NXT Heatwave 2026 is an upcoming WWE television special and livestreaming event for the company’s developmental brand, NXT. It is the fifth annual Heatwave under the NXT banner and the 13th Heatwave overall. The show will be held Sunday, August 30, 2026, at Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg, Texas.
In the United States, Heatwave will air live on The CW and stream on ESPN Unlimited, making it the first Heatwave to appear on both platforms and NXT’s first livestreaming event on ESPN. Internationally, the show is scheduled for Netflix in most markets. WWE has billed it as a three-hour premium live event beginning at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT. The CW is also slated to replay the show later Sunday night.
Heatwave is the second half of a same-day, single-admission doubleheader. Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide will present Ola de Calor (“Heatwave” in Spanish) first from the same arena, with a scheduled start of 11 a.m. CT. That AAA show is set to stream on YouTube in the United States and air on FOX across much of Latin America. Together, the two WWE-family cards will run opposite All Elite Wrestling’s flagship pay-per-view, All In, in London.
Background
Heatwave began as an Extreme Championship Wrestling event, running annually from 1994 to 2000. The 1997 edition was an internet pay-per-view; the 1998–2000 shows aired as traditional PPVs. After ECW folded in 2001, WWE acquired its assets in 2003. WWE revived the Heatwave name in 2022 for NXT, first as a television special and later as a livestreaming event beginning in 2024.
The 2026 date and venue were announced at NXT’s Great American Bash on June 27. WWE also confirmed that an AAA card — later named Ola de Calor — would take place immediately beforehand in Edinburg. The pairing continues WWE’s closer integration with AAA following its acquisition of the Mexican promotion.
Broadcast
Heatwave will air live in the United States at 3 p.m. ET as a television special on The CW and as a stream on ESPN Unlimited through the ESPN app. That dual window is new for the event: NXT’s premium live events moved to The CW in June 2026 after WWE’s Peacock deal for those shows expired in March, and ESPN’s simulcast of CW Sports programming, including NXT, began August 4. ESPN Unlimited had already carried WWE’s main-roster livestreaming events since September 2025; Heatwave is the first NXT special to join that ESPN package.
The CW is scheduled to replay the three-hour show later Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT. Outside the United States, Heatwave is expected on Netflix in most territories, with regional exceptions that include Abema in Japan, SuperSport in Sub-Saharan Africa, iQIYI in China, and ProSieben Maxx and Bild in German-speaking Europe.
Ola de Calor, which precedes Heatwave from the same building, is a separate broadcast. AAA’s card is slated for YouTube in the United States and FOX in Mexico, Central America, and South America, excluding Brazil.
Match card
The advertised lineup features five championship matches plus a submission bout. The card remains subject to change.
| Match | Stipulation |
|---|---|
| Tony D’Angelo (c) vs. Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana vs. Zilla Fatu | Fatal four-way for the NXT Championship |
| Kendal Grey (c) vs. Kelani Jordan | Singles match for the NXT Women’s Championship |
| Zaria (NXT Women’s North American Champion) vs. Wren Sinclair (WWE Women’s Speed Champion) vs. Kali Armstrong | Triple threat unification / winner-takes-all match |
| Myles Borne (c) vs. Jackson Drake (with Myka Lockwood) | Singles match for the NXT North American Championship |
| Myles Borne and Tavion Heights (c) vs. The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes) | Tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship |
| Jaida Parker vs. Nattie | Submission match |
(c) indicates champion(s) entering the match.
The title picture has been built around several recent developments. Zilla Fatu’s addition turned the NXT Championship match into a four-way after his contract signing stipulated a title opportunity in his first WWE match. Kali Armstrong earned her way into the women’s unification bout by defeating Zaria on the August 25 episode of NXT. NXT General Manager Robert Stone has said the winner of that triple threat will choose which championship to carry forward. Myles Borne is booked in two title matches on the same night: a singles defense of the North American Championship and a tag title defense with Tavion Heights.
Heatwave is NXT’s last major summer showcase before the brand turns toward its next cycle of events, and the Edinburg doubleheader is designed as both a local draw in South Texas and a same-day counterprogram to AEW’s London PPV.
