope.

All in all, this was a waste of everyone's time and made some of NXT's best wrestlers look worse for their petty disputes over the top gold.

Grade

D

Notable Moments

Jordan belittling the Women's North American Championship as beneath her should have at least gotten a better reaction out of Zaria.

Zaria remains one of the best talkers in the women's division. Jordan, Grey and Vice are still figuring it out.

No. 1 Contender for North American Championship: Jackson Drake vs. Tavion Heights

Last Time in Action: Tavion Heights alongside Myles Borne lost to DarkState, and Jackson Drake defeated Tate Wilder (NXT, June 2).

After weeks of strong victories, Drake walked into a match with Heights deserving a title opportunity more than the man he was facing.

However, the result was inevitable. After months of teasing, Heights and Borne will fight one-on-one for the North American Championship.

This should be a dramatic match for Great American Bash, hinting at a possible heel turn from Heights during or after the contest.

Heights has not clearly sold why he should beat Borne though as even in this match with Drake, he was outshined by his heel opponent's flashier style.

Long term, The Vanity Project, especially Drake, feel like the NXT priority. It is a shame that none of them have any clear direction into Great American Bash.

Result

Heights def. Drake by pinfall to earn a North American Championship match against Myles Borne at Great American Bash.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

Drake might be too flashy to stay heel forever. He moves similarly in the ring to Je'Von Evans. The two were former tag partners before signing with WWE.

Heights' attitude with Borne is growing tiresome. He needs to fully turn heel or come to accept a bit of responsibility for his own struggles.

Women's Speed Championship Tournament: Izzi Dame (w/ The Culling) vs. Thea Hail

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The Culling

Last Time in Action: Izzi Dame lost to Lola Vice for the NXT Women's Championship (NXT, May 26); Thea Hail lost to Kelani Jordan (NXT, March 24).

Speed matches mostly fall into two categories in NXT: rushed or clunky. This fit both sides to some extent despite the experience of both competitors.

Hail is falling short of her high potential. Once the youngest star in NXT, she may still be 22 years old, but she no longer feels like a priority.

Corey Graves and Vic Joseph even spent most of this match arguing over whether Hail was truly ready to be a champion in WWE, following her fluke win and loss of the Women's North American Championship.

Despite all this conversation centering on Hail though, it was Dame that felt the most awkward in this setting, barely finding time to hit her own standard offense.

NXT has massively bet on Dame as a rising star, but in a massively talented division, she has not backed up that trust with strong matches or promo work.

Hopefully, Dame has better in her. She is most likely going to beat Arianna Grace next week and face Wren Sinclair at Great American Bash.

Hail may take another couple months to get back on TV, even though she has impressed more with the opportunities she has had.

Result

Dame def. Hail by pinfall to advance to the finals of the Women's Speed Championship Tournament.

Grade

C-

Notable Moments

Shawn Spears is 45 years old but acts like he is the same age as the 27-year-old Niko Vance. The Culling remain an awkward team.

Their entrance presents a menace their actions do not back up. That could change though if Vance and Dame turn on Spears as teased.

Hail's theme comes off more heel-focused. Perhaps a heel turn could spark a fresh direction for her.

Tony D'Angelo Meets Naraku in a Private Location

Naraku has done next to nothing in NXT so far despite major ambitions, but he has presented an intriguing threat.

In the past, as Tony D'Angelo smartly pointed out, he has run with a group, and that could be the plan again in NXT.

It is also likely that Naraku's kind outward charm is a facade for something "evil" to come. It is just unclear what that could mean.

Will Naraku simply cheat and steal his way to the top? Will he show a more ruthless side to take down D'Angelo?

That tease is the only thing keeping this story interesting, and something needs to happen next week to fully sell why fans should care about Naraku.

D'Angelo is a quality NXT champion with multiple interesting challengers still on the horizon, but NXT could make a compelling villain with Naraku if he dethrones the champ.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

Even in a pre-tape, Naraku spoke only in English and came off extremely well next to D'Angelo.

It was the right time for D'Angelo to bring up Naraku's House of Torture past.

That said, it may be time to retire the "evil" references. At the very least, he needs another phrase to lean on.

Nattie vs. Jaida Parker

Last Time in Action: Jaida Parker defeated Layla Diggs (NXT, May 26); Nattie defeated Maxxine Dupri (Raw, March 16). This was also the first time Nattie competed in NXT since June 4, 2024, defeating Izzi Dame.

Nattie took Jaida to the mat in this contest and forced Ms. Parker to wrestle a different style than she has in the past.

This was a smart pace for the first clash between these two women, but it should not be the last.

Despite Nattie's heel taunting, Ms. Parker was clearly fighting The Low-Key Legend with grit. She was not "soft".

Still, a follow-up match needs to solidify that fact, especially after Nattie made her tap out in the middle of the ring clean.

Nattie winning keeps this story moving and gives Ms. Parker more room to grow in the coming months.

Hopefully, this could be the missing piece that can take Jaida from a popular loser to a future champion.

Result

Nattie def. Jaida by submission.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

Ms. Parker chants in NXT sell her as the biggest babyface in NXT, even earning more crowd support than Kendal Grey.

Nattie's new presentation makes her feel like more of a real threat in NXT. Shame it is not translating well on Raw.

Women's Speed Championship Tournament: Arianna Grace (w/ BirthRight) vs. Layla Diggs

Last Time in Action: Layla Diggs lost to Jaida Parker (NXT, May 26); Arianna Grace alongside BirthRight lost to EK Prosper, Shiloh Hill, Hank and Tank and Wren Sinclair (NXT: Countdown to Stand & Deliver, April 4).

While Diggs is new to NXT, she stands out and made the most of her two-and-a-half minutes against Grace.

She was the star of the match while the former Knockouts champion played loose with the rules to survive the fight.

It would have been nice to see more of both women, but Speed matches only allow so much. They did at least flow better than Izzi Dame vs. Thea Hail.

Grace did not need this win, but Diggs did get a nice character moment in knocking down the rest of BirthRight at ringside.

Dame vs. Grace could go either way, but Dame has more credibility built in NXT at present.

If Grace wins, she could have a more entertaining match with Wren Sinclair. If Dame wins, it would lean more dramatic.

Result

Grace def. Diggs by pinfall to advance to the finals of the Women's Speed Championship Tournament.

Grade

C

Notable Moments

Diggs may be the most underrated recent addition to the NXT roster, but her presentation and athleticism help her stand out over other recent new stars.

TNA has presented Grace significantly better recently than NXT, and it would be a good idea to play off her recent Knockouts Championship reign more.

Lola Vice and Kendal Grey vs. Zaria and Kelani Jordan

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Kelani Jordan and Kendal Grey

Last Time in Action: Zaria defeated Tatum Paxley to win the Women's North American Championship, and Kendal Grey defeated Kelani Jordan to earn an NXT Women's Championship match at GAB (NXT, June 9). Lola Vice defeated Izzi Dame to retain the NXT Women's Championship (NXT, May 26).

NXT has put all of these women in high-stakes matches in recent weeks, so this tag team match felt tame in comparison.

It was well wrestled throughout and gave an exciting tease of a future Lola Vice vs. Zaria clash, but the main focus was to simply keep these women on TV.

The loss for Zaria is a disappointment after a major win last week, but she was protected by Paxley's appearance, setting up a likely rematch at Great American Bash.

It looked like Paxley might be on her way out of NXT following her loss to Zaria, but one more dramatic title match for NXT's first premium live event on The CW would be smart booking.

After that, Zaria has plenty of interesting opponents, starting potentially with a return to her rivalry with Lizzy Rain.

Vice vs. Grey could go either way, but it is clear that Grey is a bigger priority for NXT at present over Vice. For that reason, a title change seems likely.

Lani remains involved in the title scene and would be better served facing Grey for the gold over another match with Vice.

Result

Vice and Grey def. Zaria and Jordan by pinfall.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

Miscommunication is driving this babyface vs. babyface story forward, and it is probably unnecessary unless someone is turning soon. It would be best to let both women fight to just see who is best.

Jordan may not have a strong promo voice, but her character work in the ring has significantly improved in recent weeks.

It would be a mistake to pair Zaria and Jordan after this since Zaria has done so much to sell herself as a lone wolf, but she did work well with Lani.

Final Word

For a night that should have ramped up the tension toward Great American Bash, this show was fairly tame.

A thrown-together tag match was the best action of the night but did not sell a serious need to see Lola Vice vs. Kendal Grey in less than two weeks.

Tony D'Angelo and Naraku have an intriguing dynamic, but they have not done enough to sell why fans should buy into that match-up either.

Even the heated rivalry of Dion Lennox and Saquon Shugars was left to a pre-taped video and a backstage response.

The show also sidelined some of the most exciting new acts in NXT including Mason Rook, Lizzy Rain and Tristan Angels (all in one quick backstage segment).

This was a forgettable showing on the road to a night Vic Joseph and Corey Graves kept hyping as game-changing.

Overall Grade: C-