NXT North American Championship (Tables, Ladders, and Scares): Tony D’Angelo VS Oba Femi
NXT Halloween Havoc 2024 kicked off with the NXT North American Championship on the line as Tony D’Angelo looked to retain against Oba Femi in a Tables, Ladders, and Scares Match! I thought this was a fun match, in fact it might have been the best one on the entire card! Oba Femi is just awesome, I can’t praise that man enough, and Tony D’Angelo is having by-far his best year in the company! Obviously, Tables, Ladders, and Chairs were all used as weapons, but it was very much Femi who had control of things. However, this is when The D’Angelo Family arrived, and after Oba got too interested in Adrianna Rizzo, Tony D sent Femi crashing through a ladder in what was a pretty crazy spot! However, this didn’t seem to phase The Ruler who came close to winning with Fall From Grace before The Family once again got involved as Stacks, Crusifino, and Rizzo all attacked Oba Femi which allowed Tony D’Angelo to deliver a spinebuster through a table to get the win! Once again, Oba Femi was protected in defeat, but I’m not sure this is the best look for The Don!
Grade: B
Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade VS Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer
To my surprise, the next match on the show saw Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade reignited their pairing as they took on the “newcomers” in Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer! I thought this was a good match, I felt like everyone put in a good showing, and it was interesting to watch! We know how great Roxanne Perez is, but it was important for Cora Jade to look good on return, and I thought she did that well! Giulia is an exciting talent, she has a bright future in this company, and Stephanie Vaquer definetly impressed me here with some of her high-flying offense! My only criticism of this match was Roxanne was arguably beaten up a bit too much here, she’s The Prodigy for a reason after all! Anyway, I wasn’t surprised with the ending in the sense that I expected the good guys to win, but I was surprised with the fact that it was Vaquer who won by pinning Perez! It was a cool finish though!
Grade: B-
Andre Chase VS Ridge Holland: Ambulance Match
It was then time for an Ambulance Match as Andre Chase went one-on-one with Ridge Holland! This match was fine, I liked what they were trying to do, but the crowd really didn’t care unfortunately. I don’t know, Ambulance Matches are one of those that can be really good, but a lot of the time they just don’t work. I did like the fact that Mr. Chase spiked Ridge onto the announce table in the same way Holland did back at NXT No Mercy, but in the end, it was Holland who picked up the win after delivering the Redeemer onto the floor!
Grade: C
NXT Women’s North American Championship Gauntlet Match: Kelani Jordan VS Fatal Influence
After getting to choose the stipulation, Fatal Influence decided to go with a Gauntlet Match when they tried to dethrone Kelani Jordan for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. It was Jazmyn Nyx who started it off for the team, and as much as I see potential in The N.Y.X, she was always going to lose this one as Kelani hit a 450 to advance to Jacy Jayne! Now, Jacy did a much better job here as she tried to isolate the Champion, but in the end, Jordan was able to sneak by The Rockstar with a smart roll-up! This left it down to Fallon Henley who was clearly Fatal Influence’s best shot at winning the whole thing, but Lani still seemed to have her covered. However, after interference from both Nyx and Jayne, Fallon nailed Kelani with a Shining Wizard to pick up the win and become the brand-new NXT Women’s North American Champion! This is pretty cool for Fallon, she deserves this, but she wasn’t exactly able to celebrate it as ZARIA showed up and laid all of them out! She’ll be Champ come New Year’s Evil!
Grade: C+
NXT Championship (Devil’s Playground Match): Trick Williams VS Ethan Page
And in the Main Event of NXT Halloween Havoc 2024, Trick Williams and Ethan Page stepped inside of the Devil’s Playground with the NXT Championship up for grabs! Firstly, Trick coming out as “Trick Willy Wonka” was genuinely brilliant, and Ethan Page calling Vic Joseph “a dumbass” was also pretty good! The match itself overall was alright, it could’ve been better, but I’m also not sure I was expecting too much out of it to be honest. There were some good spots with the steel steps, and it was interesting that the referee was close to calling it after All Ego made Trick bleed! However, the main story of this match and feud is that Ethan can turn dark but Trick can’t, but here, Williams showed that isn’t the case by hitting a low blow before Trick Willy nailed Ethan Page with a Trick Shot to score the win and retain his NXT Title! After the match, Ridge Holland came out of nowhere and floored Williams which is when Page also got involved. However, this is when Bubba Ray Dudley appeared and saved Trick to end the show! This is most likely leading to the NXT show in Philadelphia in a couple of weeks, but it’s still odd!
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