By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV “Tag Team Title Tuesday”
Live from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired October 25, 2022 on USA Network
Highlights aired from the NXT Halloween Havoc show…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
Both tag teams were already in the ring to open the show. Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons wore matching olive drab colored gear…
1. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. Lyons and Carter started the match at a stalemante. Stark tagged in and took down Carter with a lariat for a two count. Chance tagged in and the champs swarmed Stark with sliding moves. Chance went for a huracanrana on Stark, but Stark no sold it with a handstand. Chance managed to nail Stark with a slingshot huracanrana. Lyons tagged back in and hit Chance with power strikes for a two count. Lyons worked on Chance with a side torture rack.
Carter tagged in. Lyons caught a kick and put Carter in a reverse ankle lock. Carter distracted Lyons with a butt shake taunt. Chance tagged in and got a victory roll for a two count. Chance and Carter dropkicked Lyons to ringside. They alos dumped Stark to ringside. Stark and Lyons caught both of their opponents off plancha attempts. Lyons and Stark body slammed their opponents heading into picture-in-picture.[c]
Carter hit Lyons wtih a jawbreaker. Lyons caught Chance and hit her with a Bossman Slam for a two count. Chance and Carter traded quick tags to swarm Lyons with quick strikes. Stark broke up Chance’s pin attempt by shoving Carter at her. Stark tagged in and hit Chance with a Snake Eyes and Half and Half suplex. Chance reversed the GTS to a rollup for a two count on Stark. Stark reversed a kick into a rollup for the victory.
Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons defeated Katana Chance and Kayden Carter via pinfall in 10:34 to become the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Katana Chance complained that she wasn’t the legal person to the ref. A 2nd ref ran out and reset the match…
1. (Match Reset) Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. Chance hit Stark with a top rope Spanish Fly for a good nearfall. Carter tagged in and ate a German Suplex from Stark. Lyons tagged in and knocked Chance off the apron. Lyons hit Carter with a Tornado Kick and Melina Leg Drop. Chance fluew in and broke up the pin. Carter kicked Lyons with a kick combination. Chance and Carter hit Lyons with their 450-Backbreaker finisher to give Chance the win.
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter defeated Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark via pinfall 2:18 after the reset to retain the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships.
John’s Thoughts: Nice speed vs. power matchup. Dusty Finishes/Match resets can get a bit contrived, but I think it worked here to make both teams look good in defeat in the same sequence. I thought it was fine here. I’m glad they didn’t take the belts off Chance and Carter, because it feels like they haven’t even had the chance to be a part of any story yet. The match finish will allow both of these teams to run it back down the road. Also, I think this was Nikkita’s first pinfall loss in NXT? Right?
An Ilja Dragunov promo aired where he talked about waiting three months to get his title back after being put on the shelf. He talked about how he had the visual pinfall on Breakker, and JD McDonagh cost him the win. He called JD a cancer and said that’s why he got rid of him form NXT UK. He said the Tzar is going to get rid of JD again, once and for all. Joseph hyped Ilja vs. JD for later in the show…
Wes Lee was shown heading to the ring with his new North American championship…[c]
A vignette aired for the former Donovan Dijak/T-Bar. He was shown burning his old Bane mask. He said this time it’s not about “retribution” it’s about “Justice”…
Alicia Taylor introduced Wes Lee as the new North American Champion. Lee made his entrance. Joseph noted that Lee was coming out to speak his mind after the toughest 11 months of his life. Lee soaked in “you deserve it” chants and said they crowd’s making him emotional. He thanked the crowd for cheering. He said he never thought he’d be in WWE, be a champion, and a singles champ. He said everyone’s faith motivated him especially when he was lost in the dark. He said winning the title gave him that validation he’s been searching for all his life.
He said he feels like he belongs and is loved for what he does. He said he’s grateful for the fans giving him that. Lee said the “you deserve it” chants really hit him especially when he doesn’t think he deserves the love. The crowd chanted “yes you do” back at him. His promo was cut off by Grayson Waller making his entrance. The crowd showered Waller with loud boos. he talked about how Halloween is stupid and a made up holiday. Lee talked about Waller losing. Waller complained about how he actually won when the first casket was there. Waller talked about how he still thinks he has more wins over Apollo Crews.
Raw wrestler R-Truth made his entrance and did the What’s Up theme, wearing Joker themed attire. Truth told the fans to make some noise. He said what’s up is his lips are a bit ashy. Truth welcomed viewers to Halloween Havoc. Waller cut off Truth to tell Truth that Truth is several days late for Halloween Havoc. Truth said that Waller is cool with that fake British Accent. A “British Accent” chant ensued (ok?). Truth said that Waller should be excited for Halloween Havoc, in a British accent.
Waller said that he’s Australian. Waller told Truth that Halloween Havoc already happened three days ago. Truth said taht Waller is trying to okie doke him. Lee said it did happen a few days ago. Truth congratulated Lee for winning his title. He then asked Waller how he did, mate? Lee informed Truth of Waller losing to Crews. Truth said Crews is nice though. Waller talked about how he got rolled in a casket by Crews. Truth thought Waller meant rolling a joint. Waller challenged Truth to a match, next week. Waller tried to get a cheap shot on Truth, but was swarmed by punches from Truth and Lee. They dumped Waller to ringside and Truth said he’d see Waller next week…
Edris Enofie and Malik Blade were warming up backstage. Blade said he’s nervous at the biggest match of their careers. Enofe said it’s their night. Enofe tried to hype up Blade by quoting Eminem’s Lose Yourself. They fired each other up…
“The Super Diva” Quincy Elliot introduced Shotzi, who made her entrance in her original small toy tank…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Awesome promo from Lee, at least for the first part that focused on him. Lee has come a long way from his goofball That 70s Show weed promos. Him losing his tag partner was a though moment it his life, but it may be a blessing in disguise in that it unlocked his more-serious potential. Lee was wonderful in interacting with the crowd and having an affable back and forth with them. He came off as very organic and genuine. Waller’s abrasive personality was good to roll out to antagonize Lee. Truth was fun, but I also thought it was a bit unnecessary. At least it set up a match for next week. Shawn Michaels continues to utilize the entire WWE roster that he has at his disposal now that his buddy Paul’s in charge.
Apollo Crews was interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell. He gloated about beating Grayson Waller and how Waller has to deal with Truth now. Crews said his latest vision is that he’s going for the NXT Title. He said he’s interested to see what Bron Breakker says next week on NXT…
2. Shotzi (w/Quincy Elliot) vs. Lash Legend. Lash womanhandled Shotzi around the ring. Lash took a dropkick to the calf. Lash blocked a drop toehold. Shotzi put Lash in a Tarantula. Shotzi took a boot to the face to get knocked off the apron. Quincy went to see if Shotzi was ok. Quincy then was confronted by Lash. Quincy gave Lash a slow booty drop dance move. Back in the ring, Lash gave Shotzi a body slam. Lash put Shotzi in a Stretch Muffler. Shotzi blocked it with her core strength. Shotzi shoved Lash away.
Lash put Shotzi back on the top rope, but was slapped away. Shotzi hit Lash Never Wake Up (Leg Trap DDT) for the victory.
Shotzi defeated Lash Legend via pinfall in 3:42.
Brutus Creed, Julius Creed, and Ivy Nile were psyching each other up backstage. Joseph noted that Brutus will have 5 minutes in the ring with Damon Kemp after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Nothing too special, but Lash continues to improve in the ring now that she’s facing seasoned opponents. She slowly coming along in-ring and is better than when she was feuding with Nikkita Lyons (which felt like the blind leading the blind at a point). Lash continues to shine with her look and character stuff though, so WWE just has to keep giving her reps to improve in-ring. Since she’s a natural athlete, the in-ring should come easier to her than some others.
The Creed Brothers made their entrance. Julius took the mic and showed people his busted up hand from Kemp slamming the door on him several times. He said that pain is nothing compared to the pain he would have felt if Brutus lost his career. Julius talked about how he comes as advertised and he writes his sentences. He said it was time for Brutus to provide the final punctuation. Brutus talked in his natural voice and said thank you to Julius and how he loves him. He then went into his intense voice, saying he’s here to finish what Kemp started.
Damon Kemp appeared on the titantron. Kemp said he’s not medically cleared to wrestle tonight, but Brutus will get his 5 minutes of hell sometime later. Brutus said every day he has to wait will make Kemp’s eventual pain worse, and worse, and worse. The Creeds were leaving, but were attacked by Sanga and Veer Mahan. Sanga was reluctant, and refused to beat down Julius. Veer cut in and gave Julius the Million Dollar Arm lariat. Veer made Sanga give Brutus a Uranage. The Creed Brothers were left lying as Veer and Sanga walked up the ramp in their fancy suits. Ivy Nile yelled “why?” at them…
Kit Wilson and Elton Prince were hyping each other up. They talked how enofe and Blade can’t lace up Pretty Deadly’s beautiful heels. They ended their promo with a “Sideplate check”…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good promo segment with the Creeds with Damon Kemp and Indus Sher also adding to the promo for some good worldbuilding. Brutus improved on the mic a bit, speaking in his natural voice for a second. Damon Kemp continues to really shine as a shameless heel. When Veer and Sanga ran out, I was kinda disappointed that Sanga was dropping his great “world’s nicest guy” gimmick, but I was encouraged when Sanga sold that he wasn’t really sold on what Veer was selling him. Is Veer blackmailing Sanga (kinda like the Jinder Mahal and Great Khali feud from back in the day). It looks like they are going to take a complex approach to the Veer and Sanga characters and I can’t wait to see where it goes. I also like their new slick drip. The Million Dollar Arm looks better now that he is trying to look like a million dollars.
Gigi Dolin was having a face time meeting with Mandy Rose. Gigi was poolside while Rose was in a car. They didn’t know where Jacy Jayne was. They called her and she was at the gym. Gigi joked that Jayne was buffing up to fight zombies. Rose talked about how they beat Alba Fyre. All three women gloated. Rose said next wee Rose will celebrate her one year title reign…
[Hour Two] Entrances for the next match took place. Malik Blade brought back the sweater vest. Joseph noted that Blade wears the vest in honor of his father and how he doesn’t like to dress flashy. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in ring introductions…
3. “Pretty Deadly” Kit Wilson and Elton Prince vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade for the NXT Tag Team Championships. Blade hit Wilson with a blockbuster and Enofe followed up with an elbow drop. Prince broke up Enofe’s pin. Wilson held the leg of Blade to allow Prince to get a lariat in. Wilson blind tagged in after Blade went for a suplex. Blade managed to hit Wilson with a series of leg drops. Enofe came in with a elbow drop on Wilson. Enofe got a two count off a Sunset Flip on Wilson. Prince tagged in but ate a gut punch from Enofe.
Blade tagged in and gave Prince an axe handle to the arm. Prince came back with a sidewalk slam for a two count on Blade. Pretty Deadly put the boots to Blade. Blade slid away and led them into a crossbody from Enofe. Enofe and Blade dumped Pretty Deadly to ringside heading into picture-in-picture.[c]
Pretty Deadly cut the ring in half on Enofe. Wilson ended up eating a suplex from Enofe at ringside. Prince manged to tag in and knock Blade off the apron. Enofe hit Prince with a jawbreaker. Enofe managed to get Blade in for the hot tag sequence. Blade hit Prince with a flying lariat. Prince and Wilson rolled away to ringside. Blade hit Pretty Deadly with a flip dive over the ring post. Blade got a two count on Prince after a splash. “Holy shit” chants were censored, which also censored the commentators.
Prince got a two count off Blade off a rollup. Wilson hit Blade with an assisted gutbuster for a two count. Blade and Wilson traded right hands from their knees and feet. Blade flipped to tag in Enofe. They hit Wilson with a Cutter-Paydirt combo to give Enofe a two count. Wilson hit Enofe with a donkey kick. Enofe fell into a knee and pin for a two count on Wilson. Prince yanked Enofe to ringside. Blade reversed Spilled Milk into a rollup on Prince for a great nearfall. Pretty Deadly recovered and hit Blade with Spilled Milk on Blade for the victory.
Pretty Deadly defeated Blade and Enofe via pinfall in 12:29 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
JD McDonagh was cutting a promo in a creepy dark room. JD said that Ilja is like a disease to him, always spreading. JD said he like’s the title of “neccesary evil”. JD talked about how he wants to draw out pain from Ilja. He said Ilja will be damaged beyond repair and regret the day he came to NXT…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Great tag team matchup. Pretty Deadly continue to shine as old-school heels. Blade and Enofe looked good in defeat and gained from this loss. Back-to-back segments involving four solid tag teams (I’m including the Creeds and Indus Sher). The NXT tag team division is starting to develop.
Vic Joseph plugged the charity WWE was working with…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed a sad Zoey Stark. She said the titles were taken from her and she had it in her hands. Nikkita Lyons showed up to apologize for losing. Stark fired herself up saying that they need to keep their heads up when they get their rematch…
The Schism, Joe Gacy, Jagger Reid, Rip Fowler, and the unnamed masked pledge made their entrance in their smiley masks. The masked hooded person was wearing high heeled boots. Gacy cut one of his usual “inclusive” promos. He had the three followers standing on a pedestal. Gacy said their mission statement is to remove your mask and join them, or else get torn down. Fowler (Gibson) talked bout NXT being selfish with greed. He talked about the greater good and whatnot. Jagger Reid (Drake) took off his mask to continue the promo. Reid grew out his beard by the way.
Gacy continued to talk his rhetoric. Gacy then ordered the last person to take off the mask The person revealed herself to be Simone “The Daughter of the Rock” Johnson. She talked about how the Schism gave her a home and family. She revealed her new WWE name as “Ava Raine”. Gacy said the schism is four roots one tree…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Sol Ruca about facing Indi Hartwell. She compared wrestling to surfing. Indi Hartwell cut in and said that tricks are nice, but it’s all about winning. Indi Hartwell made her entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Eh, ok. You just can’t get me excited about The Schism. There’s no money in this undercard cult. Gibson needs to grow out his beard because this thing needs to end abruptly. Interesting to see The Rock’s daughter make her television debut. Can’t say I’m excited to see her as a part of the lame ass Schism faction, but maybe she adds something to the group that will cause them to turn a corner. I’m not confident that they will turn, but I’m willing to give them a shot.
The show cut to a recording of someone calling the WWE Performance Center front desk. This person said random creepy rhetoric about darkness and stuff. The person was using a voice filter and they said they are ripping NXT apart. The person ended the promo saying their name was SCRYPTS….
John’s Thoughts: What? Another random creepy gimmick? Well, last time we had cryptic invaders, they ended up being Pretty Deadly, and that worked out better than I expected.
4. Indi Hartwell vs. Sol Ruca. Hartwell gave Ruca a body slam. Ruca came back with a series of body slams. Booker noted that Indi is a former student of his from Reality of Wrestling. Hartwell avoided a cartwheel and dropkick from Ruca. Hartwell came back with a series of clotheslines. Hartwell gave Ruca a Northern Forearm for the quick win.
Indi Hartwell defeated Sol Ruca via pinfall in 1:19.
Elektra Lopez ran out and left Ruca and Hartwell lying. Elektra gave Ruca a Blue Thunder Bomb and boot. Lopez said she’s back and coming for each and everyone of you…
The show cut to the latest Chase U classroom skit. Andre Chase was wondering where Bodhi Hayward was. Duke Hudson said he’s not sure where Bodhi Hayward was. Chase said Hayward was supposed to give his report on WWE Holiday Traditions. Duke Hudson sat in Hayward’s seat. Hudson didn’t want to take notes, which caused Chase to curse him out. Hudson apologized. Hudson then stole the pen from a random student…
Ilja Dragunov made his entrance. Vic Joseph plugged Liv Morgan appearing on the Chucky show tomorrow as a guest actor…[c]
An ad aired for the NXT Deadline PLE…
A Roxanne Perez sitdown promo aired. She said she didn’t like the person she had to become at Halloween Havoc. She said it was two best friends destroying each other. She said she’s not sorry. She said Cora was afraid of Perez’s potential. She said in losing a friend, she found a new belief in herself. She said she was staying true to who she is and why she’s here…
Edris Enofe and Malik blade were hanging their heads in the parking lot. Odyssey Jones pulled up in a pickup with a whole bunch of shawtys in the back. Jones invited them to the party. Enofe was happy to join the party and they dragged Blade in the pickup…
Vic Joseph plugged the following segments for next week: Mandy Rose’s 1 year title reign celebration, Bron Breakker returning, and R-Truth vs. Grayson Waller…
JD McDonagh made his entrance…
5. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh. Dragunov attacked JD before he could take his hooded vest off. Ilja got a two count off a Bridged German Suplex. Ilja was sporting Kinesio Tape on his gut. McDonagh rallied back with chops. Dragunov came back with a jump kick. Dragunov worked on JD with methodical stiff strikes. JD recovered and staggered Ilja by using the Kinesio Tape as a bullseye to focus his attacks on. Ilja ended JD’s rally with a body slam. Ilja went for a Tiger Feint reversal, but he collapsed due to the gut pain. McDonagh gave Ilja a jawbreaker and then sent Ilja falling rib first into the announce table. The referee had to hold JD back to see if Ilja can continue.
The referee called for medics who went to check on Ilja. Ilja told the refs he could continue. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
The show cut back with the match continuing. JD gave Ilja a front suplex onto the top rope to hit the injured ribs of Ilja. JD gave Ilja a backbraker on the rib. JD continued to use the Kinesio tape as his target point. Ilja fought back with elbow, but JD regained contol with a rib punch. Ilja continued to use elbows to fight off JD. Vic Joseph noted how both men had ripped up chests. Ilja hit JD with consecutive knife edge chops. Ilja couldn’t deadlift JD for the suplex but he manged to sweep JD.
[Overrun] Dragunov hit McDonagh with a knee in the corner and a dive. JD blocked a senton with the knees to the ribs. JD and Ilja brawled to the top rope. Ilja hit JD with a Superplex. Ilja hit JD with a basement forearm. Ilja was setting up for Torpedo Moscow, bu the collapsed. JD recovered and reversed Torpedo Moscow into a Rear Naked Choke. JD adjusted the move to a reverse Crossface. Ilja’s face was turning red and had blood coming out of his mouth. McDonagh told Ilja to “tap out you son of a bitch”. Ilja passed out and the ref called for the bell.
JD McDonagh defeated Ilja Dragunov via ref stoppage in 9:58 of on air time.
McDonagh held on to the submission for a few seconds after the bell. The WWE medics ran out to put Ilja on a stretcher. McDonagh glared at Ilja as they stretchered him away to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A good psychological bout. I’m happy they gave JD McDonagh the win here because Ilja was selling the hell out of the injured ribs. The Kinesio Tape also served as a good bullseye to tell the story that they wanted to with McDonagh. JD McDonagh has really stepped up his game in his last two matches. He was the glue that put that triple threat together with his nice subtle sells. This ref stoppage victory also solidifies him as the most dangerous man in NXT who would prefer to hurt his opponent rather than win a match. Ilja doesn’t lose in the victory. He passed out like a true babyface. Ilja is also at his best when he’s the plucky warrior fighting from behind. Again, what also added to that last match was Ilja picking the right moments to collapse and sell.
This week’s NXT was a solid reset show and it focused more on character development as opposed to showcasing matches. Character development is always welcome and this week’s show did a good job at that. Only thing that continues to bring the shows down for me is “The Schism” but I’m intrigued at what they plan to do now that Simone “The Daughter of the Rock” Johnson is a part of the group. The Tag Team division looks pretty hot too with the return of Indus Sher and I’m really intrigued in Veer being the devil that’s speaking in the ear of the saint like Sanga. In terms of the commentary, Booker isn’t the “best” commentator in the world, but he’s actually pretty decent these days. Where he is doing a better job is he isn’t as overbearing as he once was and he’s doing a solid job really trying to get the talent in the ring over.
Speaking as an Australian, I LOLed when Truth called our accent British. I took it as a dig at our history (whether it was intended as that or not).
I don’t watch NXT 2.0, but had nothing better to do tonight, just to see what I was missing. I died laughing at watching Schism tell everyone “they the two’s” not sure they thought through the number two hand gesture as a copy of the bloodline “we the ones” My reaction, “yep, y’all are definitely two’s”
They’re more like “Negative twos” for me. I’m just not feeling it with yet another wrestling cult.
Lmao!!! Nice negative two’s Definitely bootleg Wyatt family vibes.
Timelord: You bloody would.. Go to Disney+ 🙁
Seriously though.. R-Truth aka Ron Killings is an awesome wrestler (former NWA Champion, means nothing nowadays)
The “restarting the match” or Dusty Finish or whatever you want to call it is an absolute groaner. If this is possible in their universe, why does it only happen once in a blue moon? Utterly ridiculous.