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NXT Turns Tony D’Angelo–Naraku Title Match Into a Street Fight

On‑air management forbade pre‑match contact, using television segments to heighten tension through faction feuds with promoted debuts.

Overview

  • WWE advertised the NXT Championship match between Tony D’Angelo and Naraku as a street fight on the live NXT broadcast as part of the build to Heatwave.
  • General manager Robert Stone instructed referee Darryl Sharma not to allow D’Angelo and Naraku to touch before the main event to increase the match’s dramatic stakes.
  • Saquon Shugars started a pre-match brawl with DarkState that drew Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno into the fight and set up the opening bout’s chaos.
  • DarkState defeated Noam Dar, Romeo Moreno, and Saquon Shugars by pinfall after hitting a double powerbomb on Moreno, and the show also featured Nattie Neidhart confronting management over Jaida Parker and an advertised in‑ring debut for Reina Volcan.
  • The broadcast continued NXT’s practice of using weekly TV to formalize pay‑per‑view matches and advance faction and midcard storylines that will populate the Heatwave card.