Welcome to WrestlePurists’ Coverage of the October 17th Episode of WWE NXT.
Bada Bing Bada Boom Battle Royal – Andre Chase & Duke Hudson Defeat Angel Garza & Humberto Carrilo
Teams in order of elimination:
Drew Gulak & Damon Kemp
Brooks & Jensen
Edris Enofe & Malik Blade
Gallus
Ridge Holland & Butch
Lucienne Price & Bronco Nima
Creed Brothers
The final two teams faced off in a traditional tag team matchup. Duke Hudson & Andre Chase taking on Humberto Carrilo & Angel Garza. Carillo was eliminated, but the officials missed it, allowing Garza & Carillo the chance to eliminate a distracted Creed Brothers. A nice nod to Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Rumble victory in 97. I actually found this format for a battle royal to be a nice change. Tony D’Angelo & Channing Lorenzo watched on as they dined on traditional Italian cuisine. I have very much enjoyed their title reign so far.
The tag match between the final two teams was very good. Chase U wins by pinfall. They will take on Tony D & Stacks for Night 1 of Halloween Havoc next week for the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Blair Davenport Backstage Pretape
Blair Davenport has words for Gigi Dolin. She says it isn’t over between the two of them and challenges Dolin to a match at Halloween Havoc.
Lexis King Vignette
Lexis King continues to bury his own father’s legacy. He says he’s going to make his new name bigger than his father’s name ever was and that his reign begins at Halloween Havoc. This was solid. His best work I’ve seen so far. I have enjoyed the way they have introduced King with these segments.
Carmelo Hayes In Ring Promo
Melo talks about last week’s episode. He puts over his interactions with The Undertaker and John Cena and suddenly out comes Baron Corbin. Baron calls Melo a fan boy. He says fans should be in the stands, not in the ring. He mocks how much time Melo spent with Cena on Instagram. This brings out Dijak. Dijak says that the two of them should be focusing on what he’s going to do to them in their triple threat match. He says to look into his eyes, but Baron says they can’t because he’s wearing sunglasses inside. Huge pop.
Baron calls Dijak stupid, Melo tells him that he can make a jersey for his big ass any time. We then see Ilja Dragunov who appears on the titantron. He tells the three of them to focus on their match so whoever wins might be ready for their match at Halloween Havoc. He then announces that the triple threat tonight will actually be a fatal four way. The fourth competitor is Trick Williams!! Melo is in absolute shock. Dijak tells Trick he just stabbed his friend in the back. Baron calls Trick’s pants ugly. Trick says he didn’t come out to talk about ugly. He came to talk about winning tonight’s match. He tells Melo that this doesn’t change anything. Baron says that it changes everything. Baron says that Trick went into business for himself. He says that Trick did this all behind Melo’s back. Melo says he’s willing to put anyone down to be back on top. Dijak asks him if he means Trick, but Melo doesn’t answer. Instead the four begin to brawl until it’s only Melo & Trick left in the ring.
We then see footage of the women in the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament speaking to Fallon Henley in the locker room. They are interrupted by Tiffany Stratton who starts mocking Henley. Stratton tells her she looks poor and said she had dirty fingernails. I laughed out loud.
NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament: Karmen Petrovic Defeats Jaida Parker
Karmen Petrovic advances to the semi finals after winning this match by submission. I like what I saw from Petrovic here. Glad to see her move on in the tournament.
Backstage in the locker room, we see Tegan Nox getting ready for her match. Natalya comes into the room and tells Tegan that she is here for her tonight, because Tegan was there for her on Raw.
Lyra Valkyria Defeats Tegan Nox
Chelsea Green & Piper Nevin came down for a closer look. Lyra won the match by pinfall. After the match, Natalya and Tegan start to brawl with Green and Nevin.
Lyra cuts a promo in the ring after the match and calls out Becky Lynch. Lynch appears on the titantron and offers some advice on what it would take to beat her. She welcomes Lyra to the big time.
In the locker room, Carmelo Hayes confronts Trick Williams about blindsiding him by entering himself in the fatal four way match. Trick is apologetic but says that he just wants more. Melo understands, but says that means he has to do what he has to do. Trick says the same. Things are definitely getting interesting between Trick Melo Gang here. Again, they are doing a great job with this storyline.
Gigi Dolin accepts Blair Davenport’s challenge. She says Halloween is her favorite time of year. She then spins the Halloween Havoc “wheel of stipulations” to determine what type of match the two will compete in. The wheel lands on the “lights out” match.
Von Wagner Rehab Video Package
Von Wagner is in rehab for his head injury. Stone is there for support. They are talking about getting revenge on Bron Breakker. Von is inspired by his talk with Stone and he is able to continue on with his therapy.
Shotzi Defeats Kiana James
The women’s division continues to take center stage on NXT.
Roxanne Perez distracts James, which allows Shotzi to hit a senton bomb and win the match by pinfall.
Mackenzie Mitchell is interviewing Oro Mensah and Lash Legend who are on the phone with Noam Dar. The two are asking about Jakara Jackson who is apparently not medically clear for her match tonight. Akira Tozawa shows up and tells Oro and Jakara to tell Noam that he is looking for him.
We then go backstage to see that someone has attacked Trick Williams. A very angered and shocked Carmelo Hayes sees and is now on the lookout for the culprit.
We return from commercial to an update that Trick Williams has been transported to a local hospital. She says they have no idea who attacked Trick but that it was obvious they were trying to keep him from competing tonight. Tonight’s main event fatal four way is back to a triple threat. Winner faces Ilja Dragunov at Halloween Havoc for the NXT Championship.
We then see Mackenzie Mitchell attempting to interview Dominik Mysterio but he is attacked by Nathan Frazer. The two brawl all the way out into the ring until Rhea Ripley comes down and pulls Dom out.
Shotzi is backstage with Roxanne Perez. She tells her she likes the new Roxanne. Roxanne says she wants to spin the wheel so she can finally shut Kiana James up for good. The wheel lands on the “devil’s playground match.”
NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament: Arianna Grace Defeats Brinley Reece
Arianna Grace wins this quick tournament match by pinfall.
Following a commercial we have Mackenzie Mitchell interviewing Bron Breakker. Stone walks in and Bron mockingly asks about Von Wagner. Stone says he wants to smack the smile off of Bron’s face. Stone says he wants Bron at Halloween Havoc. Bron agrees.
NXT Championship Number One Contender’s Triple Threat Match: Carmelo Hayes Defeats Dijak and Baron Corbin
Tonight’s triple threat main event was physical and loaded with high impact offense. This was the most fun I’ve had watching Baron Corbin in quite some time. Carmelo Hayes is so special. He really shines in these moments. Taking advantage of a Baron Corbin End of Days on Dijak, Melo shoots his shot and wins the match by pinfall. He will face Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship at No Mercy.
Backstage we see Lyra Valkyria who rips up a picture while saying that Becky’s NXT Women’s Championship is going to be hers. As she leaves, the monitor changes to Jade Cargill who is looking into the camera and tapping her watch…
Final Thoughts
Another solid effort by everyone involved tonight. This was yet another well paced, action packed show. The attack on Trick Williams was definitely unexpected and the unknown identity of the assailant adds an intriguing layer. Another cliffhanger from HBK, which has become a staple of his booking style, especially as of late. Oh, and Halloween Havoc looks absolutely stacked.
