The North American Championship gets addressed, Axiom VS Nathan Frazer II
The show started with Carmelo Hayes and Solo Sikoa in Shawn Michaels office. The heartbreak kid forced Solo Sikoa to relinquish the North American championship as he wasn’t a sanctioned challenger for Carmelo Hayes last week. Fair enough. Carmelo then rightly expected to be given the belt back, but Michaels declined that and told Hayes that he would be in a Fatal 5-Way for the NA Championship at Halloween Havoc. Hayes didn’t seem to be bothered until Michaels told him it would be a ladder match, a match type that Hayes doesn’t have the greatest track record in.
After this, it was time for match 2 of the best of 3 series between Axiom and Nathan Frazer. Frazer and Axiom are really talented, and they have such good in-ring chemistry. At one point, Axiom attempted to hit the Golden Ratio (the move he won with last week) but he was met with a massive super kick. A mixture of Frazer’s popularity and the fact that the crowd wanted a third match saw Axiom get booed in certain parts of their encounter. The ending came when Frazer hit a superplex before he rolled through into a really cool looking neck breaker. I wonder who taught him that transition. Frazer then went to the top rope and hit a picture-perfect Phoenix Splash to tie the series at one apiece. This wasn’t as good as the first match, but it was still great fun. Hopefully, their final match will also be a qualifying match for Halloween Havoc, but it doesn’t need to be.
Grade: B+ for the match
Video packages, Toxic Attraction VS Nile and Paxley
Alba Fyre had a pre-taped video where the former forever champion claimed that she would be the one to dethrone the NXT Women’s Champion. If we get NXT UK’s Kay Lee Ray then that totally works but if not, Rose is going to be holding onto the gold for a bit longer. Mandy Rose was watching, and she laughed it off before Toxic Attraction did their entrance. Another video then aired, this time highlighting Damon Kemp. Kemp talked about how he accepted Tony D’s offer to help them become champions, but Santos Escobar ruined it. He then told the camera that he was going to fight a member of the Diamond Mine next week. Ivy Nile was incredibly angry about this whole situation before Tatum Paxley told her to focus on the match. I like how they did video package that surrounds the characters in play, that’s clever. However, the match itself wasn’t great. Paxley is still learning whilst Nile needs to be made to look like a badass. Instead, she was pinned by Jacy Jayne. Toxic A were always going to win this match as it builds them up to face the KC’S one-on-one in the future (most probably Halloween Havoc). However, Nile being pinned was a mistake.
Grade: C-
The Dyad VS Enofe and Blade, Cora Jade VS Wendy Choo
The Schism were in the ring, and they spoke about how Cameron Grimes made a huge mistake not joining them. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade then came out and we saw a tag team match. This was pretty decent, Enofe and Blade are good fun but feel like they’ve gone backwards in terms of star power compared to where they were early on in the year. As for the Dyad, they have always been a great in-ring tag team and a gimmick change isn’t going to put an end to that. The Canadian Destroyer that Jagger Reid hit was incredible and the Dyad’s tag team finisher is genuinely really good. The Dyad winning was definitely the right call. Can’t fault any of this, well done NXT.
Grade: B
Roxanne Perez and Meiko Satomura both reflected on their match from a few weeks ago. Satomura said that she can’t wait to see Roxanne become champion before Perez promised to bring the same fire to her next match with Cora Jade. Speaking of Cora Jade, she came down to the ring to take on Wendy Choo in singles action. The match was fine, these are two of the more established women’s superstars on NXT and Jade got the win with the DDT. I’m not sure if the turnbuckle was meant to fall off or not but it doesn’t really matter, the two wrestlers can’t really help that. Jade getting another win definitely makes her more credible. After the match, Lash Legend connected with a massive boot onto Choo. I’m guessing we are going to see a tag match in the coming weeks.
Grade: C
Backstage Interviews, Melo and Trick VS Chase U
Bron Breakker was backstage, and he thanked the NXT Universe for voting him as the superstar of the year before he put over both Bate and McDonagh before their main event match. Breakker picked Bate to win. Then, Oro Mensah got a promo talking about how he was feeling before his NXT debut. Oro said he was excited before saying his name means Gold which is pretty cool.
Then, back in the ring, Carmelo Hayes was aggrieved with the decision that he wasn’t handed back his North American title. Andre Chase then interrupted and after a small brawl, a tag team match started. Hayes got in his usual brilliant offense whilst Andre Chase was able to please the crowd with his popular spots. In what was maybe even more shocking than last week’s main event result, Chase pinned Hayes! This means that Andre Chase has become only the second person to pin Hayes since the A Champ’s Heel turn. The whole of Chase U celebrated in the crowd which did look really cool. I am very intrigued to see what direction NXT are going with Carmelo Hayes as a second loss in the space of a week is a big deal for a guy who's lost less than Breakker.
Grade: B-
Multiple segments, Sanga VS Von Wagner
Gallus were backstage in their own area. They had a dart board set up and were also playing Poker which was quite funny. Then, Briggs and Jensen walked into shot and asked if they could join but Gallus rejected and told them that the kids' section was further along which was actually a decent line. They got into a heated argument before security split them up. The two teams face off next week in a bar match which if it takes place in an actual bar, it could be pretty awesome. After this, Sanga and Von Wagner faced off in a match. This wasn’t very good. It was slow and there wasn’t any in-ring chemistry. Mr Stone attempted to get involved but he didn’t stand a chance. Von Wagner ended up winning with a slam which made Wagner look impressive but the match itself didn’t.
Grade: D
Wes Lee talked about his aim to become the North American Champion. He spoke about how he was offered the chance to be put straight into the ladder match, but Wes wants to fight for his spot and will earn himself the title. We then came back to the arena and Stacks told everyone that Wes Lee’s qualifying matchup would be against the Don of NXT, Tony D. Should be a pretty solid match. Cameron Grimes then cut a pre-taped promo where he stated that he was going to put an end to his feud with Joe Gacy next week.
Grayson Waller VS Oro Mensah
The first of four qualifying matches that will determine who goes to Halloween Havoc to fight for the North American Championship took place as the arrogant Aussie Grayson Waller took on the debuting Oro Mensah. The match was fine, Waller is very talented, and Mensah definitely looked like someone who knows what he is doing. It looked like Grayson Waller was going to get the victory, but Apollo Crews distracted him with a bloody eye which was pretty horrific. Waller got back in the ring and was met with what I assume is Mensah’s finisher. Either way, Oro got the win to send himself to Halloween Havoc. Waller losing is a shame, but I expect that he will still get on the card with a match against the former United States and Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews. Anyway, a big W for the superstar from Ghana.
Grade: C
Diamond Mine were arguing about which one of them would face Damon Kemp next week. In the end, Brutus won out. I would assume that Brutus is going to lose to Damon which would then allow Julius to get the big win as he seems like the Montez Ford off the group. Sol Ruca then had another video showcasing her love for the beach and sea.
NXT Championship Number 1 Contenders Match: Tyler Bate VS JD McDonagh
Before the main event, Bron Breakker came out with Landon “The Conquer” Chase, another person who has been helped by the Connor’s Cure foundation. This was really nice, particularly when you could see just how nervous the kid was. It’s just a shame that the kid didn’t come out with Andre Chase as that would have really worked. Anyway, it was time to see who would be the next to challenger Bron for the NXT Title. This match was good, Bate and JD have a lot of history from their time on NXT UK, so you knew that the in-ring chemistry was going to be there. They are both technically sound but are arguably even better strikers, particularly Bate anyway. Bron Breakker was on commentary, and he did a great job of putting over the two men in the ring whilst taking the mick out of Wade Barrett. McDonagh also hit a lovely moonsault to the outside before a beautiful 450 splash to remind people that this guy was a former Cruiserweight champion. In the end, the big strong boy attempted to hit the Tyler Driver 97 from the top rope, but the Irish Ace reversed it into the Spanish Fly before hitting the Devil Inside to get the victory. McDonagh winning makes sense as his psychopathic character fits well into the theme of Halloween Havoc. The show looked to be ending with Breakker and McDonagh standing face to face but then, the music of Ilja Dragunov hit. This was an awesome surprise, Dragunov is a brilliant wrestler who is a major threat to Breakker’s reign. Also, JD’s acting was amazing. For context, the then Jordan Devlin lost to Ilja Dragunov in a loser leaves NXT UK match earlier on in the year, so Dragunov is definitely the last person that McDonagh wants to see. A potential Triple Threat at Halloween Havoc incoming?
Grade: B+
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