By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT Halloween Havoc
Streamed October 22, 2022 on Peacock/WWE Network
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Pre Show Notes
Sam Roberts and McKenzie Mitchell were the hosts of the Halloween Havoc Pre-show. They were joined by Busted Open Radio’s Dave LaGreca. Half of McKenzie’s face was painted to fit the Halloween theme while Roberts was dressed up as Stone Cold Steve Austin. The panel discussed the Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez feud first. The show cut to a Grayson Waller vs. Apollo Crews hype package…
The show cut to Shotzi Blackheart and Quincy Elliot alongside Apollo Crews and Grayson Waller. They spun the wheel to decide the match stipulation. The wheel landed on “Casket Match”. The panel then discussed the upcoming Waller vs. Crews match…
An ad aired for WWE Crown Jewel…
Bron Breakker was shown entering the WWE Performance Center from the parking lot (I believe he has a new NXT Title). They cut to footage where Alba Fyre was wearing Dia De Los Muertos facepaint on half her face. She invited Mandy Rose to a haunted house. They then cut to Toxic Attraction worried about what might be in store for Mandy in regards to the haunted house. Rose said she’s fine and she’ll drag Fyre back to the ring to get the pinfall. Gigi and Jayne looked worried. The panel gave their predictions…
The show cut to the Brutus Creed vs. Damon Kemp hype package. The video package was narrated and focused on the Diamond Mine history timeline. The panel gave their predictions. The show cut to a WWE shop ad…
JD McDonagh was shown arriving to the WWE Performance Center. The panel then gave their thoughts on the North American Championship ladder match. The show cut to a hype package for the NXT Championship Match. The panel gave their thoughts and predictions for the match…
Ilja Dragunov was shown arriving to the WWE Performance Center while Toxic Attraction were leaving, presumably to head to Alba Fyre’s haunted house or whatever. The panel gave their thoughts on the NXT Championship match. The panel ran through the finalized Halloween Havoc card. McKenzie sent the show to the main show (Free/ad-supported Peacock users were sent to a series of commercials)…
Main Show Review
Halloween Havoc started off with a intro video which hyped up the PPV/PLE. The video was narrated by Chucky of the Child’s Play franchise…
Shotzi and Quincy Elliot were the hosts of Halloween Havoc. Shotzi was dressed up in a Joker themed costume while Quincy was dressed as a evil professor or something. Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
Entrances for the North American Championship Ladder match. Trick Williams gave Carmelo Hayes a special intro. Melo noted that all his haters need to “Rest in Piss”…
1. Carmelo Hayes (w/Trick Williams) vs. Nathan Frazer vs. Oro Mensah vs. Wes Lee vs. Von Wagner (w/Robert Stone) in a ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship. Lee brawled with Melo at ringside. Frazer and Mensah double teamed Wagner and sent him to ringside with stereo superkicks. Frazer took down Mensah with a flying axe handle strike. Frazer hit Wagner with a diving high crossbody block. Frazer dragged the first ladder into the ring. Frazer and Mensah used the ladder as a battering ram to take down Melo and Lee. Melo took down Lee and Frazer with kicks. Frazer hit Melo with a Flatliner into the ladder.
After Frazer set up the ladder. Mensah sent Frazer to ringside with a Belly to Belly. Mensah took down Lee with a standing Linger Kick. Mensah hit Melo with a backdrop into the ladder. Lee gave Mensah a shotgun dropkick into the ladder. Lee slammed a ladder into Wagner and then kicked the ladder several times into Wagner’s gut. Wagner blocked the ten punches in the corner. Wagner escaped the corner and gave Lee a big boot. Booker talked about how dangerous Ladder Matches are and how Joey Mercury tore up his face in this type of match.
Wagner blocked Frazer’s huracanrana and power bombed him into the ladder. Wagner set up a ladder to go for the belt. Melo dragged Wagner down and hit Wagner with a La Mistica slam. Frazer missile dropkicked the ladder to drop Melo. Lee took down Frazer with a dive. A “holy shit” chant ensued (and because it’s on Peacock, it wasn’t censored). Mensah hit Lee with a scissors kick. Mensah dropkicked. Wagner off the apron. Mensah gave Lee a splash on the ladder. Melo gave Mensah a springboard leg drop with Trick holding Mensah in place on a ladder. Frazer gave Melo a springboard Spanish Fly onto a ladder.
Wagner was the lone man standing 8 minutes in. Lee recovered and staggered Wagner with a few jump kicks. Lee hit Frazer with a Liger Kick. Melo dumped Lee to ringside and took himself out with a lariat. Mensah made a play for the belt. Trick Williams dumped Mensah to ringside off the ladder (I hope he didn’t smash his face on the apron, because it looked like the apron might have caught him). Trick Williams and Robert Stone tried to get the belt. Stone knocked off Trick with a shoe. Trick dumped Stone to ringside by tipping over the ladder for a big bump.
Mensah climbed the ladder, but was dragged down by Wagner. Wagner used the ladder to knock down Melo and Mensah. Wagner chucked a ladder at Frazer and Lee. Wagner dragged a large ladder to the ring, but struggled to get it over the barricade. He finally got the ladder out (poor Wagner). He set up the ladder like a bridge at ringside. Frazer knocked down Wagner and then gave Wagner a Frog Splash to break the ladder in half. Lee gave Frazer a Plancha. Mensah gave Lee a dropkick. Melo gave Mensah a springboard crossbody off the barrricade. Lee gave Melo a cannonball at ringside.
Lee dragged another giant ladder into play. Wagner punched Lee to stagger him. Lee was yanked off the ladder by Wagner. Wagner military pressed Lee from the ring all the way over to the announce table (that was sick!). Frazer and Wagner climbed to the top of the ladder. Frazer booted Wagner off the ladder. Wagner dragged Frazer down. Frazer dragged Wagner to ringside with a huracanrana. Wagner slammed Frazer into the barricade. Mensah dove at Wagner and Frazer. The match hit the 15 minute mark.
Frazer and Wagner dumped Wagner over the barricade and slammed the ladder into him. Frazer and Mensah pummeled Wagner with ladder shots while Wagner was trapped in the barricade area. Wagner and Mensah climbed to the top of the ladder and brawled. Mensah managed to shove Frazer off. Melo set up a bridge between the ladder and ropes. Melo dumped Mensah to ringside. Lee climbed a ladder and ringside like a bridge and then gave Melo a flying punch to knock him off the ladder. Melo and Lee traded right hands with a ladder between them. Lee gave Melo a jawbreaker on the ladder. Melo and Lee traded punches on the ladder bridge.
Lee got the higher ground and gave Melo a meteora on top of the ladder bridge. Lee climbed to the top of the ladder and retrieved the Championship.
Wes Lee defeated Carmelo Hayes, Oro Mensah, Von Wagner, and Nathan Frazer in a Ladder Match in 19:17 to become the new NXT North American Champion.
Highlights from the match aired…
John’s Thoughts: Splendid Ladder Match. NXT doesn’t overdo it with the spotfest matches that makes matches like this stand out in a positive way. Every single person in the match shined. Oro Mensah and Von Wagner in particular had arguably their best match in NXT US so far. There were a lot of creative usages of the ladder and everything seemed safe for the most part (Though I do hope Mensah didn’t clip the apron during that one drop). Wes Lee is one of WWE’s diamonds and has main event potential given his talent. I’m intrigued to see what NXT does with a new North American Champion because Carmelo has held that belt most of the last two years.
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in on commentary. Random druids made their entrance to drag a casket to ringside. The show cut to the pre-show footage where Alba Fyre invited Mandy Rose to some random place…
Toxic Attraction and Alba Fyre Haunted House Cinematic: The show went to cinematic mode where Toxic Attraction drove up to the haunted house area. Jacy Jayne was freaked out. Dolin told Jayne that they have a 3 on 1 advantage. Toxic Attraction had flashlights. Jayne punched out a random guy dressed a ghoul. A random extra with an axe was at the gate watching the trio. Gigi Dolin was excited because she likes the creepy stuff. As they entered the house, Rose said they should split up. Jayne said that was stupid because splitting up never works in the movies. Rose convinced them to split up while Dolin continued to be hyped.
The camera followed Jayne who was freaked out by the random moving statues and skeletons. Alba Fyre dragged Jayne behind a curtain. Gigi Dolin sat down and hung out with a creepy horror family and Chucky. Fyre showed up and slammed Dolin into the table. Jayne and Dolin brawled in the kitchen. Fyre superkicked Dolin into a fridge where there was a random creepy dude in it. Rose ran into an executioner where she kicked him in the balls.
Fyre found Rose and hit her in the gut with the bat. A random creepy horror dude slid and was kneed by Rose. Rose got the bat but it was taken away by a pumpkin head dude. Rose was carried away after being distracted by a creepy guy with a slit throat. Fyre put Rose in the SUV and drove away from the haunted house, on their way back to the WWE Performance Center…
John’s Thoughts: Pro wrestling cinematics can be hit or miss. I can understand if people thought this was cheesy, but I personally thought it was well done. The production was solid and they actually seemed to have put a bit of budget in some of the horror costumes in the house. What I really liked about the segment was each Toxic Attraction member really getting over their diverse personalities. Jayne was the paranoid and cautious one, Mandy Rose showed off her confidence, and Dolin was the best being into the creepy stuff (She was in her old Priscilla Kelly mode here. Creepy Kelly, not tampon Kelly.). I rolled my eyes when they randomly announced the haunted house segment, but I was won over and it does keep true to the Halloween Havoc theme.
Vic and Booker checked in and sent the show to the Crews vs. Waller hype package…
Alicia Taylor was shown in the ring where she introduced the Casket Match rules and entrants. The casket was set up at ringside (It kinda looked like one of those cheap TNA caskets)…
2. Apollo Crews vs. Grayson Waller in a Casket Match. Crews slammed Waller and mounted him with punches. Crews then tossed Waller into the corners and gave him chops. Waller came back with a jumping crescent kick and mounted punches. Waller hit Crews with a springobard elbow. Waller laughed and Crews no sold the elbow drop. Crews hit Waller with a standing moonsault at ringside from the apron. Waller and Crews brawled on the ramp. Crews gave Waller a release belly to belly.
Waller came back with boots and punches when he entered the ring. Crews dumped Waller to ringside. Crews gave Waller a shotgun dropkick into the announce table. Waller grabbed Vic’s pen and punched it into Crews. Booker joked that Joseph was conspiring with Waller. Waller and Crews brawled over the casket. Waller gave Crews a thumb to the eye and then shoved Crews off, sending him through the casket. The referees didn’t call the match because the lid has to be put on top of Crews. The lights went out and on. Crews recovered and led some druids to ringside, who brought over a new casket.
Crews and Waller brawled. One notable fan sign said “Waller likes anime women”. Crews gave Waller a backdrop. The druids set up the new casket. The 2nd casket seemed to have been more expensive than the last cheap one. Crews gave Waller rapid stomps in the corner. Crews gave Waller a gutbuster. Crews rolled Waller into the casket but Waller blocked Crews from lowering it. Waller slammed the lid on Crews’s head and tossed Crews in. Crews used his feet to block the lid from closing. Waller and Crews brawled inside of the casket until they got tired.
Crews tossed Waller to ringside. Crews gave Waller a frog splash at ringside. Crews staggered Waller on the apron with a enzuigiri. Crews then ran right into Waller’s rolling stunner finisher. Waller mocked the Undertaker throat slash gesture. Crews reversed a Tombstone into a modified gutbuster. Crews put Waller in the casket. Waller blocked the lid and gave Crews a right hand. Crews blocked Waller’s finisher. Crews gave Waller a Uranage into the casket and then closed the lid.
Apollo Crews defeated Grayson Waller in a Casket Match in 12:58.
John’s Thoughts: A good match with a bit of unnecessary cringe. The match was actually good for 90% of it. What dragged the match down was that contrived broken casket spot. I already was mocking the cheap casket that they started with, but they used that ghetto hood casket to get that contrived break spot (which Booker pointed out was bad because the match wasn’t called at that point). Credit both men for making the match work the best they could, but the cheap casket spot really took away from the match. The preceding Haunted House segment did the Halloween theme better.
The show cut to the latest Chase U skit. He was grading his students on a Halloween Havoc history. He said some students were smart, while others were the “drizzling shits” (censored). Chase introduced Duke Hudson as the transfer student to Chase U. Bodhi Hayward wasn’t a fan of this. Bodhi misanswered a question on Halloween Havoc. Hudson got it right by mentioning Harlem Heat. After class Hayward said he doesn’t quite trust Duke…
Alba Fyre was still driving Mandy Rose back to the Performance Center…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Kit Wilson and Elton Prince, Pretty Deadly, about defending the title against Enofe and Blade on Tuesday. Pretty Deadly bragged and did their signature Sideplate Check. The Women’s Tag Team Champions Chance and Carter showed up to berate Pretty Deadly for not taking things seriously…
Entrances for the Weapon’s Wild match took place. Jade had her usual ring gear while Perez wore “sexy clown” ring gear/makeup…
3. Cora Jade vs. Roxanne Perez in a Weapons Wild match. Perez tried to hit Jade with a skateboard. Jade chucked trash cans and a broom at Perez, but Perez blocked them all with the skateboard. Perez tossed Jade back in the ring. Jade got the skateboard, but Perez reversed Jade with a drop toehold. Perez put Jade on the skateboard and rolled her to ringside. Perez hit Jade with a suicide dive. Perez set up a table. Cora Jade went missing. Perez found Jade’s foot. Jade sprayed an aerosol can in the face of Perez. Jade gave Perez giant swings into the barricade.
Jade dragged several chairs and weapons into the ring. Jade trapped Perez’s fingers in a chair and then slammed a trash can on her back. Jade put a trash can on Perez and gave the can several kicks. Jade gave a double stomp to the can. Jade hit Perez with a trash lid and a broom. Jade whipped around Perez with a bullrope. Jade then fishhooked Jade with the rope. Perez whipped Jade several times with a bullrope, but Jade came back with a kick to the gut. Perez came back with an Irish Whip into the steel steps. Perez gave Jade a Thesz Press and trash can lid shot.
Perez hit Jade with a running uppercut. Perez dragged Jade’s black kendo stick into the ring and hit Jade multiple times with it, leading to Jade crying for mercy. Perez hit Jade with a Stroke for the two count. Jade blocked a Pop Rocks attempt. Jade hit Perez with a high knee in the corner. Perez and Jade brawled to the top rope. Perez hit Jade with a Frankensteiner for a two count. Cora Jade ran to the crow’s nest with Perez following. Jade gave Perez clubbing blows. Jade gave Perez a body slam on the crow’s nest. Joseph noted that the floor is harder up there compared to ringside.
Jade removed one of the guardrails. Jade jawed at Perez. Prez recovered and staggered Jade at the edge of the crows nest. Perez was reluctant at hitting her old friend but then decided to give Jade a Russian Legsweep off the crow’s nest to some tables below. Jade and Perez recovered with Jade having the upper hand in the brawl. Jade yelled “you were never my friend” to Perez. Perez recovered and backdropped Jade onto chairs. Perez said “you were always my best friend” and then gave Jade Pop Rocks (Code Red) onto the chairs for the win.
Roxanne Perez defeated Cora Jade via pinfall in 12:25.
The show cut to an ad for Crown Jewel…
John’s Thoughts: A good match that started out a bit slow. The problem I felt was the match seemingly moving at a snail’s pace most times Jade was on offense. Jade wasn’t showing urgency and I think that’s something she needs to do a better job at in future matches. Heels can be methodical and show some urgency too (like Waller in the previous match). Perez was solid as usual. While this match was decent, I felt that the quality was taken a bit down by it being the third hardcore match on the show. One more note, I feel like we haven’t seen the best these two can do yet. This didn’t feel like a “Takeower” level encounter.
The show cut to a random person burning a mask in a fire. I think it was the old Mace and T-Bar Bane mask (meaning this is probably a tease for the return of Dominik Dijak)…
Host of Halloween Havoc, Shotzi [Blackheart] made her entrance dressed up as Beetlejuice this time. She drove up in her original tank as opposed to the giant one she rides on Smackdown. Shotzi talked about how exciting Halloween Havoc has been so far and how there is more to come. She wondered where Quincy Elliot was? Quincy Elliot made his entrance dressed as a banana. Shotzi called Elliot the sweetest banana she’s seen. Lash Legend made her entrance all of a sudden. Lash has a very bright dress on. Lash called Shotzi a green goblin and said she should have been host. Elliot said Lash’s talk show was cancelled a long time ago.
Elliot said Lash can take her high heels and scurry to the back. Lash said that Elliot is a banana nut. Elliot said Lash is tall and talented. Elliot said Lash’s voice is annoying though. Shotzi let out a yell. Shotzi said she go tthis and she gave Lash a headbutt and DDT. Elliot then twerked to Shotzi’s theme while Shotzi slapped him in the booty…
John’s Thoughts: A bit unnecessary, but the wrestlers involved delivered their lines well. Shotzi in particular has a natural and confident voice, so you can count on her anytime you need a promo. I don’t know why they keep putting Lash on TV before she’s ready, but she was actually presented well because they didn’t have to wrestle. She does stand above everyone else in developmental on the mic though and she continued to shine there. What I’m actually excited for is the presumed return of Dijak if what we saw was the burial of the T-Bar mask (There is a part of me that wanted to see him maybe do the male model thing with his best friends Manny and Brennan).
Ugh, it’s time for a Schism promo. Joe Gacy, Rip Fowler, and Jagger reid cut a promo about masks. Gacy then talked to the random hooded person that’s been hanging out with them. Joe Gacy hyped up the reveal of the hooded person for this Tuesday. They ended the promo by putting on yellow Guy Fawks’ish masks…
John’s Thoughts: Between Violent By Design and the Schism, I’m done with undercard wrestling cults. Heck, Control Your Narrative got boring after showing so much potential initially.
A hype package aired to hype up the Creed vs. Kemp match…
An ambulance was led to the area near the crowd. Damon Kemp made his entrance with a chair that had the name Julius written on it. Julius made his entrance and picked up pumpkins to chuck at Damon. Julius hit Kemp with a missile dropkick. The bell was called when both men got to their feet…
4. Julius Creed vs. Damon Kemp in an Ambulance Match. The added stipulation is that if Julius loses, Brutus Creed is gone from NXT. Julius tossed Kemp all over the ring and at ringside. Julius hit Kemp with a Suplex at ringside. Damon and Julius brawled to the backstage area were fans where allowed to watch. Kemp was put in the ambulance, but he blocked the door from closing with a crutch. Kemp chucked several crutches at Julius. Kemp got the upper hand by hitting Julius with a crutch. Julius yanked it away and chucked it. Damon hit Julius with a fire extinguisher. Julius got the extinguisher and sprayed it at Kemp.
Julius tried to drag Kemp to the ambulance, but Kemp gave Julius a back suplex. Kemp tossed Julius into the announce table and steel steps. Damon chucked a pumpkin at Julius. Damon hit Julius with a running steel step shot. Damon Kemp carried Julius Creed to the backstage area again. Julius recovered and tackled Kemp into the storage crate. Kemp came back with a drop toehold on the concrete. Damon put Julius near the ambulance door and slammed the door into Julius’s shoulder several times. Kemp tried to close the door, but Julius gave the door a big boot to get out.
Julius continued to toss Kemp around and tossed him back in the ring. Julius dragged steel steps on the ring. Kemp recovered and tossed Julius into the ring. Kemp gave Julius a Uranage into the steel steps. Damon Kemp did a pose on top of the steps. Julius recovered, but Kemp clammed Creed’s fac into the steps. Julius slammed a wheelchair into Damon. Julius used a crutch as a seatbelt to trap Kemp on the wheelchair. Julius rolled Kemp’s face into the steel steps. Kemp managed to get the crutch off, but was slammed to the mat. Kemp blocked a dive by spraying Julius with the extinguisher. Julius rammed a stretcher into Kemp. Kemp pushed back and slammed Julius into the ringpost with the stretcher.
Julius and Kemp chucked weapons at each other. Julius tossed the ring bell at the Julius-Chair. Kemp and Creed brawled to the back again. Kemp tossed Julius into a laundry crate and rammed the crate into the ambulance. Kemp put Julius into the ambulance. Julius blocked the door from closing by sacrificing his fingers multiple times. Julius fought out and tossed around Kemp again. Julius gave Damon an elbow drop through the table. Julius hit Damon with the Julius-Chair about ten times to replicate what Kemp did to Brutus.
Julius deadlifted Kemp and power bombed him into the stretcher. Julius hit Damon in the hand with a steel chair. Julius dragged Damon into the ambulance and closed the door for the victory.
Julius Creed defeated Damon Kemp in an Ambulance Match in 14:09.
Julius rested on a chair in the center of the ring. Brutus Creed and Ivy Nile ran to the ring to celebrate Julius saving Brutus’s career…
John’s Thoughts: Nice match! Lots of ugly brutal fun. A bit ironic too because both these men are Olympic level real-athletes. Even better given how little pro wrestling experience both guys presumably have. Both of these young wrestlers definitely have the chance to be featured as main event players a few years from now. Both men did creative work with the ambulance stipulation. I really liked the spot where Julius sacrificed his fingers to save Brutus’s career (though I would have liked it more if Julius sold the hurt fingers a bit after). Kemp’s development has been astonishing. He was the background character in Diamond Mine, the butt of Roddy’s jokes. This guy is pretty good in the ring and even better on the mic as a heel.
The Ambulance drove away from the PC while Alba Fyre and Mandy Rose drove up. Alba and Mandy brawled into the Performance Center. Both women brawled to ringside with Alba having the upper hand. The ref rang the bell when both women entered the ring…
5. Mandy Rose vs. Alba Fyre for the NXT Women’s Championship. Fyre had the advantage initially but Rose came back with a drop toehold. Rose gave Fyre a DDT for a two count. Rose slammed Fyre into the announce table. Booker talked about how much Rose has grown since he hosted Tough Enough with Rose as a contestant. Rose tackled Fyre in the corner. Rose hit Fyre with a nice fallaway slam. Rose worked on Fyre with methodical offense. Fyre came back with a lariat.
Rose hit Fyre with a spinebuster. Fyre escaped a double underhook and hit Rose with a power bomb for a two count. Fyre hit Rose with a Swanton Bomb. Dolin and Jayne showed up and pulled the ref away. Fyre superkicked Jayne to cause her to land on the ref. REF BUMP!!!. Fyre dodged Rose’s knee and hit Rose with a Gory Bomb. The ref didn’t count the visual pinfall due to the ref bump. Jayne gave Fyre a cheap shot. Rose hit Fyre with Kiss from a Rose for the victory.
Mandy Rose defeated Alba Fyre via pinfall in 7:07 to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.
Highlights from the match aired…
John’s Thoughts: Eh, that was disappointing. The finish was straight out of the Jeff Jarrett era of TNA with the lazy overbooking. I was actually liking the match too. Mandy Rose in particular is actually pretty good in the ring these days and she looked good during her stretch on offense. She’s almost like a modern day Trish Stratus in terms of her in-ring development. I wouldn’t mind if they run this match back because this match did nothing for either woman.
After the commercials, an ad for Crown Jewel aired…
Bron Breakker was shown warming up backstage…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons about challenging for the Tag Titles this coming tuesday. Stark talked about how her career almost ended due to injury and she’s excited to challenge for the titles. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade showed up to also talk about how they want to win against Pretty Deadly. Both tag teams left to go watch the main event…
Vic Joseph and Booker T checked in from ringside and plugged Crown Jewel. They then hyped the NXT Men’s and Women’s Tag Team Titles being on the line on Tuesday. They also plugged Shotzi vs. Lash Legend on Tuesday. Vic sent the show to the NXT Championship hype package…
Entrances for the main event took place. Bron Breakker brought a shovel to the stage where he broke two foam tombstones with Ilja’s and JD’s names on them. Vic Joseph noted that Bron Breakker lost the title to Dolph Ziggler due to Tommasso Ciampa getting pinned in a triple threat several months ago. Joseph also noted that Booker T beat Bron’s Uncle Scott Steiner at Halloween Havoc 2000. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in ring championship introductions…
6. Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh for the NXT Championship. Breakker and Ilja kept tossing each other aside to get their hands on McDonagh. Ilja and Bron got in each other’s faces. JD blindsided both opponents. JD tossed Ilja to ringside. JD hit Bron with a snap suplex for a two count. All three men traded stiff strikes in the corner. JD hit Ilja with a Northern Lights for a two count. Ilja and JD traded stiff chops. JD got Ilja to the mat with a few kicks. Ilja hit JD with clinch knees. JD came back with a Uranage and Standing Moonsault ofr a two count. JD hit Ilja with a slingshot senton.
Breakker hit both opponents with a lariat to prevent JD from hitting Ilja with the Devlin Side. Breakker manhandled both opponets with suplexes. Breakker ran through Dragunov. JD rolled up Bron for a two count. Ilja hit Bron with clinch knees. Breakker blocked Ilja’s Deadlift German Suplex. Breakker hit Ilja with a back suplex. JD broke up Bron’s pin attempt. Ilja escaped Bron’s suplex and put Bron in a Sleeper. Ilja tenderized Breakker with forearm strikes to the neck. JD showed up and gave Ilja a right hand. Ilja reversed the right hand into a Judo roll. Ilja gave JD rapid elbows with the referee making sure to see if there’s a TKO.
Ilja slammed Bron to the mat and gave him a diving knee. Ilja blocked another Devlin Side and put JD in a Fireman Carry. Ilja gave JD a Death Valley Driver onto Bron in the corner. Ilja gave JD a coast-to-coast Vandaminator into Bron. Breakker and Ilja traded stiff forearms. Bron and Ilja got on the same page and took turns giving JD punches and chops. Bron and Ilja teamed up to toss JD to ringside. Ilja and Bron got in each other’s face. Ilja chopped down Breakker with overhead elbows. Ilja hit Breakker with a few forever lariats. Breakker came back with his own lariat. JD prevented Breakker from hitting Ilja with his finisher by hitting Bron and taking himself out with a headbutt.
McDonagh was the first to recover. Breakker and McDonagh brawled to the top rope. Breakker gave McDonagh a Frankensteiner which sent McDonagh right into a Power Bomb by Ilja. All three men traded strikes from their knees. JD and Bron double teamed Ilja and Breakker yelled “we’re not a team. Ilja took down both opponents with rapid chops. Ilja gave JD a running senton. Breakker sent himself and Ilja to ringside with a tackle. McDonagh hit Breakker with a wrecking Ball Kick and hit Ilja with a PK. McDonagh hit both opponents with a top rope Asai Moonsault. Breakker and McDonagh brawled to the top rope. Ilja chopped Brakker in the calf and hit Breakker with a power bomb. Ilja hit Breakker with a basement forearm ofr a two count.
McDonagh hit Ilja with a 450 for a nearfall. McDongah pinned Breakker for a two count. McDonagh hit Breakker with a Brainbuster for a two count. JD worked on Ilja with shortarm kicks. Ilja’s dead weight blocked a Devlin Side attempt. Ilja recovered and hit McDonagh with chained German Suplexes. Breakker showed up and gave JD and Ilja a German Suplex at the same time. Breakker hit Ilja with a Steiner Bulldog. Breakker hit Ilja with his Military Press finisher. JD tossed Breakker to ringside and tried to steal the pin, but Ilja kicked out. The match hit the 20 minute mark.
Breakker and JD faced off in the ring. Breakker tossed JD to ringside. Ilja blocked Bron’s spear with a leaping knee. Ilja hit Breakker with a diving senton. Ilja hit Breakker with Torpedo Moscow. Ilja got the visual pinfall, but JD got his hand under the ref’s to prevent the three count. JD and Ilja gritted in each other’s faces. Ilja sent JD to ringside with a leaping knee. JD reversed a rev’d up lariat into a Spanish Fly at ringside. JD took a chair away from the timekeeper (who was dressed in costume). Ilja avoided a chair to the knee. Ilja jumped off the steps to nail JD with a Torpedo Moscow. Ilja sold head pain after the Torpedo.
Breakker called Ilja a bitch. Breakker and Ilja traded stiff forearms. Ilja rallied with alternating forearms. Ilja hit Breakker with a enzuigiri and German Suplex. Ilja took down Breakker with a stiff lariat. Breakker blocked the Torpedo Moscow with a spear to pick up the clean win.
Bron Breakker defeated Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh via pinfall in 23:47 to retain the NXT Championship.
Breakker posed with his title belt to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Holy crap was that wonderful! Awesome match with all three men really it laying it into each other, as you would expect with all three of the brutes in the ring. All three men added there own little something to the match and it all meshed together really well. JD McDonagh was the cog that kept everything flowing here and he had one of his best matches in WWE yet. Ilja and Breakker were splendid in their own way as well with all of their stiffness and creative spots. Everything from those forearm exchanges and the Frankensteiner into a Power Bomb were well executed. Bron Breakker’s plot armor is reaching “LOL Cena Wins” level of stupid, but the three men here did a decent enough job to alleviate the plot armor and cause the viewer to suspend their disbelief.
Ilja took the pin here, which surprised me a bit, especially since JD’s masochist character allows him to eat losses and not lose a bit. That said I don’t think he lost much here because he did have the visual pinfall over Breakker and it was JD McDonagh that cost him the match by getting a hand under the 3. I’m kinda not looking forward to a singles match with this configuration because all three men did such a great job that I want to see them all in the ring together again. This match also stood out in a good way because it was one of the few non-gimmick matches on the show. Overall, I thought Halloween Havoc was a good PPV. The gimmick matches all stood out in their own unique ways and the show was book-ended with two amazing workrate showcases. Only thing that really stood out like a sore thumb as bad was the Women’s Title match, which felt overbooked and cut for time. I’ll be by maybe a bit later with my audio review for the show because I’m currently waiting on the line for the Shawn Michaels post-PPV conference call.
OK, so this is yet again a “no matter what it’s good” review of a WWE show.
Never change… homeboy…
Nope. Moore calls it like he’s sees it and is plenty critical when he doesn’t enjoy something
A lot of this was overbooked. But it was actually more hardcore than Extreme Rules. Main was great. Bron has to move up soon because he looks unbeatable here
Nikki Cross is the person in the red hoodie. I am more convinced than ever after that Schism promo.