Pantoja’s WWE NXT Review 10.31.23

NXT Halloween Havoc 2023 Night Two

October 31^th, 2023 | Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida

Halloween Havoc Night Two takes place on actual Halloween. I love it.

We opened with Shotzi and Scarlett arriving in an Ectomobile dressed as Ghostbusters. That was followed by another New Years Day performance with a video package spliced in.

Tables, Ladders & Scares Match: Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo vs. The Creed Brothers

The Creeds are fresh off an impressive debut on Raw last night. Right off the bat this was wild with a table spot in the opening minute or so. The crowd was way into this, which boosted it. The release suplex off the top that landed Julius on a ladder bridge was nuts and it was followed by Brutus going through a table on the outside via another double team move. They worked through a commercial break and returned to Angel and Julius trading shots with a chair. The marks on Julius’ back were hard to look at. We need to talk about Julius and his strength in the same way we used to do it for Cesaro. He’s that impressive. These two teams kept throwing big bombs at each other and using the weapons in effective ways. Garza took a rough back bump outside as Julius deadlifted Carrillo on his shoulders for their Doomsday Device finish through a table after 14:02. A hell of a way to start the show. They packed a ton of action into a sub-15 minute match and put their bodies on the line. I had a blast here. [****]

Backstage, Scarlett and Shotzi were back, with Shotzi dressed as Pennywise. Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre showed up and took over as hosts. Apparently, Scarlett was on tour with Karrion Kross so these segments must’ve been taped earlier.

Tiffany Stratton was interviewed about Fallon Henley’s costume last week and got annoyed that people said the impersonation was on point.

Joe Gacy had a close-up promo somewhere as he wondered if he is the problem. He was his usual creepy self.

We’re supposed to get Stratton/Henley but Stratton jumped her during her entrance. That led to a beating capped by a personal favorite move of mine, the ring post Figure Four. I’m cool with an angle to further things here instead of a match.

In a segment, Meta-Four searched for the Heritage Cup dressed as Scooby-Doo and the gang. They had to go to a haunted house and kept getting scared whenever people in costumes jumped out at them. It was fine.

NXT North American Championship: Dominik Mysterio [c] vs. Nathan Frazer

Dominik was dressed as a prisoner and Rhea was the corrections officer. Big Bossman would be proud. The early stages here seemed designed to show how good Frazer is. He ran circles around Dom at times and caused the champion to bail a few times and regroup with Mami. That was the case heading into the commercial break. Returning, Dom took an awkward and painful looking landing on a reverse DDT of sorts. They started trading stuff from there but Nathan always had the upper hand. Dom had a big opening but ate a superkick, though Nathan was too battered to cover immediately. Dom got an opening when Nathan went up top and he sent him off the top onto the announce table. A Frog Splash later and Dom retained in 10:27. I liked that. Dom was, as usual, outmatched but he’s a smart heel who took advantage of a mistake by the challenger. [***]

Post-match, Wes Lee returned and superkicked Dom before posing with the North American Title.

Backstage, Jacy Jayne and Andre Chase were disagreeing about how Jacy tried to cheat last week. They discussed how Thea and Jacy winning tonight will make them Champs University. After the ladies left to get ready, the D’Angelo Family showed up unhappy about last week. They promised to get what’s right. Fyre and Dawn appeared as Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn to say that the Women’s Tag Titles are cursed. They’re not wrong.

More from the Haunted House as Meta-Four failed to retrieve the cup. Jackson fainted, Mensah lost a fight to Akira Tozawa, and Lash was taken away by someone in a costume.

Bron Breakker vs. Mr. Stone

Tone got to get in the right hand he wanted to throw. It had no effect. Bron spent the next couple of minutes beating him up, throwing him around the ring, and winning with a Spear in 2:43. [NR]

As Bron went to add to the attack after the bell, Von Wagner returned with a bandaged head and the two fought. Wagner won out with a chokeslam on the steel steps.

A video package aired of Lyra/Becky.

Scrypts and his buddies had a promo in the back saying they’re going to deal with the Brawling Brutes.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Chelsea Green and Piper Niven [c] vs. Jacy Jayne and Thea Hail

The challengers attacked during the champions’ entrance, which made sense because it’s the kind of thing Jacy would influence Thea to do. As this went to commercial, the champs took control with Piper really wearing down Thea. Piper and Chelsea haven’t gotten many chances to show it but they’re working well as a unit. The combination of an arrogant partner and a powerhouse one is a tried and true formula. Piper hit a particularly vicious looking shoulder breaker. Thea also works as a face in peril and underdog face. They set up the hot tag to Jacy and she did better than expected in the role given I’m so used to her as a heel. As this neared the conclusion, Jacy wanted to use an NXT Tag Title as a weapon but Andre stopped her. That allowed Chelsea to hit the Unpretty-Her to retain in 9:00. Solid tag wrestling with a well told story, especially near the end. [**¾]

Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre, now dressed as Chucky and Tiffany, seemed to taunt the champions as if they’re next in line.

Lexis King was interviewed and put over how he’s a star and that we’ll have to wait and see what he’ll do next. Or what he’s already done but we have to wait and see.

Women’s Breakout Tournament Finals: Kelani Jordan vs. Lola Vice

Lola Vice got off to a hot start here and held serve heading into a commercial break. Things leveled out a big more during the break but Kelani still had to fight from behind. I really like Lola’s snapemare into the ropes. It’s such a simple move that looks really good. She ultimately won with a spin kick in 6:59. Not enough was really shown for this to fully work and a lot of these women are green but Lola was the right choice here. [**]

The Haunted House stuff ended when a freaked out and alone Dar was confronted by Tozawa. Even though he failed to get a point in the tournament, his scare tactics worked as Dar agreed to give him a shot next week.

Von Wagner and Mr. Stone argued about facing Bron as Stone said Von wasn’t physically ready.

NXT Championship: Ilja Dragunov [c] vs. Carmelo Hayes

I like the idea of this being different because Melo was the challenger for the first time. They got off to a fast start as they knew each other well and had done the more subdued slower start already. As expected, this went to break pretty early but the PIP showed that things were pretty even during that section. The pace picked up when the match returned as they started throwing bigger moves at each other. That included a superkick, powerbomb, and an absurd DDT on the apron. Ilja took an RVD bump on it. Melo came close a few times after that, including on a Frog Splash but he could never quite keep the champion down. I dig the way Ilja can just hit his H-Bomb forearm from out of nowhere. Like he dropped one on Melo after a move and though he couldn’t capitalize, it was effective. The match hit a next level when Ilja delivered an H-Bomb through the announce table. Even after another H-Bomb, Melo was able to get a shoulder up. Ilja went higher for another but Melo caught him with a leaping lungblower. That never quite comes off how it should. As Melo went up top, Trick Williams came out and Melo was shocked. Ilja took advantage with a superplex and retained with the Torpedo Moscow in 16:30. Another great match from these two though I think I’d rank it third among them. [****]

Post-match, Trick Williams stared down Melo. However, the cameras went to the back where Baron Corbin attacked Ilja Dragunov.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

People are talking about it much because it’s not the big indie that NXT was back in 2018 or so but the brand is consistently entertaining. This was another great show, bookended by two stellar matches while also showcasing women again and setting several things up going forward.