Grayson Waller’s high-risk elbow drop pays off as he captures NXT Championship at Heatwave in four-way match
Tony D’Angelo entered Heatwave with a huge challenge – defend the NXT Championship against Grayson Waller, Cruz Montana and Zilla Fatu.
It was the toughest obstacle yet of his NXT Championship reign. He didn’t need to be pinned to lose the title. He had hungry wrestlers trying to get to the top of the men’s division. Fatu was making his singles debut while Montana was coming out of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) trying to make an immediate impact and Waller was clawing his way back to the top.
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Grayson Waller speaks during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Aug. 25, 2026. (WWE via Getty Images)
It took a while for any of these competitors to stay down. Fatu hit a nasty flying Samoan Spike on D’Angelo and pinned him. As the referee was just about to hit three, Waller pulled him out of the ring. Waller was seemingly spent after becoming the punching bag for each of his opponents.
Later, Fatu was lying down on the announcer table after some more fighting with D’Angelo and Montana. Waller, back in the ring, knew he had to hit one more home run to keep Fatu down. He thought about it for a second, but decided to take advantage of the situation.
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Grayson Waller and Cruz Montana are in action during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Aug. 11, 2026. (WWE via Getty Images)
Waller climbed to the top turnbuckle and nailed Fatu with an elbow drop. The two crashed through the announcer table.
D’Angelo and Montana battled in the ring as Waller tried to recover. Montana hit Spin the Block on D’Angelo. Waller rushed back into the ring and tossed Montana back to the outside and pinned D’Angelo for the victory.
Waller became the new NXT champion.
It is Waller’s first NXT title reign in NXT despite starting his career with the brand and winning the Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge in 2022. He was never able to reach the heights that NXT has to offer – until Sunday night.
Tony D’Angelo speaks during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Aug. 4, 2026. (WWE via Getty Images)
Waller talked the talk when he returned to NXT TV and now he’s walking the walk.
