WWE NXT Winners, Live Grades and Reaction From July 21

The biggest episode of WWE NXT since The Great American Bash will see Tony D'Angelo defend the NXT Championship against Naraku in a rematch, this time in a Street Fight.

This could be where Naraku finally takes the title and D'Angelo's spot atop the NXT totem pole. If not, he could be definitively done as a championship contender for the foreseeable future.

Nattie and Jaida Parker will once again meet one-on-one after Nattie previously knocked off Parker and went on to unsuccessfully fight for the NXT Women's Championship. Their next encounter should settle their score, or at least set up their one final face-off in the NXT Underground.

After much hype, Reina Volcan will make her long-awaited debut against WWE LFG Season 2 winner Skylar Raye. A standout performance would go a long way in establishing her as a player in NXT's women's division, assuming Tatum Paxley doesn't reemerge for revenge on Volcan for laying her out three weeks ago.

Here are the complete winners, grades and reaction for the July 21 edition of WWE NXT as it airs live on The CW.

DarkState vs. Saquon Shugars, Noam Dar and Romero Moreno

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Last Time in Action: Saquon Shugars beat Dion Lennox (The Great American Bash, June 28); Dar and Moreno lost to Fraxiom (NXT, June 9); DarkState lost an NXT Tag Team Championship number one contender's Fatal 4-Way tag team match (NXT, July 7).

Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno might be the only people on the NXT roster DarkState haven't made enemies out of, until now, that is. They allowed Saquon Shugars to tag in early so he could get his hands on Dion Lennox, only for Lennox to immediately tag out.

DarkState was in control during the commercial break. Shugars was impressive once he finally got going, while Dar and Moreno were fun to watch with their aerial offense. That was enough to wake up the crowd, moments before Shugars sent Lennox through the pillar structure behind the barricade.

With Shugars out of the equation, the remaining members of DarkState were able to dominate Moreno. Osiris Griffin pinned him to pick up the victory for his team.

Result

DarkState defeated Saquon Shugars, Noam Dar and Romeo Morneo.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• It was smart to establish on last week's episode that he doesn't have any allies in the NXT locker room because of the chaos he caused while a member of DarkState. Dar and Moreno agreeing to team with him made sense simply because they have nothing else going on at the moment.
• NXT's tag team division is depleted enough that it wouldn't hurt to keep Dar and Moreno together going forward. They clearly have chemistry as partners and the crowd was firmly behind them here.
• Shugars continues to show signs of potential now that he's on his own. He'll be fine despite the defeat here, and it's only a matter of time before he and Lennox face off in a rematch from The Great American Bash with Shugars likely scoring a second straight win over Lennox.

Kendal Grey and Lola Vice Face Off

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Kendal Grey said she would've preferred to run it back with either Kelani Jordan or Kali Armstrong but was happy Lola Vice became number one contender to her NXT Women's Championship.

Vice wants Grey to prove that her win over her at The Great American Bash wasn't a fluke, and that she had to scratch and claw her way to the championship before finally getting the job done back at Stand & Deliver.

Grey bit back by telling Vice that she doesn't need validation, nor did she need years to prove herself as worthy of holding gold, unlike Vice. They argued who between the two of them was vulnerable and weak, before Vice claimed that she may have been beaten in a match but not in a fight.

That led to them making it official: Grey vs. Vice in an NXT Underground match for the NXT Women's Championship on the Aug. 4 edition of NXT.

Grade

B

Notable Moments and Observations

• This heated interaction was quite the pleasant surprise seeing as Vice or Grey's strong suit is cutting promos. Both of them came across as composed on the mic and delivered their material really well, succeeding in leaving this viewer looking forward to their rematch.
• Vic Joseph was quick to point out on commentary that Vice has never lost an NXT Underground match, so it will be a nice feather in Grey's cap to be able to beat her at her own game and seemingly send her to the main roster.
• It's worth pointing out that Wren Sinclair initially urged Grey to think about agreeing to the stipulation. Hopefully that wasn't supposed to hint at Sinclair costing her the title. They're too great together to be broken up now.

Keanu Carver vs. Hank Walker

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Last Time in Action: Keanu Carver beat Tank Ledger (NXT, July 7); Hank and Tank lost to Birth Right (NXT, June 23).

Keanu Carver temporarily sidelined Hank Walker after attacking him outside of the arena at The Great American Bash. He already defeated Walker's tag team partner Tank Ledger two weeks ago and there was no reason to believe this wasn't going to go any differently.

Sure enough, Carver dominated a majority of the match. Walker had a brief flurry of offense, only to get put down by Carver. Following his victory, Carver continued to beat down Hank and Tank but was thwarted by EK Prosper.

Hank and Tank joined forces with Prosper to hit their finishers on him and leave him laying.

Result

Keanu Carver defeated Hank Walker.

Grade

C

Notable Moments and Observations

• Although the match itself was nothing to write home about, this was pretty much what it needed to be. Prosper has now beat Carver twice, so Carver needs some wins to be built back up and feel like a legitimate threat again.
• Hank and Tank have cemented their roles as enhancement talent at this point, so this is the best role for them. If their issue with Carver isn't over, it will be interesting to see if Carver recruits any help for a six-man tag team match.
• It's encouraging that Prosper's push hasn't seemingly stalled after racking up two wins over Carver. He should lose when they face off for a third time, but what he does after that will reveal whether there are actually plans in place for him.