Below, we have the NXT results from the Tuesday, October 26th show, along with highlights and headlines coming from tonight.
NXT Results, highlights and headlines from last week’s show
WWE NXT Results 10/26
Toxic Attraction def. Indi Hartwell & Persia Perrotta and Io Shirai & Zoey Stark to win the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams visit Dexter Lumis and Johnny Gargano’s Haunted House to get the North American Championship back
Joe Gacy def. Malik Blade
Kay Lee Ray Promo: She destroys household objects, and sets herself up for a main event push
Diamond Mine issues an open challenge: Roderick Strong def. Odyssey Jones
Backstage Party Segment ends with Xyon Quinn sending Robert Stone through a table
Mandy Rose def. Raquel Gonzalez in a Trick or Street fight for the NXT Women’s Championship
Solo Sikoa debuts and knocks out Grayson Waller with the help of LA Knight
Imperium def. MSK in a Lumberjack Match for the NXT Tag Team TitlesTommaso Ciampa def. Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship
NXT Highlights From 10/26
Opening Match Delivers the Havoc
The Women’s Tag Team Championship Ladder match was hard to watch at times. There were botches throughout, including small things, like missed kicks, and big things, like a Zoey Stark Phoenix Splash that may have tweaked her leg. Add in the bad landing that shelved Jacy Jayne last week, and all the offense she received also made you jump out of your skin.
That said, this ladder match was messy, but you can’t say it wasn’t a must-watch. Sometimes the best ladder matches feel like a car crash, and for better or worse, this might be the epitome of that. There were spots in here that made you jump, and that realness created a series of unforgettable moments in this opener for the show. Indi and Persia should be the first challengers for the titles after they put in an impressive, strong babyface showing, and I’d like to see Shirai and Stark try their hand at singles competition again. Highlighted by Io Shirai falling all the way from the top of the ladder through another setup on the outside before Toxic Attraction grabbed their first belts of the night, this carnage was a great precedent for the rest of the show.
Raquel Gonzalez and Mandy Rose Give Us a Brutal Masterpiece
I was hoping tonight would feel like an old NXT Takeover show. While it didn’t quite deliver on that lofty hope, this match could have fit on any of those wonderful shows. Raquel Gonzalez and Mandy Rose feel like two established stars here, and there were moments that seemed like either could be the face of the Women’s division moving forward. The streetfight stipulation only added here, and while Gonzalez and Rose usually look sharp in the ring, both proved that they could shine even brighter in the land of hardcore. Gonzalez slamming Rose through a corner table looked to have this one wrapped up, until a returning Dakota Kai cracked the champion with a shovel, allowing Rose to become NXT Women’s champion.
Mandy Rose and Toxic Attraction now hold all the women’s gold, and Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai look set to continue their awesome blood feud. The NXT Women’s division has low-key become one of the best in wrestling, and it should continue that way after this terrific bout.
MSK and Imperium Put On One of the Best Tag Matches This Year
To this point, the tag team division has been a sore spot for NXT 2.0, but for one night that all washed away. Imperium and MSK have been two of the best in-ring teams for the past few years, and tonight it just clicked. The lumberjacks added a fun brawling aspect to the match and most importantly didn’t subtract from the beautiful chemistry of the two teams facing off here. MSK has not had the best of reigns because they haven’t been given much of a feud to sink their teeth into, but the end of their reign showed the spectacle and athleticism they have always displayed.
Since last week, this felt like it could be a special showcase, and my hope is that this is only the beginning of a war between two teams who just showed they can carry a whole show on their backs. Especially since the only concern I have following this match is the lack of an obvious next step for Imperium as champions having won the belts before, unless they stay in this feud with MSK. You may have noticed haven’t described much of the in-ring action here, and that’s because there’s only one compliment that fits this type of match: go watch it.
Bron Breakker Becomes A Star, but Not Champion
Tonight was full of stipulations, but the main event kept things basic. A young gun in Breakker, trying to win the top prize, and the grizzled champ desperate to hold on a little longer in Ciampa. Breakker carried himself between the ropes and with the crowd like he’s been a main eventer for years, let alone weeks. While there was much love for Ciampa, and rightly so, the crowd couldn’t help but bark for the “son of Steiner” by the end of the match.
Featuring a lot of great strength spots, plenty of momentum swings and a great last stretch that saw Breakker eat every piece of offense Ciampa had. Breakker’s breaking point came after he was cut open on the exposed ground and kneed several times by Psycho Killer Ciampa. This outcome felt perfect because it showed that Breakker was tougher than most and Ciampa would do anything to keep Goldie on his waist. It also sets up an eventual rematch that the crowd will be dying for.
If Bron Breakker, is going to be the top dog in NXT 2.0, no need to rush. Besides, Tommaso Ciampa made it clear that whoever comes for his crown will have a mountainous task in front of them. Halloween Havoc couldn’t have asked for a better main event, that felt like a coming-out party for NXT 2.0.
NXT Lowlights From 10/26
Missing the Mark With Several Characters
Joe Gacy has been one of my most intriguing characters to watch on NXT, but this week, the way they treated his character and several others just rubbed me the wrong way. First, host Grayson Waller came out and basically started yelling about how Halloween was great because women wear very tiny clothes. Then, Joe Gacy came out and said we shouldn’t objectify women or others, and… he’s the bad guy? I get it, Joe Gacy’s character is supposed to represent the woke movement and cancel culture, but when it misses, as it did here, it just seems like Gacy is making good points because he didn’t come across as hypocritical like he typically does.
Then, Waller, who’s a great in-ring babyface, continues to just look like a scummy guy who only cares about hitting on women. Could be a good character, but again, why is he the face here then? Add in the character of Harland, who’s too spooky for the supposed “next Lesnar,” along with Cameron Grimes also only caring about hitting on women now (and being bad at it), and you get some major miscues with some of the most promising stars on the Rainbow brand. Overall, this just represented the nonsense on this show, which almost derailed the show at times. Honestly, if this show had just been the title matches, it could’ve been one of the best wrestling shows all year.
NXT 2.0 needs to trim the fat moving forward.
Strong vs. Jones Didn’t Make Any Sense
Odyssey Jones is my favorite new star from NXT 2.0, and the Diamond Mine have been the most consistent performers the past few weeks as well. So, what went wrong here?
First, Odyssey Jones answered the Diamond Mine’s open challenge to face any member, where he called out Cruiserweight champion Roddy Strong. This led Malcolm Bivens, manager of the Diamond Mine, to insult the weight of Jones, saying there’s no way he’s 205 pounds. This joke was fine and seemed like a legit reason for Strong to avoid Jones. But no, Jones yelled back that he was “slimming,” then the match just started without really explaining why the Diamond Mine was okay with this. Not only that, but then after an okay match that didn’t have quite enough time for these two to get going, Jones lost! Yes, you have to protect Strong, but this didn’t make him look too strong because he needed a distraction, and Jones didn’t get enough of a shine in to look that strong in defeat.
This, added in with the fact that it seems very unlikely that this feud continues, and it just reeks of a random match to get these two on the card. It did a lot more harm than good for sure.
NXT Headlines
NXT 2.0’s Halloween Havoc was the rainbow brand and it had major implications for the future of NXT. New Women’s Tag and Women’s Champions were crowned for Mandy Rose’s Toxic Attraction faction, while Imperium regained the NXT Tag Team Titles. The main event saw Tommaso Ciampa retain his NXT Championship, and while everything changes on the rainbow brand, Ciampa remains the face of NXT on the scariest night of the year in WWE.
