Background in
Lowell, Massachusetts.
Heatwave was originally the name of a
professional wrestling event produced by
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) that took place annually from 1994 to 2000. The
1997 event was an
Internet pay-per-view (iPPV), while the
1998 to
2000 iterations of Heatwave aired on traditional
pay-per-view (PPV). ECW folded in 2001, and
WWE acquired the assets of ECW in 2003. In
2022, WWE revived the event for its
developmental brand NXT as an annual
television special of the
NXT program. On July 10, 2025, it was reported that the fourth Heatwave under the WWE banner, and 11th overall, would be held on Sunday, August 24, 2025, at the
Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in
Spartanburg, South Carolina. However, during
The Great American Bash on July 12, Heatwave was announced to take place at the
Lowell Memorial Auditorium in
Lowell, Massachusetts. In addition to
Peacock in the United States, the event was also be available to
livestream on
Netflix in most international markets and the
WWE Network in a select few countries that had not yet transferred to Netflix due to pre-existing contracts. This marked the first Heatwave to livestream on Netflix following the WWE Network's merger under the service in January in those areas. Beginning with
Halloween Havoc in 2024, all major NXT events (with the exception of the
2025 Great American Bash event) are branded solely with the WWE logo instead of the NXT logo, marking the first Heatwave to just use the promotion's logo.
Storylines The event included six matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program,
NXT, as well as
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's (TNA) weekly television program,
Impact!, following WWE and TNA signing a multi-year partnership in January 2025. After
Blake Monroe's NXT debut, she and
Jordynne Grace formed an alliance, and at
The Great American Bash on July 12, Grace and Monroe defeated
Fatal Influence (
NXT Women's Champion Jacy Jayne and
Fallon Henley) in a
tag team match. The next night at
Evolution, Grace, accompanied by Monroe, challenged Jayne for the title, but lost the match after Monroe attacked her with the championship, turning Monroe
heel in the process. Two nights later on
NXT, a vignette aired where Monroe mocked Grace for not being worthy for a NXT Women's Championship shot, and invited Grace to watch her singles debut the following week, where Monroe won. After that, Grace attacked Monroe, who would get the upper hand, injuring Grace's neck. On the July 29 episode of
NXT, Monroe stated that Grace was not good enough, continuing to mock her, and one week later during Monroe's match, Grace appeared wearing a neck brace and chased Monroe out from the arena, costing her the match by countout. Later that night, NXT General Manager
Ava announced that Grace would face Monroe at Heatwave. At
Stand & Deliver,
Oba Femi defeated
Je'Von Evans and
Trick Williams to retain the
NXT Championship. After that, Williams would win the
TNA World Championship a month later at
Battleground. On the July 22 episode of
NXT, Evans was thinking about what he should do next when he was approached by
WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker, who said that Evans should "go after the biggest dog in the yard". For months,
DarkState (
Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin,
Saquon Shugars, and Cutler James) had been attacking several wrestlers, including
NXT Tag Team Champions Hank and Tank (
Hank Walker and
Tank Ledger). On the June 24 episode of
NXT, Hank and Tank were attacked backstage by unknown assailants. A month later, on the August 5 episode, Hank and Tank were attacked by DarkState after their successful title defense. Later that night, DarkState revealed that they were the ones who attacked Hank and Tank a month ago, while Hank and Tank demanded a match against any members of DarkState. NXT General Manager Ava then announced that Hank and Tank would defend their titles against two members of DarkState at Heatwave. A month later at TNA's
Slammiversary, NXT Women's Champion Jacy Jayne defeated Slamovich in a
Winner Takes All match, leaving with both titles. On the following episode of
TNA Impact!, Slamovich was granted by TNA Director of Authority
Santino Marella a rematch for the Knockouts World Championship the following week, while later that night, during Fatal Influence's (Jayne, Fallon Henley, and
Jazmyn Nyx) celebration, Jayne mocked the entire TNA women's division, including The Elegance Brand (Ash,
Heather by Elegance, and M by Elegance). The following week, during Slamovich's rematch, Ash attacked her, costing Slamovich the match. On the August 7 episode, Ash would have her championship match, where Fatal Influence and The Elegance Brand were banned from ringside. However, Slamovich attacked Ash, also costing her the match, and a brawl subsequently broke out between Slamovich, The Elegance Brand, and Fatal Influence. On the August 12 episode of
NXT, both Ash and Slamovich were in the crowd watching Henley and Nyx's tag team match, and later that night, NXT General Manager Ava announced that after speaking with Marella, Jayne would defend the TNA Knockouts World Championship against Ash and Slamovich in a
triple threat match at Heatwave. At TNA's Slammiversary, a Winner Takes All match was scheduled for both the NXT Women's Championship and TNA Knockouts World Championship, with both
Jaida Parker and
Lash Legend making it clear that they would be coming after the winner. At the event, Jacy Jayne won the match, retaining the NXT Women's Championship while winning the TNA Knockouts World Championship. On the July 22 episode of
NXT,
Ethan Page debuted a custom version of his
NXT North American Championship, which depicted the flag of his native Canada. Two weeks later, Page cut a promo saying Canada was superior to America before being interrupted by
Tavion Heights. SmackDown's
The Green Regime (
Chelsea Green,
Alba Fyre, and
Piper Niven) subsequently appeared, with Green siding with fellow countryman Page. On the next episode, Heights introduced
Tyra Mae Steele as his tag team partner, who attacked Page and The Green Regime. On the August 19 episode, Page and Green attempted to foster a peace treaty between both Canada and America, only to argue with Heights and Steele over the two countries. After that, NXT General Manager Ava announced that the two teams would face each other in a
mixed tag team match at Heatwave. ==Event==