Tony D’Angelo Looks Back At Match With Oba Femi At NXT Halloween Havoc 2024

Tony D’Angelo recently looked back at his match with Oba Femi At NXT Halloween Havoc 2024 and making his debut at the start of NXT 2.0. D’Angelo battled Femi in a Tables, Ladders, and Scares match at the 2024 iteration of the PLE, retaining the NXT North American Championship. Femi has since moved onto the main roster of course, and is positioned as the future of the company.

D’Angelo is fighting to regain his NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc this weekend, and he spoke with PWInsider ahead of the show. You can see a couple more highlights below:

On Making His Debut In the 2.0 Era:

“I mean, I guess I only have this experience to pull from, but we were just thrown into deep waters. And it was a sink or swim situation, and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I think learning on the job, it forces you to either do good or crumble under pressure. And I think my class did a really good job of not folding, and like I said in my promo last week, all those 2.0 guys that came around at the same time are still around. They’re still here, they’re on Raw and SmackDown and they’re doing well on top of it.

“So I think, in my opinion, the sink or swim way of doing things can be beneficial. And the anticipation of, ‘Oh, I’m gonna have a match in two weeks,’ that whole build-up probably stresses you out too much. So I like to just get thrown into it and let’s see how you do.”

On Femi:

“He’s a big dude. To say the least, and for how big he is, he is very agile. So he is very multi-faceted, and I think that’s what makes him such a big future player in WWE. So yeah, he’s someone to not be trifled with, for sure. But if you want to beat him, you are gonna have to meet him in the middle of the ring and get to it. There’s no other way. And I wouldn’t have it any other way as well because I’m a former college wrestler, and that’s just how you do business. You shake hands in the middle of the ring and get to it. And may the better man win.”