WWE NXT Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from Aug. 20

The road to No Mercy was shaped by the events of the August 20 edition of WWE NXT.

Joe Hendry battled Wes Lee and Pete Dunne for an opportunity to challenge "All Ego" Ethan Page for the NXT Championship.

In a Gauntlet Eliminator, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker, Karmen Petrovic, Wren Sinclair, Kendal Grey and Adriana Rizzo fought to crown the No. 1 contender to Roxanne Perez's NXT Women's Championship.

Lola Vice faced her toughest challenge since The Prodigy in a battle with Wendy Choo, who had her eyes on Kelani Jordan's Women's North American Championship.

Chase U held a celebration for the new NXT tag team champions Andre Chase and Ridge Holland, and Hank Walker and Tank Ledger faced a monster of a challenge in Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

This was a night to watch, shaping the future of the youngest brand in WWE.

Nathan Frazer and Axiom interrupted the Chase U celebration to challenge Andre Chase and Ridge Holland to an NXT Tag Team Championships rematch.

Duke Hudson and Riley Osborne instead challenged them to a clash there and then to earn that rematch.

After a competitive contest, Frazer hit Osborne with a superplex into a brainbuster/superkick combination with Axiom to win.

While The Supersonic Duo always deliver, Osborne was the surprise standout here, upping his game with the competition.

He stood toe-to-toe with the best high-fliers in NXT. While it is difficult to stand out as a speedster in this era, he does seem to be putting it all together in recent months.

It was an exciting contest that served an unofficial No. 1 contender opportunity, showing Frazer and Axiom are unstoppable when on the same wavelength.

A rematch between the champions and former champions is an easy win for No Mercy on September 1, though NXT did tease an intriguing contest for the future with an all-Chase U bout for the gold.

Result

Axiom and Frazer def. Hudson and Osborne by pinfall to potentially earn an NXT Tag Team Championships opportunity at No Mercy.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

• Holland cut a passionate promo about his journey, possibly his best ever.
• Frazer and Axiom thought the match would be later. Instead, Hudson and Osborne ripped off their pants to reveal wrestling gear.
  

• Holland caught Frazer in a wheelbarrow position to set up a somersault cutter from Osborne. Axiom broke up the near-fall.
  

Lola Vice and Wendy Choo were in an even struggle until Kelani Jordan arrived to get her Women's North American Championship back.

Vice accidentally knocked out Lani with a spinning back fist. With the referee distracted, Choo blasted Vice with the championship inside a pillow case to win.

Afterward, Jordan offered Choo a title match at No Mercy before knocking her down to take back her gold.

This match balanced between sloppy and scrappy throughout its run time. Choo and Vice did not have clean chemistry, but they battled hard to make the most of their time.

This got over 10 minutes and ultimately landed in the "solid" category, especially showing that Choo could hang with Vice. The finish was ridiculous but protected Vice well enough.

Jordan vs. Choo will be an interesting matchup as it will be the biggest test for the champion and her challenger's latest gimmick. This could be a career-defining bout, though the two need to bring more to the story next week.

Result

Choo def. Vice by pinfall.

Grade

B-

Notable Moments

• Jordan was shown searching for her Women's North American Championship in the trainer's room.
  
• Vice took over with a series of spinning kicks followed by a series of low front kicks to set up the running hip attack for a near-fall.
  
• Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne cut a strong pre-taped promo alongside Jazmyn Nyx to introduce The Fatal Influence.
  

Wren Sinclair and Sol Ruca opened the match followed by Adriana Rizzo at three.

Ruca took out Rizzo with a spin-out powerbomb for the first elimination.

Brinley Reece got the fourth spot followed by Kendal Grey at five. Grey hit a spinning powerslam on Reece to eliminate her, leaving Jaida Parker as the last woman in.

Parker eliminated Grey with a corner hip slam and Standing Gourdbuster. Ruca took out Sinclair with the Sol Snatcher. Finally, Parker connected on the Hipnotic on Ruca to take the win.

NXT played a dangerous game putting this many inexperienced women in a complicated match type, and it did not all pay off. Everyone worked hard, but not everyone was ready to be in this spot.

Grey stood out poorly as she struggled to hit her obviously-choreographed spots. On the other hand, Ruca and Sinclair were the workhorses of the match for a reason, keeping everyone on time as they could.

It was odd to take Karmen Petrovic out at the start of the night, replacing her with Reece. Reece was fine in the match, but that spot could have gone to a more interesting wild-card option.

Parker won the match on the path of least resistance, taking advantage of the three remaining women at the end. Still, she was the obvious choice to challenge Roxanne Perez on the current roster.

The more NXT stalls bringing in Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer, though, the more every other option looks lesser in comparison.

Result

Parker won the Gauntlet Eliminator to earn an NXT Women's Championship match at No Mercy.

Grade

C-

Notable Moments

• The show started with Izzi Dame attacking Petrovic, who could not be cleared for the Gauntlet Eliminator.
• NXT general manager Ava announced Reece would take the spot instead. Grey celebrated the opportunity with Reece in the locker room but promised to fight hard later.
• Perez watched the action backstage.
• Parker cut a promo afterward, promising that she was the difference-maker.
  

Tank Ledger cleared Luke Gallows out of the ring and then hit a running powerslam/avalanche combination with Hank Walker to pick up a huge win.

This was a genuinely shocking result, but in a good way. Hank and Tank have been grinding for the past year, working hard with good opponents but taking the fall.

This felt like the level-up moment. They won clean over a veteran tag team, setting the group up as rising acts that may finally start going for gold.

The match was fairly ordinary, but the result raised this to the point of a genuinely important moment in the tag team division.

Result

Hank and Tank def. The O.C. by pinfall.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

• Booker T's call for the finish was "That's it?," which may have undercut the win a bit.
  
• Poor Vic Joseph got his hair mussed up by a celebratory Hank and Tank.
• Security celebrated with Hank and Tank and stopped Gallows and Anderson from taking revenge.
• A fight between Shawn Spears, Malik Blade and Edris Enofé broke out backstage that ended with the tag team on top and Brooks Jensen checking on Spears.
  

Wren Sinclair interrupted Charlie Dempsey's speech multiple times, saying that the Heritage Cup champion would fight anyone.

Oba Femi arrived to the shock of No Quarter Catch Crew. The Family followed quickly after.

Tony D'Angelo sent the rest of his crew after NQCC, while he laid out Oba Femi with a spinebuster.

Short, sweet and to the point. After weeks of teasing, NXT has wrapped around to the biggest match possible for Femi right now: a battle with The Don.

D'Angelo has serious credibility and the size to genuinely match the North American champion. The two should deliver big shots and push the titleholder to fight from underneath against one of NXT's main event acts.

No Quarter Catch Crew got embarrassed a bit again, but as long as Dempsey keeps the Heritage Cup, he can build his credibility in the ring.

Grade

B+

Notable Moments

• Sinclair dropped off the Heritage Cup with Je'Von Evans backstage as she was running. Gallus confronted The Young OG, who got backup from Cedric Alexander.
  

Ashante "Thee" Adonis needed to rake the eyes and send Dion Lennox throat-first into top rope, but he finally picked up the victory with the Long Kiss Goodnight (his version of Sweet Chin Music).

While Adonis has been entertaining in backstage segments recently, this match felt completely superfluous. The former Hit Row star has never truly put it together as a singles star, and it showed here.

While Lennox is also an unfinished project, this could have been an opportunity to boost his profile. Instead, this all amounted to giving Adonis a win that he will struggle to capitalize on as part of a loaded NXT roster.

Result

Adonis def. Lennox by pinfall.

Grade

D

Notable Moments

• Adonis tried to talk with three Performance Center women backstage before his match, but they wanted to speak to Lennox instead.
• Adonis was rolling until he slapped Lennox hard. This set off the 26-year-old, who found his focus.
• Lexis King interrupted Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, but they weren't interested.
  

This was all Joe Hendry, who should have had the pinfall after delivering a Standing Ovation to Pete Dunne, but "All Ego" Ethan Page took out the referee.

Page then stopped a second official while Hendry hit another Standing Ovation. The distraction allowed Dunne to hit a Bitter End, but Trick Williams caught him with a Trick Knee.

Trick then woke up the original referee to count three behind All Ego's back.

Afterward, Zachary Wentz jumped Lee from the crowd. Officials could barely break them up.

Two of the best wrestlers in WWE today let Hendry show out in this match, and it was spectacular to watch. The crowd was into every big move from the new No. 1 contender.

He looked like a rock star on a mission. Page vs. Hendry may not be a matchup between technical powerhouses, but the two have already showed they can sell a crowd on their every move.

This was the right move, even if it was predictable. Dunne vs. Trick needs to happen again as does Lee vs. Wentz.

However, Page vs. Hendry was the only option in this Triple Threat.

Result

Hendry def. Dunne and Lee by pinfall to earn an NXT Championship shot at No Mercy.

Grade

A

Notable Moments

• Lee and Hendry were interviewed at the same time, and the latter called out the former for talking down about TNA.
• Dunne interrupted Page during an interview to lay claim to a title shot.
• All Ego joined commentary where he got along well with Booker T.
• Lee and Dunne attacked Hendry before the bell but could not get along once it rang.
• Hendry popped the crowd big when he lifted Lee head-first into Dunne's crutch and then took out both men outside with a leaping cannonball.
• Lee went for a handspring, but Dunne caught his hand, breaking the fingers. Hendry wiped out Lee afterward with a Standing Ovation on the announce table.
  

Outside of one dud match, NXT brought a strong in-ring show for the night. Nothing was rushed for the sake of filling in more action.

Not everything fully landed, though. The Gauntlet Eliminator was sloppy. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson put over Hank Walker and Tank Ledger bit but did not push them to a memorable match.

On the other hand, Lola Vice and Wendy Choo took advantage of the extra time to work past some rough spots. The opener and main event played out very well to maximize the talent involved.

The No Mercy build was on point throughout, including instantly elevating the excitement around Oba Femi and Tony D'Angelo.

Overall, this was a night when the action was more than the sum of its parts, and the right moves were made to sell a solid premium live event card.

Overall Grade: B