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 Romeo 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 No. 1 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 Moreno.

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 neither Vice nor Grey's strong suit is cutting promos. Both 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 beaten Carver twice, so Carver needs some wins to 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.

Jaida Parker vs. Nattie

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Last Time in Action: Jaida Parker beat Karmen Petrovic (NXT, June 30); Nattie lost to Kendal Grey (NXT, July 7).

Jaida Parker was immediately at a disadvantage due to Nattie having Karmen Petrovic and Nikkita Lyons in her corner. They helped Nattie target Parker's knee going into the commercial break, but in a cruel twist of fate, Parker weakened Nattie's own knee and locked her in a Sharpshooter.

Lyons and Petrovic argued over whether they should throw in the towel for Nattie, but it was ultimately Thea Hail who popped up at ringside to do it for them and award Parker the victory.

Result

Jaida Parker defeated Nattie.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Does this mean anyone could throw in the towel for anyone's match as long as the referee doesn't see who did it? I understand what they were going for here, but it made for an oddly-executed finish. Giving Parker the clean win over Nattie would have been better.
• It's been nice to have a midcard feud with the women that isn't over a title. Of course, it could have championship implications once it ends, but they're largely just fighting for respect at the moment and it's an excellent use of the veteran Nattie.
• Hail has been grossly underutilized for some time now, so this was a good way to get her back into the fold with Parker needing backup against Nattie and her crew. Her character evolution should lead to her getting more opportunities in the future.

Shawn Spears vs. Niko Vance

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Last Time in Action: Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux beat The Culling (NXT, June 23); Niko Vance beat Shiloh Hill (NXT, July 7).

If you were hoping Shawn Spears would return to his roots with the "Perfect 10" gimmick here, you were likely disappointed. He attacked Vance from behind in the ring, so Spears never had a formal entrance and thus it's unknown what his entrance music will be going forward.

They had an acceptable outing with Vance showing that he could hang with the experienced Spears. Spears hasn't been a babyface in a few years, yet he did well in the role here.

Lizzy Rain ran to ringside to thwart Izzi Dame's interference (coming off their brawl at the end of last week's Fatal 4-Way), leading to Spears capitalizing on the referee being distracted and pulling an Eddie Guerrero by pretending to be knocked out by the chair for the disqualification win.

Result

Shawn Spears defeated Niko Vance by disqualification.

Grade

C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Whatever the opposite of "aura" is, that's what The Culling has. It wasn't the most exciting stable to begin with, but especially without Shawn Spears, there's simply nothing there with Vance and Dame. The Culling shouldn't last much longer.
• Are referees really still falling for the Eddie Guerrero spot in 2026? It makes for a nice pop occasionally, but WWE utilizes it more than it should, and it felt out of place in this specific matchup.
• Spears feuding with Vance in their current forms is dull. Vance won't progress until he shows more personality, and Spears should go back to being "Perfect 10" for one last real run as a fan favorite.

Reina Volcan vs. Skylar Raye

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Last Time in Action: This marked Reina Volcan's debut; Skylar Raye lost to Kali Armstrong (NXT, April 14).

There's been a ton of hype for Reina Volcan online since she put pen to paper with WWE several months ago. She looked like a star when she debuted and destroyed Tatum Paxley three weeks ago, but this was our first chance to see what she could do in the ring.

This was the standard squash you'd expect Volcan to have in her debut match. Raye was the perfect first opponent for Volcan as she sold her offense exceptionally well and made it look all the more devastating.

Volcan utilized multiple backbreakers before winning with a Rack Attack.

Result

Reina Volcan defeated Skylar Raye.

Grade

C-

Notable Moments and Observations

• We'll see how Volcan does when she has to have more competitive matches eventually, but she's off to a solid start so far in NXT. This is exactly how she should be handled for the first few months of her NXT run.
• Entrance is a major part of the presentation and Volcan already has that part down pat. Her theme sounds great and seems to fit her really well.
• It's worth wondering why WWE bothered to have Raye win the second season of LFG if they weren't going to have any plans for her on NXT TV. Season one winner Tyra Mae Steele was released a few months ago, so hopefully Raye doesn't suffer a similar fate.

NXT Championship Street Fight: Tony D'Angelo vs. Naraku

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Last Time in Action: Tony D'Angelo beat Naraku to retain (The Great American Bash, June 28); Naraku beat Tate Wilder (NXT, July 14).

Amazingly, this marked the first Street Fight ever for the NXT Championship. We've seen the title defended in almost every stipulation imaginable over the last 14 years, but apparently not a Street Fight until now.

D'Angelo didn't waste time taking the fight to Naraku and chose to forgo the in-ring introductions. Naraku then spat red mist in the face of D'Angelo before bringing chairs into the mix.

That led to multiple weapons being incorporated into the matchup including garbage cans, a ladder and a kendo stick. All of them got used, and they even brawled to the back during the commercial break.

For the finish, D'Angelo blocked a second shot of red mist from Naraku before planting him through a table off the steel steps to retain his title. Mike Santana then walked through the crowd to make it known that he's officially in NXT and has his sights set on gold.

Result

Tony D'Angelo defeated Naraku to retain the NXT Championship.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• D'Angelo and Naraku weren't given a ton of time to work with due to this starting so close to the end of the episode, but they maximized their minutes and had an entertaining Street Fight. It was everything it could have been for a television main event.
• This felt like the time to switch the title if they wanted to make Naraku the top heel of NXT and possibly give him his own faction, but D'Angelo's reign continues. That's totally fine if the idea is for him to lose it to Santana sooner rather than later.
• The NXT Championship hasn't felt overly important in a while, but this was a welcome reminder of what D'Angelo can bring to the table when he's given something he can sink his teeth into.

Overall Show

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With everything it had advertised for this episode, NXT needed to hit a home run and it did just that.

The NXT Championship took center stage for the first time in several weeks and that Street Fight closed the night on a high note. Mike Santana signing with NXT is huge news and gives the brand a big boost in the top title picture.

Reina Volcan's rise will be interesting to follow, and Jaida Parker is slowly building momentum again. The leftover feuds from The Great American Bash aren't very compelling, but at least the opening segment heated Saquon Shugars vs. Dion Lennox back up again.

Other aspects of this edition of NXT such as Keanu Carver vs. Hank Walker and Shawn Spears vs. Niko Vance hurt the overall flow, but there was more to like than not. This wasn't billed as a special edition of NXT, making it more impressive that it put forth a stronger effort than usual.

Final Grade

B

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.