The August 17, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
- Ilja Dragunov def. Roderick Strong (w/Malcolm Bivens & Hachiman).
- Cameron Grimes def. Josh Briggs.
- In-Dex (Indi Hartwell & Dexter Lumis) def. Robert Stone & Jessi Kamea.
- Carmelo Hayes def. Duke Hudson
- NXT Tag Team Champions MSK def. Imperium
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Interview Segment
An interview with NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai took place to further build their match at TakeOver 36 this Sunday.
Raquel stated that she knew Kai would turn on her just like she did on Tegan Knox. She congratulated Kai for getting a title shot before reminding her of her accomplishments and she is a superstar. Raquel vowed that Kai wouldn’t be the person to take the title from her. Kai said that she kicked Raquel’s face off and taught her everything she knows.
Kai said that she is the person to make her and will be the person who beats her to become champion. Kai said Raquel can call her whatever names she wants, but in five days, she will call her champion.
Mixed Tag Team Match
Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell vs. Robert Stone and Jessie Kamea in a mixed tag team match took place.
The match saw Lumis throw some strikes before Franky Monet got involved and was tossed from ringside. We then got a commercial break. Lumis continues to dominate Stone although Stone did a nice outside dive. The ladies worked until Indie and Lumis locked in double headlock chokes for the win.
Post-match, Indie proposed to Lumis, who accepted.
Two weeks ago, Lumis lost a Love Her or Lose Her match to Johnny Gargano but Lumis and Hartwell still got together. Last week’s NXT featured an angle where they went on their first date. Kamea, Stone, and Franky Monet watched Hartwell and Lumis’ date where Monet called the date pathetic in a video that was posted on social media. Kamea said she would mess up Hartwell if she ever had a shot at her.
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
NXT Tag Team Champions MSK defended the title against Imperium.
MSK won the NXT Tag Team titles at April’s TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. Three weeks ago, a video from Imperium cut off an interview with MSK. Barthel & Aichner called MSK two immature champions with a meaningless title reign.
This was the last match on the card and what a fun match it was. Towards the end, NXT UK Champion WALTER came out to watch on. MSK went over to retain.
Post-match, Ilja Dragunov came out to attack WALTER, but failed. After WALTER took out MSK, IIja tried to mount a comeback, but was cut down.
Face Off
Samoa Joe and NXT Champion Karrion Kross faced off in the ring ahead of their title match at NXT TakeOver 36.
So what happened? Joe came out for a promo about how this is one more time for him to verbally tear him down, but it’s pointless. He said he’s not a man here tonight to hurt Kross’ feelings, but here to hurt him. Joe told Kross to get out here. Kross did just that and without Scarlett. Kross said this isn’t about them, but the future of the brand.
Kross said Joe won’t take a year off and win the title back in his first match. He brought out security to protect Joe from him. Kross said he’s gonna drop Joe and do it real fast. Joe attacked him and they brawled with Joe hitting an outside dive to Kross and the security guards. Kross sent Joe into the steel steps then Joe sent him through the barricade. They went through a second barricade. This closed the show.
NXT Breakout Tournament Semi-Finals
Carmelo Hayes vs. Duke Hudson in the NXT Breakout Tournament semi-finals was booked. Hayes went over with a leg drop off the top rope.
Hayes will face Odyssey Jones in the finals. WWE has announced when the finals will be taking place as it will be next week. The winner of the Breakout Tournament will receive a shot at the NXT title of their choosing.
Jones, real name Omari Palmer, is a former college football player for Syracuse University, who signed with WWE in 2019.
Hudson, formerly known as Elliot Sexton, also signed with WWE in 2019. He had been using his real name Brendan Vink when he teamed with Shane Thorne on both Raw and NXT.
Hit Row Brawls
Hit Row came out to the ring for a promo. They talked about Santos Escobar’s action as he pulled out the grill of Isaish Scott. Scott was about to talk trash, but Escobar appeared on the big screen in the parking lot. Santos said that he would give the grill back, but he doesn’t trust the group.
He told Scott to come out to the parking lot alone and they can handle it themselves. Scott told Hit Row to stay in the ring and walked to the backstage area. Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde jumped Scott, which led to the rest of Hit Row making the save. A brawl broke out. Scott took his grill back and Hit Row walked away.