With all the momentums by her side heading into NXT Heatwave 2024, Lola Vice was out to capitalize on it to pick up the maiden title of her career. But a slight mistake turned out to be a blunder as her opponent schooled her back to the line when it came to get after the singles women’s championship on NXT.
In one of the marquee matches of the NXT Heatwave 2024 WWE premium live event, Roxanne Perez defeated Lola Vice to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. In a major spot of the match, Vice trapped Perez in a sleeper hold, as Perez rolled outside the ring to avoid the tapout. Perez then dodged a back fist attempt by Vice, which caused the challenger’s arm to hit the ringpost.
NXT Heatwave 2024: New Champion Crowned At WWE PLE In Toronto
This was the turning point of the match at NXT Heatwave 2024 which gave Perez a new target in the back as she started to work on the injured hand of Vice. On the flip side, the former MMA star lost the furious strikes with her hand. Vice was still able to hit her with the back fist but she put her foot on the ropes to break the count.
NXT Heatwave 2024: Lola Vice injured her hand during a back-fist
Perez sent Vice shoulder-first into the ring post and then hit the Pop Rox from which Vice managed to kick out at two. An angry Perez cleared the commentary table and mocked Vice before hitting the Pop Rox right across the table. Vice was still able to kick out of it to make Perez even more frustrated.
The champion then applied the Crossface, but Vice escaped it somehow. A fuming Perez then executed three consecutive Pop Rox finishers on Vice to retain her Women’s Championship at NXT Heatwave 2024. In this 13-minute-long match, Perez proved herself to be a solid heel who will do everything in her power to keep the belt to herself.
As for Lola Vice, she is definitely out there to become the best crossover to the squared circle from the MMA industry but she still needs to gain the stature of a champion. Having a former Bellator MMA fighter with a 4-1 record, she headed to NXT Battleground 2024 as the only female NXT talent to have secured wins in multiple Underground matches. Time will tell how she’ll recuperate from this loss to Perez.