Grayson Waller & Zaria Lead Australian NXT Takeover At NXT Heatwave
The Australian takeover is in full force! Grayson Waller and Zaria both walked out of NXT Heatwave as champions, with Waller capturing the NXT Championship while Zaria unified the Women's Speed and North American Championships.
Ryan D
8/31/20262 min read
With Waller and Zaria now holding championship gold, could Bronson Reed be the next Australian Superstar to add another title to the collection?
Australian Takeover at NXT Heatwave
WWE announced yet another Perth Takeover in December this past Friday, but another Australian takeover is already in full force after WWE presented NXT Heatwave, with Sydney's own Grayson Waller and Adelaide's Zaria both leaving the event with championship gold around their waists.
Heatwave kicked off with a historic title unification Triple Threat, with Zaria defending her NXT Women's North American Championship against WWE Women's Speed Champion Wren Sinclair and Kali Armstrong. Zaria would ultimately emerge victorious after Wren Sinclair was taken out at ringside in the final moments with Zaria hitting an earth-shattering F-5 on Kali Armstrong, capturing the Women's Speed Championship and unifying the two titles.
Closing out Heatwave, Grayson Waller captured the NXT Championship, defeating defending champion Tony D'Angelo, Cruz Montana and Zilla Fatu in an excellent Fatal 4-Way main event.
Waller capitalised on a stunned Montana after Montana had hit Spin the Block on D'Angelo, striking with a Pop-Up Stunner before pinning Montana to become the new NXT Champion and capture his first singles championship in WWE.
With the addition of Waller winning the NXT Championship, he joins a near-packed list of current Australian WWE Superstars who hold championship gold at the time of this article:
WWE Women's World Champion – Rhea Ripley
NXT Women's Speed & North American Champion – Zaria
NXT Champion – Grayson Waller
The one Australian currently left without championship gold is "Big" Bronson Reed, who unfortunately suffered a severe distal biceps tear in his right arm back in February.
However, if you follow Bronson on his socials, you'll know that he is arguably in the best shape of his life. I couldn't imagine Reed being away from the ring for much longer, and when he does return, I could see him immediately being thrown into the Intercontinental Championship picture or even challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship against the man he defeated the last time WWE returned to Australia, Roman Reigns.