WWE NXT: Raquel Gonzalez pins Rhea Ripley

WWE NXT saw Breezango win their first tag team titles and much more on Wednesday.

WWE NXT is coming off NXT TakeOver XXX, where Karrion Kross and Damian Priest walked out of the event as the new NXT and North American champions, respectively. Those were the two biggest stories of the night, but the work was only half done as both men must be fighting champions in the future. The next phase of work tarted at WWE NXT on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

The night did not start off well for Kross. An injury suffered in the match with Keith Lee on Saturday forced him to vacate the title before he could even have his first title defense. With the title vacated, that opened the door for other top names in the black and gold brand to push their way into the title picture.

The main event of the evening was a women’s tag team match featuring Io Shirai teaming with former champion Rhea Ripley. They were set to face Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez. Ripley and Gonzalez waited no time in locking up, but before they could get too physical, Shirai tagged herself in. Shirai’s team was doing well until Ripley came back in the ring and was placed on the back foot by Kai and Gonzalez.

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Shirai would also find herself being beaten down by their opponents as well. Things would get even worse when Mercedes Martinez made her way out to sneak attack Ripley. Ripley tagged herself in and tried to make a difference but was planted by Gonzalez with the one-handed powerbomb, picking up the win for her team.

Tommaso Ciampa returns

Former NXT champion Tommaso Ciampa made his return to NXT and got right back to work against Jake Atlas. Atlas tried to stand up to Ciampa, but the former champion did not waste any time as he smashed Atlas, finishing him off with the Willow’s Bell DDT for the win.

The NXT cruiserweight title was also up for grabs. Santos Escobar finally competed against Isiah “Swerve” Scott, the only man to defeat him since joining NXT.

Scott was looking to continue with that success against Escobar as he got off to a great start against the champion. He landed a variety of original techniques that kept Escobar grounded until Escobar landed a nasty kick to the mid-section. Once Scott was off his feet, Escobar began to systematically take him apart.

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Scott would get things rolling back his way eventually, even landing a big dive over the top rope. It looked like the numbers game was going to overtake Scott when the remaining members of Legado del Fantasma came out, but Breezango evened up the odds. The end came when Escobar put on a loaded Lucha mask to knock Scott out and pick up the victory to keep his title.

Breezango came out of NXT TakeOver XXX as the No. 1 contenders for the tag team titles. That meant their match against Imperium for the belts was up first. Tyler Breeze and Fandango were attempting to capture their first tag team gold as a unit, but Imperium was ready to put up a fight.

This was a hard-hitting match where both teams exchanged offense and the momentum swung back and forth. Imperium were in control for much of the match, eventually isolating Breeze outside the ring while focusing Fandango inside the ring. Breeze found his way into the ring and that gave Fandango the space to hit a double-leg drop from the top rope. He made the pin and Breezango walked out of NXT as the new tag team champions.

Shotzi Blackheart and Mia Yim were pitted against each other in a singles match. They started off showing respect for each other, but things got rough as they started to really beat each other down. Blackheart picked up a valuable win in the end. She landed her staple Senton Bomb from the top rope to secure the pin fall when Yim missed a drop kick from the top.

Drave Maverick was looking for revenge in his one-on-one match against Kyle O’Riley. Last week the Undisputed Era jumped him during his match with Killian Dain, which set up this bout. Maverick put up a fight at first, but O’Riley locked in a nasty outside heel hook to get the submission.

August 26 WWE NXT Results

• Breezango defeated Imperium to win the NXT tag team champions
• Tommaso Ciampa defeated Jake Atlas via pin fall
• Shotzi Blackheart defeated Mia Yim via pin fall
• Santos Escobar defeated Isiah “Swerve” Scott via pin fall
• Kyle O’Riley defeated Drake Maverick via submission
• Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai defeated Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai