The 2024 NXT Heatwave was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by the American company

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

. This was the third annual

Heatwave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

produced by the company for its

developmental brand In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

NXT, and 10th Heatwave overall. The event took place on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at the

Scotiabank Arena Scotiabank Arena (SBA), formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and t ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

as part of Money in the Bank weekend. Unlike the prior two years, which were held as television specials, the 2024 event aired via WWE's

livestreaming Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- liv ...

platforms, marking NXT's first livestreaming event to be held in Canada since NXT TakeOver: Toronto in 2019. Six matches were contested at the event, including one on the Countdown to Heatwave pre-show. In the main event,

Ethan Page Julian Micevski (born September 20, 1989), better known by his ring name Ethan Page, is a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand, and is ...

defeated previous champion

Trick Williams Matrick Mondre Belton (born May 26, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on its NXT brand, under the ring name Trick Williams. He also makes appearances in WWE's partner promotion Total Nonstop Acti ...

, Je'Von Evans, and

Shawn Spears Ronnie William Arneill (born February 19, 1981), better known by his ring name Shawn Spears, is a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and trainer. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the WWE NXT, NXT WWE brand extension, ...

in a

fatal four-way match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

to win the

NXT Championship The NXT Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defended as the top men's championship of NXT (WWE brand), NXT, the promotion's Farm team, de ...

by pinning Evans. In other prominent matches, Roxanne Perez defeated Lola Vice to retain the

NXT Women's Championship The NXT Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champion is Jacy Jayne, who is in her fi ...

, Kelani Jordan defeated Sol Ruca to retain the NXT Women's North American Championship, and in the opening bout,

Oba Femi Isaac Odugbesan (born April 22, 1998) is a Nigerian professional wrestler and former shot putter. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Oba Femi and is the current NXT C ...

defeated

Wes Lee Deveon Everhart Aikens (born November 2, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT and Evolve brands under the ring name Wes Lee and is the leader of The High Ryze stable. He is a former one-t ...

in a Last Chance match to retain the

NXT North American Championship The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended as the secondary men's championship of NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champi ...

. The event received universal acclaim from fans and critics alike, with some calling one of the greatest NXT events ever produced, with higher praise going towards the NXT North American Championship, NXT Women’s North American Championship, NXT Tag Team Championship, and NXT Championship matches.

Production

Background

was originally the name of a

produced by

Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

(ECW) that took place annually from 1994 to 2000. The 1997 event was an Internet pay-per-view (iPPV), while the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

iterations of Heatwave aired on traditional

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV). ECW folded in 2001, and

acquired the assets of ECW in 2003. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, WWE revived the event for its

NXT as an annual

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

of the '' NXT'' program. On January 4, 2024, it was announced that the third Heatwave under the WWE banner, and 10th overall, would be held on Sunday, July 7 at the

as the third show of what WWE promoted as a three-night "Money in the Bank Weekend" event at the venue, with the live broadcast of ''

Friday Night SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

'' taking place on July 5 and then Money in the Bank itself taking place on July 6. Instead of airing as a television special like the previous two years, the 2024 event was held as a

event, marking the first Heatwave to air on WWE's livestreaming platforms,

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

in the United States and the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, a division of TKO Group Holdings. The service relied on technology develo ...

in most international markets. This was also the first NXT livestreaming event to be held in Canada since NXT TakeOver: Toronto in 2019. Tickets for all three Money in the Bank weekend events went on sale on March 15, 2024, with combo and hospitality packages available.

Storylines

The event comprised six matches, including one on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, ''NXT'', and the supplementary online streaming show, '' Level Up''. At

Battleground A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

on June 9,

defeated

to retain the

. On the following episode of ''NXT'', SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Champion

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born June 30, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is also known for co-fou ...

announced that Williams would be defending his title at Heatwave against the winner of a 25-man

battle royal Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...

, which was scheduled for next week's episode. The battle royal was won by Je'Von Evans. Later that night, however, Page argued that he was never officially eliminated from the battle royal as he was attacked by Oro Mensah. A match between Evans and Page was scheduled for the main event, which Page won. After the match, Williams and Page brawled while

attacked Evans. The following week, Spears defeated Williams in a non-title match. With Evans, Page, and Spears each having a claim for a title match, NXT General Manager Ava announced that Williams would defend his title against the three men in a

at Heatwave. On the June 18 episode of ''NXT'', it was announced that Nathan Frazer and

Axiom An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or ...

would defend the

NXT Tag Team Championship The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's Professional wrestling championship, professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. It is defended on NXT ...

at Heatwave against the winners of the tag team turmoil match, which was scheduled for the following week's episode. The turmoil match was won by Chase University ( Andre Chase and Duke Hudson). At Battleground,

successfully defended the

in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

, which involved

. On the following episode of ''NXT'', Femi celebrated his successful title defense before being interrupted by Lee, who requested a title match. Femi accepted, but under the stipulation that if Lee lost, he could never challenge Femi for the title for as long as he was champion. The match was later made official at Heatwave. At Battleground, Kelani Jordan won a

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself become ...

to win the inaugural NXT Women's North American Championship. On the June 18 episode of ''NXT'', Jordan complimented Sol Ruca and promised to give her a title match. Arianna Grace interrupted, assuming Jordan was talking about her. A match between Grace and Ruca was scheduled for the following week where the winner would face Jordan for the title at Heatwave, which Ruca won. At Battleground, Roxanne Perez successfully defended the

. On the next episode of ''NXT'', Perez addressed the state of the women's division, with several women stating why they deserved to be Perez's next challenger, which included Lola Vice, who cited her victory over

Shayna Baszler Shayna Andrea Baszler ( ; born August 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and a former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she became a former List of NXT Women's Champions, two-time and lon ...

in an NXT Underground match at Battleground. The following week, Perez and Vice teamed together in a triple threat tag team match, which they won, only for Perez to attack Vice after the match, turning Vice

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

for the first time in her career. On the next episode, Vice attacked Perez after her match and stole the title. Later that night, Vice placed the title in the office of NXT General Manager Ava and demanded a title match against Perez at Heatwave, which was later made official.

Event

Pre-show

On the Countdown to Heatwave pre-show, Karmen Petrovic and Arianna Grace took on

Jacy Jayne Taylor Grado (born June 2, 1996) is an American professional wrestler. , she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Jacy Jayne, and is the current NXT Women's Champion in he ...

and Jazmyn Nyx. In the end, Grace performed a Codebreaker on Jayne. Nyx attempted to pin Petrovic, but Grace pulled Nyx's hair so that Petrovic could pin Nyx to win the match.

Preliminary matches

The actual event began with Oba Femi defending the NXT North American Championship against Wes Lee. Lee countered a Super Spirit Bomb into a facebuster and followed up with the Cardiac Kick for a nearfall. Outside the ring, Femi caught Lee and performed a shoulder breaker. In the end, Femi countered a Cardiac Kick attempt and followed up with a thrust kick and Fall from Grace to retain the title. As a result, Lee could not challenge for the title while Femi was the champion. In the second match, Kelani Jordan defended the NXT Women's North American Championship against Sol Ruca. During the match, Jordan performed a Pele Kick, a Poison Rana, and an Asai Moonsault. Ruca followed up with a Triangle Moonsault and later performed a powerbomb on Jordan for a nearfall. In the climax, Jordan countered a Sol Snatcher attempt for a nearfall. Ruca slammed Jordan in the turnbuckles and as she attempted an Electric Chair from the top rope, Jordan countered into a Poison Rana and followed up with a split-legged moonsault to retain the title. In a backstage segment, NXT General Manager Ava booked Karmen Petrovic and Arianna Grace in a match against each other for the following episode of ''NXT''. In the third match, Nathan Frazer and Axiom defended the NXT Tag Team Championship against Chase University (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson, with Thea Hail and Riley Osborne). After several minutes of back-and-forth action, Frazer performed a dropkick on Hudson into the steel steps. Chase performed a High Fly Low on Axiom, but Frazer broke up the pin. Frazer tagged himself in and performed a superplex and a brainbuster on Chase. After Frazer took out Hudson outside the ring, Axiom performed the Golden Ratio on Chase to retain the title. In the penultimate match, Roxanne Perez defended the NXT Women's Championship against Lola Vice. Throughout the match, Perez focused on Vice's injured hand. After Vice kicked out of Pop Rox, Perez performed Pop Rox on Vice onto the announce table. Perez then applied the crossface on Vice before performing Pop Rox three more times to retain the title.

Main event

In the main event, Trick Williams defended the NXT Championship against Ethan Page, Je'Von Evans, and Shawn Spears in a fatal four-way match. During the match, Williams performed a legsweep on Spears while Page performed a Doomsday Device on Evans. Spears then knocked out Evans, Page, and Williams with a steel chair. Outside the ring, Evans performed a suicide dive over the ringpost on Williams, who got sent into the barricade. Spears performed a Super Death Valley Driver on Evans, but Page tossed Spears away and pinned Evans himself for a nearfall. Evans performed a Super Spanish Fly and Springboard Cutter, but Williams broke up the pin. Evans performed a Super Cutter and a Corkscrew Splash on Spears, but Williams broke up the pin. Page later performed Ego's Edge on Williams, but Evans placed Williams's foot on the rope to break the pin. Williams performed the Trick Shot on Page and Evans, but was dragged away by Spears while Page pinned Evans to win the title.

Reception

Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist, author, and historian who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter' ...

of the

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

rated the matches of this event with his well known star ratings. He gave the highest star rating to the main event, giving it 4.5 stars. He gave the pre-show tag match 1.75 stars, the lowest rated match of the night. He gave the NXT Women's Championship and NXT Tag Team Championship matches 4.25 stars. He gave the North American Championship match 3.25 stars, and the NXT Women's North American Championship match 3.5 stars.

Aftermath

New NXT Champion Ethan Page opened the following episode of ''NXT'' to talk about his win at Heatwave. Trick Williams interrupted, wanting a rematch that night. Page rejected and Shawn Spears interrupted, followed by Je'Von Evans, and they engaged in a brawl. Later that night, Williams teamed with

Joe Hendry Joe Hendry (born 1 May 1988) is a Scottish Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and musician. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), while also making appearances for partner promotion WWE on its NXT (WWE brand), NXT WW ...

to defeat Page and Spears. Williams would eventually win the title from Page at ''NXT''s CW premiere on October 1. Also on ''NXT'', Wes Lee talked about his loss at Heatwave and decided to step away from the company.

Trey Miguel Trey McBrayer (born August 30, 1994), better known by his ring name Trey Miguel, is an American professional wrestler, where he is a member of The Rascalz tag team. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He also makes appearances ...

and

Zachary Wentz Zachary Green (born April 29, 1994), better known by his ring name Zachary Wentz, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a member of The Rascalz tag team. He ...

, Lee's

Rascalz Rascalz are a Canadian hip-hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group played a crucial role in the artistic and commercial development of Canadian hip hop as well as specifically for the Westcoast scene in Vancouver popularizing the te ...

stablemates, arrived, and they promised to dominate the tag team division together. Karmen Petrovic and Arianna Grace had their match on the following episode of ''NXT'', which Petrovic won. Chase University (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) would eventually defeat Nathan Frazer and Axiom to win the NXT Tag Team Championship on the August 13 episode of ''NXT''.

Results

References

External links

* {{WWEPPV, Heatwave Heat Wave 2024 WWE Network events 2024 WWE pay-per-view events 2024 in professional wrestling WWE NXT 2024 in Toronto July 2024 in Canada Professional wrestling shows in Toronto WWE in Canada