WWE NXT results, recap and highlights: August 17, 2021

Bengaluru, August 18: This week’s WWE NXT marked the final episode before TakeOver 36 pay-per-view event and the Tuesday Night show saw the NXT Champion have a face-off against his next challenger Samoa Joe.

While NXT Tag Team Championships were on the line, WWE Universe's favorite InDex couple also got engaged on the show that aired from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida.

Check out the recap, and results from the August 17 episode of WWE NXT:

– Kushida (c) vs. Roderick Strong for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship was canceled due to the champion not being medically cleared.

The Diamond Mine - Malcolm Bivens, Hachiman, and Roderick Strong came out to open the show as Strong went on to issue an Open Challenge, instead. The number-one contender for the NXT UK Championship, Ilja Dragunov accepted the challenge.

– Ilja Dragunov defeated Roderick Strong defeated in the opening contest of NXT. Dragunov was busted open from a spot during the match but he was still able to pick up the win by connecting with the Torpedo Moscow finishing move. After the match, Ilja called out NXT UK Champion WALTER, who never appeared.

– Santos Escobar invited NXT North American Champion Isaiah “Swerve” Scott to the parking lot, alone to have his grill back. It was a trap and Swerve got attacked by all the Legado Del Fantasma members. Hit Row faction was ready as they arrived at the lot, providing a back-up to Swerve. Hit Row stood tall as Swerve was able to take back his grill.

– Cameron Grimes defeated Josh Briggs in a short match after hitting him with the Cave-In finisher. After the match, his master the Million Dollar Champion LA Knight attacked Grimes and dropped him with the BFT finishing move.

– In a backstage segment, Zoey Stark stated that she thought her friendship with Io Shirai is for real. Io told Zoey that they are not friends and the only reason she keeps connecting with her is due to her will of defending their NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles.

– InDex (Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell) defeated Robert Stone and Jessi Kamea in a Mixed Tag Team Match. Both Indi and Lumis applied The Silence submission on their respective opponents, forcing them to tap out. After the match, Indi bent down to her knees and proposed to Lumis who accepted. The couple kissed amid huge cheers from the fans.

– WWE NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai had an exchange of words, live via satellite before their Title match at NXT TakeOver 36, this Sunday night. Raquel claimed that she will force Kai to admit her as the champion in just five days to close the segment.

– Carmelo Hayes defeated Duke Hudson in the semi-final of the NXT Breakout Tournament after connecting with the leg drop finisher. The final of the tournament is now confirmed as Odyssey Jones will take on Carmelo Hayes.

– MSK - Wes Lee and Nash Carter (c) defeated Imperium's Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.

WALTER and Ilja Dragonuv appeared at ringside and got into a brawl, stopping Imperium from their European Bomb finisher. MSK double-teamed on their opponents for the pinfall win. At ringside, WALTER was standing tall by putting away Ilja with the Sleeper submission.

– NXT Champion Karrion Kross and Samoa Joe met face-to-face before their title match at NXT TakeOver 36. After a short verbal exchange, they got into a brawl. The security team tried to separate them, but the fighting went on as the duo went through the barricade area. Fans kept on chanting NXT as the show went off the air.