New WWE NXT Champion Crowned

WWE

A new NXT Champion was crowned at today’s WWE NXT Heatwave premium live event on the CW Network from Edinburg, Texas.

Title changes were a theme throughout Heatwave today, and that pattern continued into the main event four-way for the NXT Title.

Entering Heatwave as NXT Champion was Tony D’Angelo, who was putting the title on the line against Cruz Montana, Grayson Waller and Zilla Fatu.

Ultimately, it was Waller who emerged victorious, coming out of Heatwave as the new NXT Champion.

D’Angelo’s reign lasted a total of 148 days after he won the title at Stand & Deliver in a four-way match that also featured Ricky Saints, Ethan Page and then-champion Joe Hendry – all three of whom were being called up to the main roster leaving D’Angelo behind in NXT.

The NXT Title win for Waller comes a few weeks after he made his return to the brand after a couple of years on the main roster where he’d hit a roadblock and needed a reset.

He has always been liked by Shawn Michaels, but never held the NXT Title during his initial stint on the brand from 2021 to 2023.

The Grayson Waller EFFECT 🏆@GraysonWWE pic.twitter.com/6nBtvZmoAm

— WWE (@WWE) August 30, 2026

A Big Few Months For Grayson Waller

Transitioning from the main roster back to NXT is always a risk – there are numerous examples of names who made that move, like Baron Corbin, Ridge Holland and more, who ended up not being long for WWE after going in that direction.

However, Grayson Waller has every chance of making himself an exception, and evidently, WWE sees value in him becoming the champion of the brand straight away.

It’s now up to Waller to lead NXT like a champion should, and he’s shown every sign that he’s very capable of doing that, both from his on-screen performances but also how much he clearly cares about NXT off-screen as well, when he’s helping out with tryouts and things like that.

There’s also WWE Wrestlepalooza coming up in December which is taking place in Perth this year – something Waller will have his eye on as an Aussie – and even though it’s a main roster show, its location means he could well be involved.

In our predicted card for the event, we listed CM Punk vs Waller as a potential match based on their history together including a recent confrontation, as well as the attraction of it being WWE Champion vs NXT Champion.

Either way, if Waller can get this spell of his career right, there’s every chance of him succeeding on the main roster the second time round when that time comes.

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• nxt
• wwe
• Grayson Waller
• Heatwave

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