SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT HALLOWEEN HAVOC REPORT
OCTOBER 27, 2024
HERSHEY, PENN. @ GIANT CENTER
AIRED ON PEACOCK
REPORT BY KELLY WELLS (@spookymilk), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
NXT Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Backstage Correspondent(s): Sarah Schreiber
Send in your questions and comments on the show to pwtorchnxt@gmail.com.
-I wasn’t able to catch much of the pre-show, but Bubba Ray Dudley was in attendance and he had a tense moment with Ridge Holland, perhaps suggesting more between the two. As for Kelani Jordan vs. a member of Fatal Influence, the latter group chose (as a result of their “Spinner’s Choice” wheel result Tuesday) that Jordan will defend against them in a Gauntlet Match. Basically every 1 vs. 3 Gauntlet Match in WWE sees the babyface win two and then lose the last one, so we’ll see if they break from the norm.
-Gigi Dolin narrated a pre-show hype video for the show, running through all the matches with interspersed moments from the run-up to the show. Order of matches promoted was Femi vs. D’Angelo, Chase vs. Holland, women’s tag, and finally Williams vs. Page. Strangely, no mention of the Gauntlet Match. Maybe they changed the planned stipulation before Gigi shot this content?
(1) TONY D’ANGELO (c) vs. OBA FEMI – Tables, Ladders and Scares match for the NXT North American Championship
Tables, Ladders and Chairs are all legal. The match ends via pinfall or submission. So, it’s a Street Fight with limited weapons available. That’s pretty disappointing when the main event is a Street Fight with Halloween branding. Also, I have to mention that Mike Rome was wearing a truly bizarre striped suit that made him look like one of the referees. A closer look revealed a Beetlejuice pin on his chest. Ah, fair enough, but he still looks like a ref. In a rare turn, D’Angelo’s mates in The Family weren’t with him.
Rome began his introductions and D’Angelo just charged and attacked Femi. The two spilled outside and D speared Femi through a barricade less than thirty seconds into the match, eliciting an early Holy Shit chant. D’Angelo got a ladder and draped it from the ring to the announce table. The audience chanted “we want tables” as if a table spot will beat anything they’re going to do with a ladder. Femi fought that off for now and a bunch of chairs got tossed into the ring. Femi hit a uranage on D’Angelo on one of the chairs and got a long two. No feeling-out process in this one.
Femi went at D’Angelo with chair shots to the midsection. Femi put D into a corner, draped a ladder across the second ropes, and beat D’s head into it. D slipped to his seat and kicked the ladder into Femi for a short reprieve, but Femi went right back at D’Angelo on the outside, then rolled him back inside. Femi laid a ladder from the second buckle to the mat and hit a body slam on D’Angelo across it. Femi got a table and shoved it into the ring.
Femi hung the table at a 45 degree angle from the mat to the top turnbuckle. Both guys had near-run-ins with the table and while D’Angelo put on the brakes, Femi used the opening to backsplash D’Angelo into the table. The match got an early “this is awesome” chant, and it’s hard to disagree with this opening six minutes. Femi got D’Angelo’s crowbar and went at him with it, working a crossface with the bar. The ref made no motion that the crowbar isn’t allowed, so this “Tables, Ladders and Scares” match is now officially just a Street Fight. Femi back elbowed D’Angelo to the mat and covered him for two.
Femi, frustrated now, put the boots to D’Angelo, then went right back to the crowbar crossface. D’Angelo slowly fought to his feet and backed Femi into the turbuckle, breaking on a second effort, but Femi charged and hit a lariat to the rear side. Femi went for a powerbomb but D’Angelo countered with a back body-drop for his first impact offense in quite a while. D’Angelo went at Femi with a series of chairshots, then hit a belly-to-belly on one and covered for two. D went out and got a second table (it still got a pop, but the first table spot looked so effective it may have diminished this second one). D’Angelo went for a side suplex, maybe, onto the table but Femi reversed and hit an F-5 instead. D’Angelo sold an issue with his knee that looked to be kayfabe.
Femi, like he did Tuesday, zip-tied D’Angelo to the ropes. All three other members of the Family charged. Femi easily took out Stacks and Luca Crusifino while Adrianna Rizzo checked on D’Angelo. Femi went into the ring, stalking Rizzo until she went out on the apron and got a crowbar. Femi yanked it away from her, but D’Angelo had broken free and he speared Femi, who was right over the draped ladder from the outset of the match. Back inside, Femi quickly got back into it with a spear and a pop-up powerbomb for a long, believable near-fall. Femi went for another, but all three members of the Family hit the ring. Crowbar shot by Rizzo, Shatter Machine by Stacks & Luca, and finally a slam through the second table finished for D’Angelo. Your babyfaces, ladies and gentlemen!
WINNER: Tony D’Angelo at 15:23.
(Wells’s Analysis: They were kind of backed into a corner with not wanting Femi to take a loss clean, but Femi being booked as a heel as they continue to present the mob as babyfaces. The four of them standing together and posing afterward really drove home that it took all four of them to beat him. On the upside, this was actually an extremely enjoyable street fight with some really hard-hitting spots, which may even qualify as D’Angelo’s most enjoyable singles match to date. It also frees Femi up for a potential run at a bigger fish)
-There was a long hype video for Cody Rhodes for Peacock Premium subscribers.
-Sarah Schreiber interviewed Lexis King about whether he had found a corner man for his Heritage Cup championship match on Tuesday. He said he was facing constant rejection and ghosted texts. He said he was trying to change his perception. William Regal stepped into the frame and said he’d be the corner man. He said sometimes the apple falls far from the tree. Well, that’s certainly interesting.
-Earlier tonight, Fatal Influence chose the Gauntlet Match as their stipulation. Order of opponents will be Jazmyn Nyx, then Jacy Jayne, then Fallon Henley. No surprises there, as Fallon is the frontwoman and the most polished product of the three.
(2) GIULIA & STEPHANIE VAQUER vs. ROXANNE PEREZ & CORA JADE
I know they never put a non-championship match on last, but given the hype for the new babyfaces, I could’ve seen an argument for it here. The heels were wearing matching blue and white plaid on their gear, somewhat evoking Judy Garland’s dress in The Wizard of Oz. Vaquer had on green gear for the first time in this company and half of her face was painted for the Day of the Dead. She had the rose crown as well. Giulia had spiderwebs painted around her eyes.
Vaquer and Jade had a grappling sequence to open. Vaquer shoved Jade to the face corner and tagged Giulia, who continued work on Jade’s arm. She shoved Jade into the buckle and again tagged, but Jade was able to scamper to her own tag. Perez shoved Vaquer and jawed at her, so Vaquer shoved her to her back. The two went for wristlocks and reversals. Vaquer hit a trap pin with a bridge for two, then tried to transition to a crucifix but got thwarted. They reversed a few more times and Vaquer did her head stomps with the knees. Giulia tagged in and Vaquer hit a 619 on Perez. All four women were briefly involved before the ref got control.
Perez and Giulia continued to reverse until Giulia caught Perez in a sleeper. Jade tried to interfere and Vaquer caught her in an identical sleeper. Both heels fought to the rope and again the illegal wrestlers were sent off. Giulia booted Perez and hit her with a missile dropkick for two. The heels used some double-teaming to take control of Giulia. Booker T said they have a three-count to break holds. Vic said it was a five count, and Book couldn’t just make up rules like this is Reality of Wrestling.
Jade worked a headlock on Giulia on the mat as the mat slowed down for the first time. Giulia rolled to escape and rolled up Jade for two. Jade put down Giulia with a clothesline and tagged Perez. Giulia thwarted a double-team and then she and Perez went for big palm strikes and missed. They ended up finally connecting at the same time and selling on the mat. Giulia made the hot tag and Vaquer hit a springboard lariat. Vaquer headbutted Jade into oblivion then hit double knees on her. Vaquer hit a dragon screw on Perez out of a corner and covered for two.
All four women got involved again and the faces hit some stereo moves, but the heels responded with tandem superkicks. The faces bailed and Perez hit a tope suicida on both. Jade flew from the top to hit a back elbow on the faces. Back inside, Perez worked a crossface on Vaquer, who escaped quickly. The two fought up on the ropes and Perez hit a super huracanrana. Jade tagged and hit a rolling senton from the top. Yet again all the women got involved and hit impact moves.
The legal women re-centered. Jade got some rights in until Vaquer hit a backdrop to create separation. Giulia tagged in and hit a flash knee on Jade for two. Jade got in a knee to the midsection and Perez tagged in. They wanted a Doomsday Device and Giulia knocked them together, then tagged Vaquer. Giulia hit a double-underhook suplex and Vaquer nailed Perez with a twisting splash from the top to score the pin. I had Vaquer figured to pin Perez to warrant a championship match since Giulia’s had her first one already, but Giulia set up the move so she might have some claim herself.
WINNERS: Giulia & Stephanie Vaquer at 13:45.
As the faces celebrated, (the former Delta) Zaria’s music played and the lights went out, and one spotlight showed Zaria up near a private box. She stared down at all four still near the ring. There was still no sign of whether to peg her as a face or heel, but they could use a monster heel right now, so I’m guessing that’s where she’ll land.
(Wells’s Analysis: Just excellent stuff here as the women meshed with one another and had some really nice grappling sequences before leading into some segments that leaned toward strong style at times. Jade doesn’t have perfect timing out of her long injury but she hung in there with the others)
-For Premium subscribers, there was a pretty funny seres of pranks where wrestlers were trying to guess what was under a box by touching it, and it was the head of the Boogeyman, who had his head up through a hole in the table.
-Je’Von Evans & Cedric Alexander talkecd about getting the tag team championships on NXT. Alexander said maybe it was okay to occasionally do some bad things to get ahead. Evans said he likes Alexander the way he is.
-Dave LaGreca talked with Bubba Ray Dudley up among the fans. LaGreca told the story of Vaquer pinning the champion, with no mention of Giulia doing the work, so I guess we’re glossing that over. Dudley put over the women in the previous match, then did the same for the guys in the opener, pointing out that he’s one of the original men from the TLC match.
-There was a hype segment for what led to Andre Chase vs. Ridge Holland, which was our bi-yearly chance to get one more look at the long-gone Bodhi Hayward.
(3) ANDRE CHASE vs. RIDGE HOLLAND – Ambulance Match
Here’s one with some serious boom or bust potential. Holland entered to his familiar reaction of heel heat mixed with apathy. Chase got a decent pop. His Chase U sweater was a red and red and green striped sweater, evoking Freddy Krueger, and Vic said “1, 2, Chase is coming for you” just in case anyone was missing it.
The two went at it with rights and lefts early. Chase hit a big boot early and dumped Holland with a lariat. Vic said this was the seventh ambulance match in WWE history. I don’t know how many I would have guessed, but it would have been more. The two brawled up the ramp and near a hearse painted to look like an ambulance, keeping with the spooky theme. Chase used a fire extinguisher on Holland and Holland ran a stretcher down at Chase against the ring, but Chase moved and ran down the stretcher and hit a cross-body on Holland.
The men went inside and Holland took over on offense, hitting a delayed suplex into a powerslam. Holland went out and got a kendo stick and went at Chase with it. Holland followed up with chairs. Holland set Chase up in a chair and went at him with rights to boos. Chase popped up and tripped Holland onto the chair. They each picked up a kendo stick and Chase got the upper hand and hit some shots, then used it to assist with a Russian leg sweep. Chase did his CHASE U stomps. Chase went up and hit a high cross-body, then used the previously-seen chair and dumped Holland with it. Chase approached Holland but ate a body slam when he got there.
Holland peeled back some of the padding around the ring and set up a powerbomb, though from his positioning it was obvious that Chase would reverse to a back body-drop, and he did. Chase charged the stretcher into Holland a couple of times and they ended up near the announce table. Chase tossed the covering and Vic’s bowl of candy, but Holland popped up and bealed Chase with his spine against the apron. Ugh. The two jockeyed up on the table, and Chase ended up hitting a DDT. There was a “One more time” chant and Chase egged it on. He couldn’t deadlift Holland so Chase rolled over the stretcher and rolled Holland atop it. He started rolling it toward the ramp but Holland slipped off of it near the foot of the ramp. Holland had some ugly marks from the kendo sticks.
Holland shoved Chase into the steps, then rolled Chase up the ramp. He shoved Chase toard the ambulance opening but Chase crumbled. Holland reigned down with some rights. Holland wanted to use a pumpkin as a weapon and there was a huge pop. It ended up being Chase stealing it and tossing it at Holland which got a huge reaction. Chase went to the top of the ambulance and splashed Holland, then shoved him in the ambulance, but couldn’t shut it. Holland clawed at Chase’s head through the opening, then slipped out. He monkey flipped Chase into the bottom of the ambulance door, then hit the Redeemer on the ramp. He opened the door and shoved Chase inside. He shut the door to win. Vic called it the biggest singles win of Holland’s career.
WINNER: Ridge Holland at 14:32.
(Wells’s Analysis: It was about the match you’d expect, with a few interesting spots in between some slow walking and brawling. Vic asked if “the lights are finally turned off at Chase University,” so they might be ending the long-term storyline, I guess, but where does that leave its members? Riley Osborne is still vanilla enough that you can insert him somewhere. Duke Hudson has charisma and can be of use somewhere. Thea Hail is a no-brainer to thrive as a spastic spitfire. The biggest question would be if Chase himself could bounce back)
-Premium subscribers got a Nikkita Lyons segment. She’s apparently a “multi-dimensional superstar.” She should bring some of those dimensions to the act at some point. Liv Morgan got a longer profile.
-Axiom and Nathan Frazer had their 3249823489th scene where they weren’t totally on the same page leading into a tag team championship defense. Frazer said “Could you be any more condescending?” and Axiom replied “yes, I could be you.”
-Schreiber talked to Ava, and they talked about “Mr. Regal” cornering Lexis King for his match with his real-life son Charlie Dempsey. I can’t remember if as fans if we’re supposed to consider Regal and Dempsey to be father and son or if it’s supposed to be an Easter egg for those in the know.
(4) WOMEN’S NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP GAUNTLET MATCH
(a) Kelani Jordan (c) vs. Jazmyn Nyx
Kelani’s gear was meant to be Poison Ivy from DC Comics (I think). She and Nyx grappled early, exchanging wristlocks. Vic mentioned that Kelani Jordan and Cody Rhodes are the only wrestlers in the company to be undefeated in championship matches this year. Nyx got dumped and Jordan hit her with a moonsault. Vic asked if that kind of risk was warranted in this gauntlet. Nyx went at the hair and then tripped Jordan into the corner. Nyx hit a bulldog and covered for two. The other members of Fatal Influence were strangely not at ringside for this, though maybe they’ll stay around as Nyx and Jayne lose the first two matches.
Nyx tried a suplex but Jordan managed an inside cradle for two. Schoolgirl for two. Angle slam by Jordan. Jordan went up and hit a 450 splash to win.
WINNER: Kelani Jordan at 3:32.
(b) Kelani Jordan (c) vs. Jacy Jayne
There was no bell to start this one, so I guess they’re counting it all as one match, though that’s not what I did here. Jordan hit Jayne with a splash to the outside as Jayne was trying to enter, then hit another inside for two. Thrust kick by Jordan. Jordan wanted a split-legged moonsault but Jayne shoved her headfirst into the post. Jayne put up Jordan in the tree of woe and laid in some kicks. Back in the center of the ring, Jayne hit a senton for two. The crowd was pretty muted for this and the Nyx match, likely as they know there’s no reason to invest until Henley is out there.
Jordan evaded a move just to be nailed with a flash knee for two. Jayne worked a headlock briefly but Jordan escaped and hit some ax-handles. The two reversed a few times until Jayne rolled Jordan up for two. They did some more reversals until Jordan trapped Jayne for the three. Jayne laid in a Rolling Encore(? I think that’s what Vic said) elbow as a cheap shot.
WINNER: Kelani Jordan at 4:01.
(c) Kelani Jordan (c) vs. Fallon Henley
Henley charged down to the ring and tried to pick the bones with a quick cover. She hit a few more impact moves for quick twos. Henley hit a running back elbow for two. Henley missed in the corner but hit a back elbow, then went up. The two reversed suplexes and Jordan ended up hitting something like a reverse Rocker Dropper for two. Jordan put up Henley in a torture rack but Henley went for the eyes (she missed, but Jordan sold it) and the two ran at each other and hit simultaneous clotheslines to sell on the mat. The crowd woke up somewhat for a “this is awesome” chant.
The two exchanged forearms and Jordan strung together some offense and laid in some kicks and stomps. Jordan went for a springboard move but Henley hit a cutter, and then a neckbreaker from the top for two. Henley sold surprise that she didn’t get the three. Jordan hit an X-Factor and then hit the split-legged moonsault, but Jazmyn Nyx hopped up on the apron and took the referee’s attention long enough for a kickout. Jayne then went up and attacked Jordan, who kicked her away. Of course, this was enough of an opening for Henley to hit her finisher.
WINNER: Fallon Henley at 5:51.
Henley tried to cut a promo, but afterward,the Zaria video played again. The three of Fatal Influence all waited for her to walk the ramp, but of course Zaria was behind them. She effortlessly destroyed all of Fatal Influence, then stood and posed.
(Wells’s Analysis: The Fatal Influence girls each got short match times as the match got the same 15 minute runtime that NXT matches seem to get on a regular basis on PLEs. Kelani was strong in her long night though she ended up an afterthought as this was all about Zaria. The Zaria appearance after the tag match was a smart move as it had me thinking her night was done. Apparently she’s going to be a babyface also, though they’re wisely positioning her in the North American Championship scene so she doesn’t end up getting muscled out and forgotten at the top. I questioned the need for the North American Championship when it was introduced, and now all these months later it’s almost like there aren’t ENOUGH Championships for the stacked Women’s Division)
-For Premium subscribers, there was a countdown of moments on the previous week’s NXT weekly show. #1 was Oba Femi destroying the Family through ladders. Next up was a series of Crown Jewel moments over the past four years.
-Schreiber talked with Tony D’Angelo, flanked by the Family. He sold the pain through talk of how he defended. He called out Rizzo for “the crowbar shot heard ’round the world. Schreiber asked if Rizzo knew who attacked her last week. Rizzo said “I do, and I’m comin’ after her this Tuesday!” Cheap, I guess, but I’m interested to see who it is.
-LaGreca and Bubba Ray talked again. LaGreca bemoaned the previous title change. Dudley transitioned to saying Zaria putting the entire NXT women’s division on notice. They talked about the ambulance match, and Holland showed up and jawed at Dudley. Holland had a mic with him, but he forgot to put it up to his mouth and we didn’t know what he was saying. Unreal. Bubba Ray said “That’s twice. You did this on the pre-show and you did it again now. Don’t let it happen again.” Holland slowly took his leave. They put over the coming main event, and Bubba took one more look out toward Ridge.
-Booker and Vic were up on the ramp explaining that the Devil’s Playground match is Falls Count Anywhere. Booker was walking past a trunk and Tatum Paxley popped out and surprised him. Ava showed up and tried to talk to Paxley about her match Tuesday with Wendy Choo. Paxley said she needs to make it more interesting, and she spun the wheel. It landed on Casket Match. Ava said okay: you vs. Wendy on Tuesday night in a Casket Match.
-Hype for the main event.
(5) TRICK WILLIAMS (c) vs. ETHAN PAGE – Devil’s Playground match for the NXT Championship
Trick was dressed in a purple cape and his gear said “Trick Willy Wonka.” Vic said he had the “golden ticket to the top.”
Page jumped Williams during his entrance. Vic mentioned that this is the third match of its kind, and previously, Johnny Gargano defeated Damian Priest for the North American Championship in this match. Early on, each guy grabbed a chair and Williams took control and put the chair to Page repeatedly. Page bailed and got a pumpkin from the announce table. He pointed at Vic, who wore a pumpkin-covered suit, and said “You look like a dumbass!” and posed with the pumpkin, saying it looked like Vic. Trick yanked the pumpkin and put it over Page’s head and split it with a punch. The crowd chanted “Whoop that pumpkin.”
Action spilled to the crowd, where Williams beat down Page with a little walk and brawl. Williams posed long enough for Page to nail him with a trash can, but Williams backdropped him on a trash can and covered for two. The two battled back toward the ring and Williams missed a chairshot against the post. Page hit a DDT on a chair on the outside, covering for two.
Page nailed Trick with a chair, then a ladder. He rolled Williams inside and smacked him with a chair again. Williams sold the agony through another two count. Page hit a sidewalk slam through a standing chair for a long two. Page charged Williams to a corner and threw rights there. He snapped Williams from the top rope to atop a laying chair on the mat and covered for two. Page tried a suplex but Williams put on the brakes and hit a DDT to finally get a breather.
Williams got in a few shots and then kipped up, but then missed a Trick Shot. The two exchanged some reversals and Williams hit the Trick Shot, but Page got his foot up on a rope, which…should not have broken the count, given the Falls Count Anywhere stip. Vic said the ref was wrong, but called out muscle memory and the ref doing what he’s used to. If Page wins, that’s a huge out for him, so that’ll be interesting to see.
Page grabbed a bag – the kind usually filled with tacks – and poured it out. It was a bag of nuts and bolts. Page got reversed into the pile. The match spilled outside again and Page fought to grab the top half of the steel steps, but Williams put a stop to it. He uncovered the announce table, but Page charged Williams into the now-grounded steps that he’d set down. Page uncovered the table and set the steps near them. He put up Williams, walked up the steps, and hit Ego’s Edge for two. Williams was bleeding somewhat significantly from the mouth. The ref’s gloves were on and he called for some help. Officials checked on Williams and Page tried to close in and they told him to step away. Given the bad acting of the “medical professional,” it was entirely worked.
The match went back inside, where Page caught Williams and slammed him on the steps. It was such an ugly angle that Booker T yelped out in secondhand pain. Page had a second set of steps and he tried to slam them down on Williams, who moved. Williams lifted the steps to hit Page with them, but Page kicked him in the nuts. You don’t see that much anymore. Page lifted the steps and Williams gave him the uppercut to the nuts. Wow, twice in thirty seconds! Williams banged the steps into Page and then hit the Trick Shot to finish.
WINNER: Trick Williams at 15:54.
After the match, Williams only was able to celebrate for a moment before Ridge Holland charged into the ring and attacked him. Page tossed Williams over to Holland for a Redeemer. The heels attacked until Bubba Ray Dudley made the save. There’s a sentence I didn’t think I’d type tonight. At the end of the show, the two heels looked into the ring at Trick and Bubba. I’d guess if Bubba gets a match, it’ll be a tag affair that leads to a Trick-Ridge championship match. I wouldn’t write off the possibility of a double-cross by Bubba, either, in a managerial role as he has the chops on the mic to get heels over.
(Wells’s Analysis: NXT has a very predictable formula for PLEs. Every match gets a thirty-minute window, which basically tells you outright how long the show will last. That’s well and good, but it makes the main events seem short because I’m expecting them to be longer than the undercard matches, and they aren’t. These two packed some real violence into a short window, and it came off as eventful even if it wasn’t anything you’d classify as a great match. The show-ending angle was teased by the pre-show, so I’m glad I caught the end of that, and could lead to some real odd angles on the weekly show as we hit the road to Deadline)
FINAL THOUGHTS: As stated, the NXT PLEs are really starting to feel formulaic and it’s easy to feel out when matches are going to end as a result. That doesn’t make them less enjoyable, but it seems like they could mess with the formula and surprise us a little more. I would’ve thought Oba Femi would be fast-tracked to the NXT Championship scene, but it seems like Ridge Holland has the spot for now. If I had to guess, I’d say that Holland is a placeholder and will do the job at Deadline while Oba Femi wins the Iron Survivor Match to get a future championship shot. The women’s tag was my favorite affair of the night by a pretty wide margin, and I walk away from this one feeling like the old talking point that “NXT has the best women’s division in the world” might genuinely be true again, even if they aren’t as polished as other divisions. We’ve got a lot of hints about the new directions on TV with Holland/Page vs. Williams/Dudley, Vaquer-Perez and Zaria-Fatal Influence, as well as the question of what becomes of Chase U, a staple on the weekly show for years now. I do hope we get some closure on the Ridge Holland-Thea Hail aspect of that, though. Nate Lindberg and I will be recording a VIP post-show, so look for that late tonight or tomorrow. Cheers.
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