WWE NXT Live Updates, Results and Highlights From July 21

During the break, the two men battled backstage, almost running into Shawn Michaels, but they fought back to ringside as they returned to full screen.

D'Angelo tossed a ladder into Naraku then pulled out a crowd-pleasing table for a later collision.

Naraku caught D'Angelo on the floor with Enter the Abyss then loaded up more mist, but the champion blocked it before sticking the mist on his fingers in the eyes of the challenger.

The champion turned the tide with a kendo stick between the legs into a Side Slam through the table for the definitive victory.

Winner: Tony D'Angelo to retain the NXT Championship.

Afterward, as D'Angelo celebrated the newest NXT signee Mike Santana arrived in the crowd.

The crowd was not very enthusiastic despite Santana working multiple previous NXT dates while in TNA, and Vic Joseph did not reveal his new name (per usual NXT standard).

The main event was fun plunder but certainly not the exciting conclusion this rivalry was promising. At no point did it feel like Naraku had any chance.

In spite of this, the commentary put this over as the biggest win of D'Angelo's career.

The arrival of Santana is interesting for NXT but not all that exciting as a next challenger for the champion, who already has multiple more established names available.

Before the main event, Vic Joseph ran down the card for next week:

Tony D'Angelo immediately got in Naraku's face during his entrance, so the official rang the bell right away without the usual fanfare for an NXT Championship match.

At the bell, Naraku misted the champion and took over the action, dominating with the help of steel chairs, steps and kendo sticks.

The challenger even sent D'Angelo through the LED screen barricade at ringside.

D'Angelo managed to avoid a stomp from Naraku into a chair then Back Body Dropped the champion onto a chair to turn the tide.

The champion poured water into his misted eyes then caught Naraku, tackling him into the barricade to send the match into PIP break.

Reina Volcan arrived with a dramatic theme and entrance, highlighting her superior size over most of the NXT women's division.

Booker T put over Volcan big before the bell even rang, making clear that Raye was in serious trouble. Booker even gave her the "Airport Test" seal of approval—his way of saying she has standout star presence.

Skylar Raye tried to fight and show off her athleticism, but a Spinning Powerslam and Backbreaker shut down Raye.

Even after a Tornado Facebreaker from Raye, Volcan quickly recovered, knocked Raye off the second rope and locked in the Natural Disaster (Torture Rack) for the submission.

Winner: Reina Volcan

Volcan is an imposing and impressive competitor, but the structure of this match did not allow her to fully show off.

As is oddly typical for NXT squash matches, it was Raye who got in most of the offense before Volcan locked in and won at the end.

Shiloh Hill found Robert Stone in his office and intimidated Stone with his darker persona, The Fog, before stealing the general manager's KFC popcorn chicken (in an obvious product placement spot).

Right into the commercial break, a mystery car arrived, carrying someone that Stone had been speaking with on the phone earlier in the night.

Shawn Spears tried to get back into the action, but Niko Vance laid into The Chairman with a Spinning DDT for a near-fall.

Spears encouraged Niko to follow him to the outside where The Chairman grabbed his steel chair.

Izzi Dame tried to protect Niko, but Lizzy Rain knocked her off the apron.

In the chaos, Spears pulled an Eddie Guerrero and threw the chair into the hands of Niko, causing the referee to disqualify Vance.

Winner: Shawn Spears

Spears is apparently still using The Culling as his entrance music, based on what played after he won.

Spears outsmarting Niko would have been a better angle if The Chairman had previously looked like a mastermind in the past.

Instead, this was just an awkwardly paced contest where Spears kept trying to sneak his way to a win, ultimately prevailing in his goal.

Robert Stone questioned Kam Hendrix's health, who said he had faced a setback.

However, after Myles Borne asked Stone to give him and Tavion Height an NXT Tag Team Championships match, Hendrix magically got cleared and agreed to face Borne next week for a North American Championship match.

Robert Stone backstage told Kelani Jordan that her referee complaint about the main event finish last week was borderline. He then asked to speak to Bronco Nima about his allegiance to AAA vs. NXT.

Niko Vance and Izzi Dame headed to the ring before the commercial break and awaited Shawn Spears.

He tricked Niko by leaving a steel chair on the ramp but appearing behind Niko to start the fight.

Spears continued to maneuver around Niko, but the power of his former protege grew increasingly more difficult to handle.

Izzi also tried to protect Niko multiple times in this contest including a distraction to stop Spears from Chokeslamming Niko on the announce table.

That distraction set up Niko to Powerslam Spears on the floor into the commercial break.

Out of the break, Nattie tried to lock in the Sharpshooter, but Jaida Parker fought herself free.

Nattie blasted Jaida with a Dragon Screw on her injured left knee, and that knee buckled when Miss Parker tried to fight back.

Jaida reversed a German Suplex into a Falcon Arrow for a near-fall. Nattie almost took the win after landing a Michinoku Driver.

The Low-Key Legend then locked in the Sharpshooter. Jaida crawled her way to the floor to break it then sent Nattie knee-first into the steel steps.

Miss Parker took advantage and locked in her own Sharpshooter. The referee saw that someone had thrown in the towel for The Low-Key Legend and called for the bell.

Winner: Jaida Parker

Afterward, it was revealed that Thea Hail actually threw in the towel to Nattie's frustration. Hail and Jaida fist bumped while mocking Nattie and her crew.

Nattie has brought out a more physical and technical side of Jaida that is working for her. The two flowed well throughout this rematch.

The finish was awkward and contrived though to give Jaida an inconclusive win and force a third match.

At least, Hail finally has something to do, and Miss Parker has some back-up in a fight she should not have been fighting alone.

NXT showed another hype package for Tony D'Angelo vs. Naraku.

Shiloh Hill found Danhausen in his lab and paid him in stolen Bitcoin for a new tooth.

Jaida Parker headed to the ring alone while Nattie once again backed by both Nikkita Lyons and Karmen Petrovic.

Miss Parker went right at The Low-Key Legend at the bell, but Nattie quickly took over with her technical experience.

The large Panda Express logo on the titantron was distracting whenever the camera aimed toward the stage.

Jaida turned the tide with a Teardrop and went for a Hipnotic, but Lyons and Petrovic pulled her to safety.

Miss Parker caught Petrovic with a Baseball Slide, but The Low-Key Legend attacked Jaida from behind with a Chop Block on the floor.

This allowed Nattie to take over into the PIP break.

Hank Walker brought the fight to Keanu Carver, fighting without fear against the bigger man.

Even when Carver sent Hank to the floor, Tank Ledger hyped up Hank, who ran back in and laid in a Boss Man Slam on Carver.

The two brawled to the outside where Hank sent Carver into the steel post. He tried to hit a Diving Clothesline, but Carver ducked and laid out Hank with his modified Alabama Slam for the victory.

Winner: Keanu Carver

Afterward, Keanu tried to keep dealing damage to both Hank and Tank, but EK Prosper arrived to make the save.

Hank, Tank and Prosper laid out Carver with a combination Collision Course and Moonsault. They stood tall together.

This was a fine match but an obvious case of two big men lacking chemistry. They did not flow as well as Carver has with other recent opponents.

The result was obvious, but the awkward setup telegraphed the clear finish a bit too strongly.

Backstage, Nattie offered to help train Thea Hail, but Hail made clear she did not like Nattie and was not interested in her help.

Kendal Grey with Wren Sinclair met Lola Vice in the ring where Vice promised she was taking her NXT Women's Championship back.

Vice almost came to tears as she talked about Grey taking her moment from her while Grey was more confident than she has ever been on the mic.

In fact, the champion sounded cocky, stating that she had passed up Vice.

Vice goaded Grey into fighting her in NXT Underground in two weeks, a match type that Vice has never lost, even while Sinclair warned Grey to think about this.

Grey got the last line of the back-and-forth, telling Vice: "After I'm done whooping your ass, you can go back to shaking it."

NXT then showed a hype package to sell the growing issues between Tony D'Angelo and Naraku.

Saquon Shugars showed off back from the break and paid for it as DarkState overwhelmed him with their numbers.

Shugars nearly caught Dion Lennox in the ring with a pin attempt, and even after he tagged in Romeo, he and Lennox fought outside, sending Lennox through the stage.

Romeo tried to stack up Cutler James for three, but he got laid out by James and Osiris Griffin with a Double Spin-Out Powerbomb for the victory.

Winners: DarkState

Even after the match was over, Shugars and Lennox kept fighting until they were separated.

This was a solid match, but Romeo was the obvious standout. His athleticism is second to no one right now in NXT.

Shugars and Lennox keep building their rivalry, and hopefully they have a better rematch in them than the overlong mess at Great American Bash.

In the locker room, the women's roster talked about their current frustrations. While Thea Hail was frustrated about her lack of opportunities, she wished Jaida Parker good luck against Nattie.

Kendal Grey called out Jaida for bringing Nattie to NXT, but Jaida promised she put an end to Nattie tonight before she and Skylar Raye walked off to prepare for their matches.

The show started in Robert Stone's office where he announced that Tony D'Angelo and Naraku cannot touch each other until the main event.

Thea Hail tried to get a word in with Stone, but Nattie interrupted to promise to end Jaida Parker tonight. Stone got distracted and left Hail standing alone.

Saquon Shugars shook hands with Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno before Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin and Cutler James arrived.

Shugars immediately took the fight to DarkState, followed quickly by his tag team partners for the night.

When the action settled, Dar and Lennox started the official match.

When Shugars tagged in though, Lennox tagged out to Griffin, avoiding the man that beat him at Great American Bash.

Shugars went after the back of the leg of Griffin and set up Dar and Romeo to roll over DarkState until Shugars tried to rally the troops to Powerbomb Lennox through the announce table.

DarkState rallied to protect and laid out their opponents into the first Picture-in-Picture break of the night.