NXT: Halloween Havoc (Oct. 28, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts

 

NXT: Halloween Havoc was a special episode of WWE's weekly television series NXT, broadcast on the USA Network. It took place on October 28, 2020 at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Five matches were contested during the event. In the main event, Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae in a Tables, Ladders and Scares match to retain the NXT Women's Championship. In other prominent matches, Dexter Lumis defeated Cameron Grimes in a Haunted House of Terror match and Johnny Gargano defeated Damian Priest to win the NXT North American Championship in a Devil's Playground Match in the opening bout. 

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Devil's Playground Match for the NXT North American Championship

Johnny Gargano def. Damian Priest (c)

Gargano defeating Priest with a ledge dive/drop bump that reminded me of something straight out of Lucha Underground. The majority of that match did absolutely nothing for me. I didn't think that they should have beaten Priest this early for the belt, especially not for Gargano's stupid heel gimmick.

After the opening match, Pat McAfee took to the ring with the new NXT Tag Team Champions, Danny Birch and Oney Lorcan, to shoot on the "internet wrestling fans" and the Undisputed Era as any good heel would and should do. This was a piece of good business. I just wasn't a fan of how much time this took. Even Ray Charles saw Pete Dunne's turn on Kyle O'Reilly. Like why the fuck would he align with the Undisputed Era when those guys have been at odds for years now? Not to mention, Roderick Strong was the one who turned on him during the Dusty Tag Team Classic about three agos to put this faction together Overall, I'm not really sold on this mash-up of guys aligned with McAfee. I need a few more weeks to see what they are going to do with them collectively before I'm buying into it completely. So far it just comes across as lumping guys together for the excuse to put UE in WarGames for like 3rd or 4th year in a row. I've seriously lost count at this point.

Singles Match

Santos Escobar def. Jake Atlas

Santos Escobar def. Tony Atlas. As much as I loved Escobar in Lucha Underground as King Cuerno and I like Tony Atlas as a ring talent too, NXT has done nothing to make me care about anyone who faces Escobar's stable. That's just an easy cue to go to the bathroom or the kitchen to make a sandwich in this case - not that this lasted very long anyway. 

Legado del Fantasma dressed for the occasion.

That being said, I did like Escobar's Mysterio Halloween Havok-inspired gear though.

Haunted House of Terror match

Dexter Lumis def. Cameron Grimes by submission

While the "zombies" in the House of Horrors match looked cool with the contortionists, I want them to scrap this whole pseudo/wannabe Undertaker/pseudo Sam Shaw character for Dexter Lumis. It's just not working - AT ALL. Ironic that they have the two ex-TNA/IMPACT Wrestling guys involved in a match like this too... 

Why did they feel like this needed to be split into two parts though? It just made this match feel like it overstayed it's welcome big time. I guess they might have wanted to get all of their investment on those extras they hired to play the zombies in the haunted house. (Shrugs) Who knows? I have to wonder where the hell 

Singles Match

Rhea Ripley def. Raquel González

Rhea Ripley def. Raquel Gonzales in another match that didn't do much for me. Giant vs. Giant matches or Powerhouse vs. Powerhouse matches can be really boring when both people aren't going to bump around like the people lighter than them normally would. It just makes for a lot of bland and stale action. I honestly found myself flipping the channel back and forth to the NWA Women's title match over on AEW over this instead. I had to laugh after Rhea won too as even in victory, this match did nothing for everyone involved.

I remember having to do a double take at first as I thought Shotzi was completely nude here, but quickly realized she was rocking a Bride of Frankenstein get-up for her first costume (of many) during this broadcast.

I will mention that while I thought Shotzi's costumes were cool, I still was disappointed that she didn't rock an Elvira look for one of her multiple costume changes for the night.

Tables, Ladders and Scares match for the NXT Women's Championship

Io Shirai (c) def. Candice LeRae

After the opener, I didn't have any high hopes for the main event between Io and Candice since I was half-expecting Io to drop the title to her for Candice and Gargano to have bragging rights next week. I was surprised to see Poppy (lipsync) sing Io to the ring to what sounded like a garbled mess instead of Io's normal music. The match wasn't really good nor was it god-awful, but I'm surprised that Candice doesn't have a crushed pelvis from how she landed on ladder during the finish. (Sighs) Lemme walk that comment back a bit... I felt the same way about this match as Candice and Io's TakeOver match less than a month ago. Both women gave their all, but I don't have any enthusiasm of seeing Io losing to Candice in any shape nor form in a one-on-one match. If this was a multi-person match, then go nuts with the title change, but just all kinds of no on Candice beating Io clean. 

Reports following this show said that Hartwell wasn't the one under the mask, but was taken off the show tonight as a precaution due to COVID concerns. 

I would bet the farm that the person in the hood/Scream mask is going to be revealed as Indi Hartwell though.  I was happy to see Shotzi run interference for we would be spared from the gloating from the Garganos next week too.

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Afterthoughts: 

This wasn't a bad show, but at the same time, I wouldn't say that it blew me away either. 

I was just glad that they didn't go with the predictable route of making both of the Garganos win their matches here, even though I'm still not too keen on the idea of having Damien Priest lose the North American title to Gargano so soon after winning it. Gargano doesn't need to be a champion to be successful on NXT, but Candice LaRae could use a NXT Women's title win to pad her resume before going up to the main roster. The problem with that is that I wouldn't have Io Shirai losing to her PERIOD, even if there was heel foul play involved with the finish. I heard that there's some talk about the individual wearing the Scream mask tonight being not just one person but two individuals aligned with the Garganos. I could see that being a possibility as well. Austin Theory has been suffering a string of losses on NXT over the last few months before uttering the words that he "quit" not too long ago. Gargano could have taken him under his wing, much like how Candice may have coaxed Indi Hartwell into doing her bidding. Don't forget that Indi handed Candice a pair of brass knuckles a few weeks ago to set up this match, so there's that possibility as well. 

The impromptu creation of Pat McAfee's faction seems to be reaching at the moment, but I'm willing to give them a few weeks to iron out the kinks out on this idea before I give a final verdict on whether I have warmed up to the concept or not. I can't say the same for anything involving Legado del Fantasma though. They have great matches, but I just don't care for them as characters on this show. Double goes for roughly everyone they have been feuding with over the last few months. I really want that to change, especially with Jordan Devlin returning to NXT UK. Hopefully, we'll get to see Escobar Santos and Jordan Devlin clash to see who is the REAL NXT Cruiserweight Champion in the coming months, sooner more than later.