A huge stipulation has been added to what will be the final battle between Tony D’Angelo and Santos Escobar at NXT Heatwave!
For months, Legado del Fantasma have been linked with Tony D’Angelo’s Family. While the two factions were initially at odds, the events of In Your House saw the members of former Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar’s crew forced to join forces under the leadership of D’Angelo when the Family was able to defeat Legado del Fantasma in a six man tag team match.
In the following weeks, D’Angelo would command the members of Legado del Fantasma to do his bidding, getting them to interfere on behalf of the Family in an attempt to gain more power and influence over the rainbow brand.
However, at Great American Bash on July 5th, D’Angelo revealed that Santos Escobar had been hospitalized, and it was heavily implied that D’Angelo had put him in the medical facility himself for failing to help The Don win any championships in NXT. It was soon revealed that crew member Two Dimes had also suffered punishment at the hands of D’Angelo’s crew after Troy Donovan was released from the company following a failed drug test.
On last week’s episode, Tony D’Angelo and Stacks attempted to win the NXT Tag Team Championships when they faced the Creed Brothers. However, at long last, Santos Escobar returned to the rainbow brand and interfered in the match, helping the Creed Brothers retain. Later on, they agreed to one final meeting as it was clear they couldn’t work together.
The August 9th episode of NXT saw the meeting come to pass, and as the two sat across from each other at a long table, Escobar laid out his intentions for NXT Heatwave.
“The only reason you’re the Don of NXT is because you sent Ciampa packing. So I offer the same: one final match, but we up the stakes. Next week, Heatwave. You beat me, I’m gone, never to be seen again in NXT.”
D’Angelo was pleased with this stipulation, but insisted that if Escobar were to leave NXT, the rest of Legado del Fantasma (who he called “sheep”) would have to stay and work for him. Escobar was angry at his familia being called sheep, but agreed to the terms, as long as D’Angelo agreed that if Escobar won, every member of Legado del Fantasma would be free from working for him forever.
The stage is set and the stakes have been raised for one final showdown NEXT WEEK at #NXTHeatwave. #WWENXT@EscobarWWE@TonyDangeloWWEpic.twitter.com/UvmhjgvtI5
— WWE (@WWE) August 10, 2022
Once all the terms were set out, the Don of NXT had one final request: their match would not be contested under normal rules and would instead be a street fight.
Elsewhere on NXT 2.0, it was revealed that Solo Sikoa would be out of action for 4-6 weeks following his brutal Falls Count Anywhere match with Von Wagner last week.
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