NXT Heatwave: The All Ego Era Begins

Thomas Starr

New NXT champion Ethan Page at NXT Heatwave on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
New NXT champion Ethan Page at NXT Heatwave on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Some highlights from the pre-show included Kelani Jordan and Sol Ruca having a fun, silly workout together this morning. Including Kelani climbing on Sol Ruca and straddling her while Sol Ruca held her in her arms and then on her back like she was a small child. Bizarre. So, on the day of their match they are working out together and giggling? Wonderful way to sell their title match later.

All four wrestlers in the Men’s Title Match did Instagram promos. All four did an excellent job of getting their personalities across. For example, Je’Von talked about trying to become the youngest champion of all time. Ethan Page was in all denim which he called a “Canadian Tuxedo.”

It was announced that Nathan Frazer had not arrived at the arena yet. His partner Axiom did some terrible overacting in the background while pretending to be on his cell phone.

Pre-show:

Karmen Petrovic and Arianna Grace vs. Jacy Jayne and Jazmyn Nyx

Booker T has to be the most annoying commentator in wrestling today. What does Shucky-Shucky Quack-Quack mean? Petrovic featured “We the North” on the back of her tights. She also carried a sword to the ring. You know if this is N0-DQ that is perfectly legal. Arianna Grace did a beauty pageant entrance that was hilarious. The crowd popped huge for her, since it is her hometown.

Jacy Jayne had a mask on covering her recently broken nose. I would keep that mask. She stands out on a roster of women who have weird names and little character development. It gives her a Phantom of the Opera vibe.

Petrovic had some incredible strikes. Jayne and Nyx were the heels, which I mention because it is nice to see heels and faces clearly defined. They worked over Petrovic for most of the middle part of the match. Grace got the hot tag, and the crowd blew. She has decent size and her offense looked good here.

The women laid in their strikes. The kicks were especially stiff. Nice little match. The hometown team won with a roll up.

Winners: Petrovic and Grace

Good news, Nathan Frazer showed up and he is locked in. He said he was busy signing autographs while stuck in traffic? Something like that. But he is locked in. Did I mention that? Axiom does not think he is locked in though. Uh oh.

Main Show:

Oba Femi vs. Wes Lee – NXT North American Championship

The announcers pointed out that Wes Lee is giving up over 130 pounds to Oba Femi. This was visually absurd. Oba Femi picked Wes Lee up like he was going to do a Death Valley Driver, but instead threw him straight up in the air and spun him like a helicopter propeller. Incredible.

Of course, Wes Lee sold it for 10 seconds. On the floor, Femi threw Wes Lee under the ring with Lee’s head hitting the side of the ring. Oh my god.

While Lee is being destroyed, Booker T is getting verbally excited for Oba to do his next move. This guy would see a car wreck, stand next to it hoping another car would crash into the two already there.

Wes Lee had gotten in a couple of hope spots, but finally got in some sustained offense with flying moves. Wes Lee getting Femi over in a huricanrana was one of the dumbest looking spots of the match.

Lee flew off the top rope and Femi hit him with a forearm that looked like it crushed Lee. Later, Lee tried to do a huricanrana which Femi reversed into a powerbomb off the top rope. Lee either missed a move or the camera missed, because he landed on his backside instead of his back. The announcers sold it like Lee reversed the powerbomb. Not sure what happened.

Oba Femi finally hit a sit-out powerbomb for the win. It was a good match. The size difference was too large, which made it seem ridiculous they would even make the match. What they did was excellent though. Oba Femi is a superstar waiting to happen.

Winner: Oba Femi

Kelani Jordan vs. Sol Ruca – NXT Women’s North American Championship

The announcers hyped the legitimate athletic backgrounds of the two women. Both showed it off in the early moments of the match with some reversals. The pace was high and there were a few mishaps, but the athleticism was clear.

Sol Ruca did a front flip into a clothesline that was impressive.

The crowd was fairly quiet early. It was a babyface-babyface match and, while the athleticism is high, there was little story in the early parts. Sol Ruca was out at ringside and, instead of taking the win, Jordan broke the count. She wanted to win in the ring.

Jordan did a 630, but Ruca got her knees up. The announcers said these two have only been wrestling for a year. If that is true, these two have a very bright future. Ruca put Jordan on her shoulders and tried to go to the top turnbuckle, but Jordan turned it into a PoisonRana. Then she did a split leg Moonsault and won.

A good match. Lots of gymnastics, but in a mostly effective way. They went for a high pace and missed a few things because of it. Considering the length of time they have been wrestling, I was surprised they did not miss more.

Winner: Kelani Jordan

Gallus did a promo on X.

Arianna Grace and Karmen Petrovic were in the back with Ava Raine. Grace took credit for their win earlier, so Ava set up a match between them for Tuesday.

Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs. Chase U – NXT Tag Team Championship

I do not get this Chase U gimmick. It is too silly for me. Thea Hail is especially bad. Her overacting gets my dander up. She is incredibly talented, but someone get her out of this gimmick.

There was a guy in there in a sweater, dress shirt, and slacks. What is this? That was Andre Chase, who has a university named after him. The announcers said they wanted to bring the tag title’s back to the “campus.” Get it? His partner, Duke Hudson, is impressive. Great size. He is dressed like a wrestler. Looks athletic. He needed to get out of this gimmick yesterday.

If you wonder, why I am not giving a play-by-play it is because I was that bored during this match. Thea Hail started shrieking at ringside. Duke Hudson came in and everything picked up. He started throwing the two opponents around. The crowd is behind Chase U. It is hard to tell who is the babyfaces and heels here.

Hudson did a release German suplex and threw Frazer across the ring. Incredible.

Axiom and Fraser did a series of dives that really popped the crowd. The action picked up. Frazer had Hudson pinned, but Chase came into the ring and did a Canadian Destroyer on Axiom. I know what they were going for, which was Chase breaking up the pin then hitting the Destroyer. The way it came off, Chase was late, and the ref just stopped instead of Chase breaking up the pin. Whatever.

Chase ran wild and got a great near fall. He did a series of stomps and spelled out C-H-A-S-E-U, which the crowd chanted along. The stomps looked bad and that was so silly.

So, after kicking out of everything and doing twenty moves that were more impressive, Axiom kicked Chase and won the match. That was so lame.

An exciting match with a stupid finish. The early parts with Andre Chase were bad. Just seeing him in that outfit is silly. Once Hudson got in, the match was a lot of fun. Way too many kick outs and no-selling, but it popped the crowd.

Winners: Axiom and Frazer.

They met up with Wes Lee in the back. He was upset. Okay, so he got run over by a bus. But instead of being treated by medical personnel he is in the back crying and contemplating his career? Whatever.

Roxanne Perez vs. Lola Vice – NXT Women’s Championship

Back and forth action early. The crowd started dueling chants “Let’s go Lola, Let’s go Roxy.” Very methodical pace in the early part of the match. Which left too much room for Booker T to talk. Never a good thing. Vice did a series of running kicks that popped the crowd.

Perez charged into the corner for a forward, but Vice caught her in a choke. Perez rolled backwards, like Bret Hart did to Steve Austin years ago, and nearly pinned Vice. Vice got the choke back, but Perez rolled them out of the ring. Vice went for a spinning punch but missed and hit the ring post. Excellent series of moves, which led to Vice selling her hand.

Perez was working over the injured hand. Vice hit a spinning backfist, which looked great, and Perez sold like she was knocked out. She fell out of the ring though. Vice’s hand is visibly red.

Vice hit a series of strikes. Perez reversed and hit a Pop Rox. Vice kicked out. Perez took Vice outside onto the table and hit Pop Rox on the table. The table did not break. Yikes.

Vice kicked out again. Perez put her in a cross face, but Vice got the ropes. Perez hit another Pop Rox. Then tried to do another one and fell. She picked her back up and hit the Pop Rox and won.

Second best match of the night. They told a good story. Other than Perez falling on the Pop Rox, everything looked great.

Winner: Roxanne Perez

Trick Williams vs. Shawn Spears vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Ethan Page

Shawn Spears and Ethan Page teased teaming up, but then they each poked each other in the eyes. Trick and Je’Von then squared off with Je’Von getting a near-fall.

The crowd started chanting for tables. ECW ruined a couple of generations of fans.

Lots of action. They did one of those stacked up spots that looks crazy but does not make sense. No story here so far.

The Chair Man brought his chair in and wore everyone out. Why did he not use it from the start? Spears hit a C-4 onto the chair in the corner of the ring. Trick kicked out at 2.

A “This is Awesome” chant started. With crowds like this how did the demolition derby fail?

Evans did an incredible dive over the top turnbuckle and splashed Williams through the ringside barricade. Oh my god.

Je’Von did a springboard, but Trick caught him and shoved him into the announce table. Spectacular bump, but scary. Of course, the crowd decided it would be fun to chant “Rest in Peace.” You guys know these are humans, right?

Page had Evans up for a Razer’s Edge, but Spears pulled Evans off Page’s shoulders. Page moved and Trick ran into Spears and Evans, knocking Spears off the apron. Page pinned Evans while Spears held Trick’s leg.

A hot mess of a match. The “Rest in Peace” chant was distasteful and took me out of the match. Evans hit the edge of the table and could have legitimately hurt himself, but they decided to do a chant they found funny. The match had too many spots and risky bumps. There is a point where this needs to be toned down. These are human beings.

Winner: Ethan Page

Overall, good show. The main event really left me with bad feelings, but the rest of the card was good. The opener with Lee and Femi and the Women’s Title Match are highly recommended.

TOP PHOTO: New NXT champion Ethan Page at NXT Heatwave on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

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https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2024/07/07/nxt-heatwave-tales-from-scotiabank-arena-part-two-electric-boogaloo/

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