By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida, at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live October 21, 2025, on The CW Network
[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s NXT show aired…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Tatum Paxley made her entrance along with the rest of the Culling. Room announced Tatum as the number one contender to the Women’s Championship. A “you deserve it” chant ensued. Tatum hopped for joy and said “I freakin’ did it!”. Izzi was looking over the top in being proud of Tatum. Tatum talked about it being four years where people saw her at her lowest, lose all her friends, and be completely alone. She said one friendship has been consistant, the fans being behind her.
She said they stood by her all this time and she made it to her first PLE at the scariest night of the year, Halloween Havoc. She said she can’t be happier because she has The Culling and her best friend Izzi Dame. She said Izzi was with her when everyone else left her. She said she will bring gold to the Culling and she knows with their help she’ll be women’s champion. Fatal Influence made their entrance. Jacy Jayne said she’ll be the bad guy like always, saying that Tatum has no chance at winning her championship.
Jacy said she gets it, it’s spooky and Tatum has the support of her friends and WWE Universe. She said what they all know is that Tatum has no chance. Jacy said people called her the most beatable champion, but match after match, she’s beat it into the brains of her opponents and fans that she can live up to the championship status. Jacy said Tatum was a creepy little weirdo, not special, and average. Jacy said Tatum should have helped Izzi to win because at least Izzi would have a chance.
Tatum said she sees Jacy trying to get between her and Izzi. She said that her and Jacy should relate due to Jacy taking a long time to get to the title. She said people know Jacy was on the path to get a title, but no Tatum. Tatum said people saw her as a weirdo, but she got better. Tatum said she put in work and trained. She said after all that you bet your ass on Saturday that Tatum Paxley will be NXT Women’s Champion.
Fallon Henley said that confidence will look sweeter when Tatum loses. Izzi said that’s rich coming from Fallon, who kicked out their friend Jazmyn a few weeks ago. Izzi said Tatum was great in the culling and they will always accept her for who she is. Jacy said she always thought highly of Izzi. A strong confident woman who looks like the leader of the Culling. Jacy said now she just looks like Tatum’s babysitter. Izzi said she has full control of her group.
Tatum said she knows her friends are happy for her, unlike Jacy’s friends. Tatum challenged Fatal Influence. Fallon said that Lainey Reid is ready to step up. The teams brawled with Tatum and Izzi chasing Fatal Influence away…
John’s Thoughts: The build towards the “Showdown” show left NXT in another rushed build situation, but this was a solid segment to build up an underdog to the Women’s Title. Tatum Paxley got one of her longest mic segments that she’s had in her career and she did a good job making it sound like she spoke from the heart and is inspired to win the title. They threw out all the little seeds of dissention around this segment too, with Fatal Influence looking shaky as usual, and them foreshadowing Izzi most likely getting jealous of Tatum sooner or later.
Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo was hanging out with his fiancé Ariana Grace. Stacks wondered how Santino knew they were together. Grace said that she might have left a few hints (either that or everyone just saw her Instagram). The camera then panned over to Leon Slater and Je’von Evans wondering who they were going to face as a tag team at Halloween Havoc. Je’von said that Leon needs to focus on beating Stacks first, then they can worry about Halloween Havoc. Both men dapped it up heading into break…[c]
Vic Joseph hyped up CM Punk vs. Jey Uso for the WWE World Championship at Saturday Nights Main Event…
Stacks was already in the ring while Leon Slater got a televised entrance…
1. Leon Slater (w/Je’von Evans) vs. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (w/Ariana Grace) for the TNA X Division Championship. Vic noted that Slater was 20 years old when he beat Moose for the X Division Championship a few months ago. Stacks worked on Leon with wristholds and Leon escaped with a few Lucha armdrags. Slater sent Stacks flying with a Monkey Flip. Vic noted that the longest cumulative reigning X Division Champion is Smackdown wrestler Chris Sabin.
Trick Williams was shown arriving at the PC. Stacks slowed down Slater with a power whip. Slater gave Stacks a boot and huracanrana. Slater hit Stacks with his zig zag Enzuigiri. Slater dumped Stacks to ringside with a back elbow and followed up with a Plancha. Je’von took a headset and comically sent the show to commercial break.[c]
During the break, Evans was over the top at reacting to Slater’s offense while mic’d up on commentary. Back from break, Stacks had Slater in an abdominal stretch. Vic reminded viewers that Stack’s Heritage Cup is at the bottom of a river. Stacks got a nearfall after a stomp. Stacks worked on Leon with methodical offense. Slater got a window of opportunity after hitting Stacks with a release Blue Thunder Bomb.
Slater hit the ropes and knocked Grace off. Slater caught Grace which caught Channing’s attention. Back in the ring Slater hit Stacks with a boot and diving crossbody. Slater worked on Stacks with kicks and dumped him to ringside. Slater hit Stacks with a flip dive over the ring post. A “TNA” chant ensued. Slater put Stacks int eh ring and hit him with a Swanton 450 for the win.
Leon Slater defeated Channing Lorenzo via pinfall in 10:52 to retain the TNA X Division Championship.
Je’von Evans took the mic and told the crowd to give Leon a ovation. Evans said he wants to go to Halloween Havoc with Slater. Slater said people saw what they could to against each other, but what if they were on the same side. Evans said that’s fire! Evans said if the Youngest in Charge and an OG is in a tag team match, it has to be a movie.
Suddenly, Mr. Iguana and the new La Parka made their entrance. Iguana took the mic and soaked in “Iguana” chants. Iguana said that you can’t have Halloween Havoc without Iguana, La Yezka, and La Parka. Iguana said he spoke to Ava and got the match booked between them and Evans and Slater. Iguana said AAA has taken over Mexico, LA, and Las Vegas and they are going to take over the venue of Halloween Havoc…
A hype package aired for the Zach Wentz vs. Jasper Troy Speed Match where both men hyped up the match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A fun showcase match for Slater with Stacks showing that he has a lot of potential as a singles star as he can carry a good match. It’s been fun seeing Slater start off as a guest indie wrestler at 18 or 19 years old, mostly losing, but looking good doing it, to today where he’s a spotlighted champion treated like a big deal on WWE television. Can’t wait until the next Slater vs. Evans match. Evans was also low key fun as the guest commentator with his over the top reactions. Slater and Evans vs. fan favorites Iguana and new La Parka should be a fun exhibition match.
They changed the lighting of the show to WWE Speed colors…
John’s Thoughts: The transition to the WWE Speed branding reminds me of when WWE Raw went to that quick branding switch to the Cruiserweight division before 205 Live came out.
Zachary Wentz came out to his TNA Rascalz theme (minus the bong rip sound). Jasper Troy made his entrance. Los Americanos (presumably Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) were shown in the crowd…
2. Zachery Wentz vs. Jasper Troy in a 3 minute WWE Speed Tournament Match. Troy used his size to block Zach’s armdrags. Wentz hit Troy with a huracanrana but couldn’t get him off his feet. Wentz got Tory to his knees with a CQC and double stomp combo. Wentz got Troy off his feet by dumping him to ringside. Wentz hit Troy with a PK after Troy caught him. Wentz took Troy off his feet with a Corkscrew Plancha.
Wentz hit Troy with a Swanton for a two count. Troy took down Wentz with a front hip attack. Troy hit Wentz with a Black Hole Slam for the victory.
Jasper Troy defeated Zachary Wentz via pinfall in 2:04 to advance to the finals of the WWE Speed Championship Tournament.
John’s Thoughts: A solid match for what it was, but not quite the result I would have liked. Sucks to see Wentz lose in a 2 minute match to a rookie given how good we know the guy can be. I like Troy’s big man offense where it’s a feat to get him off his feet, but he needs a repackage after eating so many losses to start his WWE career.
Kelani Jordan tried to go into the NXT locker room, but Lola Vice and a bunch of wrestlers wouldn’t let her in. Jordynne Grace showed up to have her back. The wrestlers handed Kelani her gear and kicked her out. Kelani acted mopey at Jordynne Grace and bragging about being the champion that Grace was before…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Looks like in NXT they’re starting to go back to mopey Kelani, which has been a bit of a failure for not getting off the ground for over a year. She’s clearly a natural at being the girl next door babyface given her strong reactions in TNA and early NXT 2.0. Let’s see if she can give it an other go at being a heel. Either that or she’s doing that mid tweener thing she’s been doing for a long time. I keep saying they should inherit her old protege Dana Brooke’s heel faction, the Elegance Brand, especially if it will lead to Maggie Lee and Heather Reckless more on NXT and Impact
Vic Joseph plugged WWE’s podcast lineup…
A DarkState promo aired where they hyped up their upcoming match against the Hardys. Their promo got cut off by Matt and Jeff at the Hardy Compound, where they hyped the match. Jeff made sure to say hi to Matt’s father in law, Senor Benjamin. Matt and Jeff walked over to the Lake of Reincarnation and sunk inside. Random hocus pocus happened.
Broken Matt and Brother Nero emerged. Matt told Nero he knew’d he come. Broken Matt and Jeff said the match against DarkState will be a Broken Rules match. Jeff said DarkState will fate away and call themselves obsolete. Matt, Jeff, Matt’s sons, and random trees did the Delete chant. Vic hyped the Broken Rules match..
John’s Thoughts: The Broken Hardys did jump the shark after a strong run for a couple of years. That said, Matt and Jeff have done a good job over the past year sticking in 90s Hardy mode, to the point where the Broken Hardys is good as a special attraction. Given that we’ve gotten cinematic matches at Halloween Havoc in recent years, I wonder if we’re going to get one of those Jeremy Borash Broken Hardy cinematics? Could be fun. I did like the Hardys vs. Nemeths one that they did recently as a special attraction.
Vic sent the show to highlights from the Za-Ruca vs. Flair and Bliss match at Smackdown where Monroe interfered in the match to cause Za-Ruca to lose…
Backstage Zaria and Sol Ruca were backstage with Sol Ruca on crutches. Zaria asked Sol if she was okay with doing “this”? Sol said she’s sure she can do this…[c]
Sol Ruca, Zaria, and GM Ava were in the ring. Ava said she’ll allow Sol to address what they talked about earlier. Sol said unfortunately she got injured at Smackdown last week. Sol said she didn’t want to put the blame on anyone, and injuries are a part of the game, and you have to move on. Sol said she’s not cleared to wrestle at Halloween Havoc and can’t defend the championship.
Ava said they can probably figure out something. Sol said no, because she doesn’t want to hold up two division. She said she doesn’t know when she can come back. Blake Monroe made her entrance and gave Sol a condescending and sarcastic sorry. She said you don’t have to worry about the next champion, because she’s here. Blake said since she’s number one contender and Sol’s out indefinitely, Blake should be champion by default.
Zaria cut Blake off and said that Blake doesn’t deserve a title that Sol busted her ass for to defend. Zaria said you don’t get handouts in NXT. Blake said Zaria fights all of Sol’s battles and maybe she’ll fight for herself one day. Blake said NXT needs a champion, and it’s her. Zaria tried to encourage Sol, and then said she has Sol’s back. Zaria also told Blake to shut up.
Zaria said she can defend Sol’s title on Sol’s behalf at Halloween Havoc. Blake told Ava to not listen to that. Ava shut up Blake. Ava said it is unconventional, but it sounds like a great idea. Ava asked Sol if Sol was okay with it. Sol said she fought so hard for the title, but there is no one that she trusts more than Zaria. Sol agreed. Ava booked Zaria vs. Monroe for the North American Championship at Halloween Havoc. Blake got in Ava’s face and threw a fit. Zaria gave Blake an F5 and posed with the championship to end the segment…
A hype promo aired for the Axiom vs. Sean Legacy Speed Match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: If this injury is legit (it’s funny in wrestling, how you always have to account for possible works), this sucks as Sol was on a roll in NXT and the main roster with her innovative offense and athleticism. A good segment to allow the Blake Monroe character to continue to stir the pot. Zaria defending the title on Sol’s behalf does add a meaningful layer to their presumed breakup, as this will also give Zaria a taste of the greed. I do wonder that with them not formally announcing a relinquishment, if Sol got a good diagnosis and won’t be out for long? (again, or work? But I’ll just always assume shoot AND work in pro wrestling situations. They did announce this on Social Media for what it’s worth).
The NXT Annonymous camera was creeping in on Myles Borne and Tavion Heights venting about their recent losses. Josh Briggs showed up and bragged about beating Matt Cardona. Briggs mocked for being the first eliminated quickly in the NXT vs. TNA match. Briggs mocked Tavion for only being good every four years for the Olympics. Briggs said of the three men here, he’s the one who will be the best…
Legacy and Axiom were already in the ring…
3. Axiom vs. Sean Legacy in a 3 minute Speed Championship Tournament Match. Axiom dominated early on with suplexes and a leg lariat for a two count. Legacy came back with a two count. Axiom countered a 450 into submission attempts. Legacy deadlifted Axiom out. Axiom came back with a Spanish Fly. The match hit the one minute warning with the red lights.
Legacy caught Axiom with a Superkick. Legacy came back with a jumping knee. Both men traded running strikes. Axiom hit Legacy with a Gamengiri and Super Spanish Fly for the win with 2 seconds left on the clock.
Axiom defeated Sean Legacy via pinfall in 2:58 to advance to the finals of the WWE Speed Championship tournament.
A Ethan Page promo aired where he hyped his upcoming match against El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr. Page turned his face to show it was half painted at a Dia De Los Muertos skeleton…[c]
Hank and Tank made their entrance. Vic Joseph hyped the classic Hulk Hogan cartoon on the WWE vault. Out Tha Mud made their entrance to new generic sounding music (Boo! Their other Def Rebel theme was actually good. The one that sounded like GTA San Andreas). Hank and Tank jumped OTM and hit them with dives before the bell…
4. “Out Tha Mud” Lucien Price and Bronco Nima vs. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. The match started when Hank and Price were in the ring. Hank had the advantage until Nima got a cheap shot on Hank. Nima got a two count on Hank. Ricky Saints was shown chatting with GMA Ava. OTM cut the ring in half on Hank. Price hit Hank with a Three Point Stance lariat. Hank used a judo roll to get Tank in for the hot tag.
Tank cleaned house. Tank took down Nima with a Springboard Shoulder Tackle for a nearfall. Price hit Hank with a Uranage. Tank caught Price with a knee. Nima hit Tank with a Tilt a Whirl slam. Price hit Tank with an assisted Alabama Slam for the victory.
Out Tha Mud defeated Tank Ledger and Hank Walker via pinfall in 3:36.
After the match, Price dumped Hank and Tank to ringside. Price cleared the announce table. OTM hit Tank with a double team Razor’s Edge through the announce table…
John’s Thoughts: Nothing fancy, and exactly what it should have been. A dominant win for the monster duo over the former happy-go-lucky tag champs. Here’s praying that OTM can get off the ground this time as they’ve been snakebit with injuries. There’s a part of me wondering if they might need a manager? Hey Konnan! Where you at!?! (I’m kidding. K-dawg is busy enough booking AAA. But I do think Out Tha Mud could use a good manager to get them over the top).
Wren Sinclair was on the phone while pimping out the sponsoring makeup brand. Wren saw Lash Legend and chatted with her a bit. Evolve Champion Kendal Grey showed up and got in Lash’s face and told her not to big league Wren. Grey and Lash bickered a bit and Lash walked off…
Fatal Influence made their entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: As cringy as the Maybe it’s Maybelline plugs have been, I remember hearing in an interview recently (I forget who) that the women’s locker room actually really likes the Maybelline sponsorship because it means they get tons and tons of free makeup.
Vic Joseph ran through the advertised Halloween Havoc card…
The Culling made their entrance…
5. “Fatal Influence” Jacy Jayne and Lainey Reid (w/Fallon Henley) vs. Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame. Tatum rallied with strikes and a face buster. Jayne tagged in and hit Tatum with an armdrag. Tatum came back with a crossbody in the corner. Izzi tagged in and hit Jacy with a clothesline for a two count. Jacy got a two count off a jackknife pin. Reid tagged in. Izzi hit her with a Tilt a Whirl backbreaker. Tatum tagged in and hit Reid with a splits Elbow Drop.
Tatum fended off both Fatal Influence members successfully. Tatum hit Fallon (barely) with a wrecking ball kick. Jacy held Tatum in place so Reid could hit her with a draping neckbreaker heading into break.[c]
Reid was showing off good suplexes and offense during the break. Booker yelled “Give her a contract!”. Vic joked “she already has a [WWE] contract”. Back form break, Paxley crumpled Reid with a high spin kick. Izzi caught the hot tag and cleaned house. Izzi caught both opponent with a double codebreaker. Izzi hit Jayne with a chokeslam for a nearfall. Paxley tagged in after Izzi was caught by a DDT.
Jayne hit Paxley with a superkick. Paxley came back with a modified Lightning Spiral for a nearfall. Izzi and Lainey took each other out to ringside. Paxley rolled up Jayne for a two count. Tatum hit Jayne wiht a Enzuigiri. Izzi hit Henley when Henley went for the distraction. Lainey dragged Izzi to ringside. Jayne hit Paxley with the Rolling Encore for the victory.
Jacy Jayne and Lainey Reid defeated Tatum Paxley and Izzi Dame via pinfall in 10:11.
Lainey and Henley tossed Izzi into the steps and put the boots to her. Jacy tried to hit Paxley with the belt, but Paxley dropkicked it into the face of Jayne. Paxley took down Reid and Henley. Paxley hit Jayne with the reverse Lightning Spiral and stood tall with the Women’s Championship…
Separate shots of Trick Williams and Ricky Saints were shown backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good tag team match that kept the crowd energized by the end of it. Lainey Reid showed that her time cooking on NXT Level Up has paid off and she has become a pretty good in-ring wrestler. Like Jazmyn Nyx, Lainey is a collegiate NIL project; but Reid definitely seems much further ahead in terms of the technical aspect of wrestling (and she does have a pretty good personality). She might be able to freshen up the Fatal Influence act a bit. Interesting that they had Jayne pick up the win, as it goes against go-home booking logic. Keeps the viewer thinking by balking against their expectations.
NXT GM Ava and security guards were in the ring with a table for a contract signing. Ava introduced the challenger Trick Williams first. She then introduced the champion Ricky Saints. Trick reminded Ricky that he does things on his own time. He said he waits for his moment and spotlight. Trick said Ricky is mad because while Ricky is champion, Trick is still the main event. Trick said he picked NXT up and put it on his back.
He said he doesn’t owe NXT or TNA nothing. He said he’s only loyal to himself, Trick Williams. Trick said Trick Williams loves himself some Trick Williams. Trick said he’s going to be a three time, three time, three time, NXT Champion. Ricky said he’s an emotional guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve. He said he never changed, unlike Trick. Ricky said the title can make you complacent or ambitious. Ricky said the title ushered in the Whoop Dat era, but Trick lost the plot.
Ricky said Trick thought he was bigger than everyone and the title. Ricky said it looked like Trick was ready to leave a long time ago. Trick said Ricky has been grinding for decades on indies, while Trick doesn’t belong on the indies because he’s Hollywood and looks like a champion. Trick said that Ricky looks like a cosplayer and a stunt double for Trick Williams. Trick said Ricky can be a stand in at best. Trick said he’ll win the title and
Ricky got emotional and said that Trick will fold like the shirt he has on. Ricky said he’s the blueprint and Trick is trying to be like him. Ricky said that one thing about him is he can never be a Trick replacement. Ricky said he’s smoother, silkier, and more stylish. Ricky said he’s the face of NXT and he’s locked in. This is his house. Ricky said he is Absolute Ricky Saints.
Security got in between Trick and Ricky to pull them apart. They fended off security. Trick got a right hand on Ricky but Ricky put Trick through the table. Ricky posed with his championship title. Vic Joseph ran through the advertised Halloween Havoc card to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Effective promo segment to hype their Halloween Havoc match off a rushed build. Even since Trick turned heel and had his TNA title run, he has found his swagger again on the mic. He’s really good at antagonizing, while also allowing his sparring partner to get themselves over. Ricky Saints is also starting to find his groove again on the mic. It’s usually a minus when you start yelling, but for Saints is a plus when he ups the volume and gets emotional. He’s really good when he starts sounding “real”.
Only way I see Trick randomly winning is if they really really want to call up Starks (and with the Seth Rollins injury, if we’re talking Football, WWE is down one QB on the IR on their depth chart). Saints should win, but like we’ve seen in NXT in the past, if they do something “random” like have Trick win, it’s there must be something related to a main roster move.
This week’s show was actually well written and well paced for what they wanted to do, which was rush a build towards Saturday’s Halloween Havoc. They didn’t have any wasted segments. The “filler” segments were short speed matches and OTM’s return, which does progress their overall storyline universe. The rest were solid promo segments and angles. Halloween Havoc does feel like a B level PPV, but B level PPVs are fun as long as they don’t shove the B PPV into a weekend with three or four other PPVs. Bonus points for throwing it on a Saturday too, so they don’t get in the way of my Sunday NFL watching!
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