Kiana James VS Roxanne Perez: Devil’s Playground Match
After “New Years Day” sang “Vampyre” and Shotzi and Scarlett introduced everyone to NXT Halloween Havoc Night 1, the show properly kicked off with Kiana James and Roxanne Perez facing each other in a “Devil’s Playground Match”. I thought this was a good way to start the show and I quite enjoyed it. Swings, seesaws, and slides were all used to great effect and it was clear that this match was taking a lot out of the two competitors, but especially Kiana who had a massive bruise/lump on her head. In the end, after KJ failed to hit Roxanne with her bag, Perez returned the favour by nailing Miss James with the bag before she delivered Pop Rox onto the item to get the victory. After the match, Roxanne revealed that there was a brick inside James’ bag. Overall, I thought this was a good start to the show.
Grade: B-
Lexis King Makes His In-Ring Debut (VS Dante Chen), Arianna Grace VS Kelani Jordan: NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament (Semi-Finals), The Family VS Chase University: NXT Tag Team Championships
Vic Joseph did a sit-down interview with Carmelo Hayes where he asked Melo if he was the one who attacked Trick Williams. Hayes obviously said it wasn’t him before he eventually stormed off after Vic asked him another question about Trick. Shotzi and Scarlett were then doing tarot card readings to Meta-Four and Noam Dar in particular thought this was a load of rubbish. Whilst this was going on, Akira Tozawa just appeared and randomly stole Dar’s NXT Heritage Cup before Noam turned around and really freaked out, especially when Scarlett had foreseen something like this happening. Lexis King then made his NXT in-ring debut as he faced Dante Chen. I’ll be honest, I didn’t particularly take anything good out of this match. I feel sorry for Dante Chen as he’s actually pretty decent whilst King didn’t show me anything that makes me think he can go far in this company. Also, Lexis’ finishing move wasn’t great mainly because it took him so long to set it up. In the end, it’s a win for King, but that’s about it.
Grade: C
Thea Hail joked to Andre Chase about throwing in the towel before Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo walked in to wish their challengers good luck. It was then time for the first Semi-Final of the night in the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament as Kelani Jordan (dressed as Spider Gwen) took on Arianna Grace. This was an alright match, it wasn’t special in any way, but there also weren’t really any mistakes which is a good sign. Kelani Jordan has clearly been a favourite in the eyes of NXT Creative and that’s why she got the victory here, pinning the charismatic Arianne Grace with a nice Split-legged Moonsault.
Grade: C+
Von Wagner questioned Mr. Stone’s idea to challenge Bron Breakker to a match for NXT Halloween Havoc. Stone responded by saying he’d do anything to back up his friends. Shotzi and Scarlett were then hyping up their YouTube show before The Creed Brothers came out and asked for a match with Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo. Scarlett said that they should “Spin the Wheel to Make the Deal” which is when Ivy Nile spun it and we found out that next week’s match with be a “Tables, Ladders, and Scares” match. I don’t really get this as what are they grabbing at the top of the ladder. Anyway, it was then time for an NXT Tag Team Championship match as The Family looked to retain their gold against Chase University. I thought this was a solid match that got more entertaining as it went on. There was a brilliant spot at one point when Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo had Andre Chase beat, only for Duke Hudson to suplex Tony D’Angelo onto the pinfall right at the last second. After Stacks and “The Duke” were both out at ringside, Jacy Jayne tried to pass Chase a crowbar. However, Mr. Chase wouldn’t use it before Tony D bumped into the ropes which caused Jacy to fall. This distracted The Don and allowed Mr. Chase to roll him up for the 3 count meaning yes, Chase U are the new NXT Tag Team Champions! It’s amazingly impressive just how far Chase U have come over the past year or so and I’m very happy for them. We could easily talk about how poor The Family’s title reign has been, but we can save that for another time.
Grade: B-
Blair Davenport VS Gigi Dolin: Lights Out Match, Karmen Petrovic VS Lola Vice: NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament (Semi-Finals)
We got another edition of “Hard Hitting Home Truths” hosted by Nathan Frazer who challenged Dominik Mysterio to a match for the NXT North American Championship for NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2. Given Nathan got injured fighting for that title at Halloween Havoc last year, it would be pretty fitting if he ended up winning that match. Baron Corbin then cut a promo saying that he feels it should be him facing Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship next week, not Carmelo Hayes. Interestingly, Baron then brought up Wes Lee as a potential candidate for who attacked Trick Williams last week which now makes me think it’s not Wes. Anyway, Shotzi and Scarlett were then once again back as this time, they turned off the light as it was time for a Lights Out Match between Blair Davenport and Gigi Dolin. Whilst this match definitely wasn’t as creative as the opening match of the night, I thought it was still quite cool and Gigi’s bright orange hair looked particularly good as she was dressed as Beetlejuice. Blair Davenport was also dressed up as the balloon kid from IT and in the end, Davenport sent Dolin crashing through a table with a falcon arrow before Blair nailed Gigi with a V-Trigger to get the victory. I’m glad Blair won this match and I’m willing to rate this match slightly higher than I usually would because some of the spots with the leather strap looked particularly painful.
Grade: B-
Ilja Dragunov was also interviewed by Vic Joseph and he got annoyed at Vic for thinking that his plan would change now that he’s the NXT Champion. In fact, Dragunov said his intensity may well have to increase which is a scary thought. Carmelo Hayes was then watching this on a screen before he got spooked out by Shotzi and Scarlett who were dressed as the twins from The Shining (I think that’s the film). Shotzi and Scarlett said they’d done some more tarot card readings and all signs pointed to Melo being the one who attacked Trick Williams last week. We then saw Tiffany Stratton talking to none other than Sarah Schreiber in the NXT Viewing Lounge before Fallon Henley walked in dressed up as Stratton to give her a taste of her own medicine. This led to a brawl and gave me massive High School Musical 3 vibes (with Sharpay). It was then time for the second Semi-Final in the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament as Karmen Petrovic looked to upset the odds as she went one-on-one with Lola Vice. I try not to be too harsh with NXT, especially when it’s in the Breakout Tournaments and I will continue with that. However, I am slightly concerned about Lola Vice as she’s just not quite as good in the ring as she maybe should be. Petrovic looks alright which is something, but it wasn’t enough for her as a Roundhouse Kick from Vice was enough to keep Karmen down for the three count. Jordan-Vice is definitely the right decision for the Final of this tournament given their stature compared to the other competitors, but it would’ve been nice to have had a surprise considering I said this was going to be the final before any of the competitors were even announced.
Grade: C
Chase University were celebrating backstage before Chelsea Green (dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood) and Piper Niven (dressed up as a Wolf) came over and mocked them. This was done to set up a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match between the Champions and Jacy Jayne and Thea Hail which actually good be quite entertaining. Noam Dar was then basically having a panic attack as the rest of Meta-Four tried to calm him down. They then got a picture of Akira Tozawa who left a message saying “If you want your Trophy back, come and get it!” We then got it confirmed that the NXT Heritage Cup is inside a Haunted House and this got me very excited as NXT Haunted House matches/segments are usually a bucket load of fun. Bron Breakker then found Carmelo Hayes backstage and praised him for taking the initiative of taking out Trick Williams. Bron then told Melo that as long as he takes the initiative next week against Ilja Dragunov, he’ll have his NXT Championship back and then it’ll be time for Melo-Breakker 4. Whilst I don’t need to see that anytime soon, I do like this stuff between Breakker and Hayes.
NXT Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch VS Lyra Valkyria
After Jade Cargill arrived to get the best seat in the house, it was Main Event time as Becky Lynch put her NXT Women’s Championship on the line against her fellow Irishwoman Lyra Valkyria. Personally, I thought this match was a little sloppy to start with, but the contest definitely got better as it went on and it was really good by the end. The crowd were also well into this match which only made it better and the first big moment came when Becky kicked out of Lyra’s Roundhouse Kick. Unfortunately for me, I never bought into Lyra winning so I couldn’t really get invested in this pin. Becky then delivered the Manhandle Slam to Valkyria, but somehow, Lyra was able to kick out which shocked me. Lynch then went to hit another Manhandle Slam, but Valkyria reversed it into a roll-up before she pinned The Man for the 3 count meaning yes, Lyra Valkyria is the brand-new NXT Women’s Champion. I was completely stunned by this and I was really pleased about it. So many times in NXT and WWE in general I tend to say that they missed an opportunity to make a star. However, Lyra beating Becky here is not only a sign that she’s now a star in NXT, but also that she’s the future of Irish Professional Wrestling.
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