Results
- Josh Briggs def. Matt Cardona
- El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. def. Lexis King
- Blake Monroe def. Zaria
- Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs. Shawn Spears & Niko Vance vs. Kale Dixon & Uriah Connors (Triple Threat Tag Match) (No Contest)
- Tatum Paxley def. Karmen Petrovic, Victoria Crawford, Arianna Grace, Lei Ying Lee, Wren Sinclair, Jessie McKay, Mara Sadè, Xia Brookside, Jaida Parker, Lash Legend, Heather By Elegance, Kali Armstrong, Thea Hail, Zaria, Cassie Lee, Kelani Jordan, Jordynne Grace, Kendal Grey & Izzi Dame (NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contenders) (20-Woman Battle Royal)
Ricky Saints calls out Trick Williams for Halloween Havoc
This week’s episode of NXT, pre-taped earlier this month at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, opened with a recap of the special NXT vs. TNA episode from last week. Among the highlights: Team NXT won in the women’s survivor series match, Ethan Page retained his North American title over Mustafa Ali in a stellar singles bout, The Hardys won the NXT tag titles off DarkState, and Trick Williams abandoned the men’s NXT team, causing the group to lose in the main event.
Back to the Performance Center, we got NXT Champion Ricky Saints getting things started with an in-ring promo. We honestly haven’t heard much from him since he earned the title: His post-victory speech a couple of weeks back was interrupted by Jacy Jayne, then he was in action last week.
Saints reflected on his Showdown matchup, where he was left to fend for himself in a four-versus-one bout after all of his teammates got eliminated or, in Trick’s case, simply left. He said that last week’s match showed that Williams folds under pressure: “Origami, he’s going to fold under pressure.”
Sort of awkward here that the main headline around Williams currently is him dropping the TNA World Championship to Mike Santana on Sunday, but that couldn’t be addressed in this promo since it was taped before that matchup happened. So, it was just ignored.
Saints then called his shot, issuing Williams a chance to challenge for his NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc on October 25.
Williams appeared on the titantron and seemingly agreed to the challenge, but had an interesting line about the match happening on his “time.”
“You’re so mad that you want to put the NXT Championship on the line. You want Trick Williams to be a three-time NXT Champion? We’re gonna do this on my time. Let’s talk about it. See you soon, champ.”
Saints responded with a fiery promo to close things out. It looks like we have our main event for Halloween Havoc set. Saints will defend his title for the first time against Williams, who will be looking to rebound after dropping his TNA belt.
Backstage, Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater talked about how frustrated they were that their match at Bound for Glory ended with an attack from DarkState – a booking decision that was critically panned. The Hardys said that they have a rematch against DarkState at Halloween Havoc, and they’ll give the faction a solid beating to defend Evans and Slater. So, there’s another matchup confirmed for the upcoming PLE.
Josh Briggs scores pinfall win over Matt Cardona
In his first in-ring WWE appearance since 2020, Matt Cardona faced off against Josh Briggs. Cardona got quite a huge pop from the Orlando crowd during his entrance.
Cardona went flying early in this match, going over the top rope and to the outside onto Briggs before a commercial break.
Later in the match, Cardona reversed a chokeslam from Briggs into a DDT. He kept the momentum going, beating down Briggs in the corner with a series of punches, allowing him to score the ReBoot. Cardona hit an UnprettyHer, Chelsea Green’s finisher, but it wasn’t enough to put away Briggs.
Cardona looked for a second ReBoot, but Briggs rolled out of the ring. Cardona followed him with a baseball slide through the ropes. Briggs caught Cardona coming through the ropes, throwing him over the top and back into the ring with a backbreaker. Briggs connected with a huge chokeslam, but Cardona kicked out.
Briggs took a chain off his neck and looked to use it as a weapon, but the referee took it away. This slight distraction allowed Cardona to score his Radio Silence finisher. But, somehow, Briggs kicked out.
Cardona tried for another Radio Silence, this time off the middle rope, but Briggs countered into a powerbomb. After a series of reversals, including a failed UnPrettyher from Cardona, Briggs floored him, coming running off the ropes with a big boot. This was enough to give Briggs the clean pinfall win. This was a fine match, but honestly made Cardona look awful: He hit all of his moves on Briggs, then just got taken out with a simple big boot. Thanks for coming.
Backstage, Lyra Valkyria was seen asking about Tatum Paxley’s whereabouts. Izzi Dame said that The Culling’s Shawn Spears and Niko Vance were the only duo ready to dethrone NXT’s tag champs. Hank & Tank as well as Chase U both disagreed with this. The teams agreed that the best way to determine who was the best was a three-way tag bout (this happens later in the episode).
Dame noted that she’ll win tonight’s #1 contender’s battle royal. Valkyria asked why it couldn’t be Paxley who wins instead of Dame.
El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. wins NXT debut, books title match against Ethan Page
In a pre-taped video, it was confirmed that Lainey Reid has joined Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley as part of Fatal Influence. Reid had spent the recent weeks trying to win the approval of Jayne, attacking Lola Vice at No Mercy and taking out Jazmyn Nyx backstage.
Lainey Reid is officially in Fatal Influence. #WWENXT
pic.twitter.com/zaqwZYifYS— ?????? (@WrestlingCovers) October 15, 2025
The second match of the night saw AAA Latin American Champion El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. take on Lexis King. Dr. Wagner Jr.’s main focus is on an eventual match for the North American Championship against Ethan Page, but he accepted a fight with King after being challenged by him last week.
Dr. Wagner Jr. came off the turnbuckles and to the outside with a moonsault before the match went to a break. King had control as the show returned, dumping Dr. Wagner Jr. to the outside for a nasty fall at one point.
Dr. Wagner Jr. rallied back late in the match, getting a near fall after a knee strike in the corner, then a powerbomb. King fought back with a thrust kick and a dragonscrew, attacking a knee that Dr. Wagner Jr. had been selling throughout the bout.
King came up empty on a Swanton Bomb. This allowed Dr. Wagner Jr. to hit a Shining Wizard then a Michinoku Driver for the clean pinfall win. A simple but effective showcase for Dr. Wagner Jr. to help introduce him to WWE fans before he faces Page.
Speaking of that: Dr. Wagner Jr. called out Page in a post-match promo. The NXT North American Champion appeared on stage, and announced that a match has been booked for Halloween Havoc.
In just a few weeks, Page will put his North American Championship on the line against Dr. Wagner Jr. The Mexican star also had a reveal: He also spoke to Ava, and not only will the title be on the line, it’ll happen during a “Day of the Dead” match, where “Anything goes.”
Backstage, Sol Ruca told Zaria that she’ll be in the 20-woman battle royal tonight. Zaria said that she expected Ruca to be in her corner tonight, then, frustrated, walked to the ring and said she won’t have anyone behind her when she fights tonight.
Backstage, Stacks and Arianna Grace confronted Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans. TNA General Manager Santino Marella asked Ava if his future son-in-law, Stacks, could get a shot against Slater, which Ava agreed to. Looks like we’ll be getting that soon.
The conversation was interrupted by a comically loud noise, which was revealed to be Trick Williams attacking Ricky Saints. Williams told Saints that he’ll see him at Halloween Havoc before leaving the scene.
Sol Ruca costs Zaria against Blake Monroe
Zaria went one-on-one with Blake Monroe in the next singles match of the night.
Monroe struggled in the early minutes of this match, causing her to bring out a steel chair. She started to wind up for using the chair but was stopped by Sol Ruca, who ran down the ramp and got onto the ring apron to prevent this attack.
Unfortunately, Ruca’s attempt to protect Zaria caused her to lose the match. As the referee was fighting with Monroe near the ring apron, Monroe struck Zaria in the head with a hair pick, allowing her to score the Beauty Shot for the pinfall win.
NXT General Manager Ava announced that a men’s WWE Speed tournament will begin on next week’s show. A four-man bracket has been booked to find who will take on current champ El Grande Americano (in a testament to how long the men’s Speed title has gone unused, the title actually hasn’t been defended since Chad Gable suffered an injury).
The four-man bracket will feature: Smackdown’s Axiom, EVOLVE’s Sean Legacy, TNA’s Zachary Wentz, and NXT’s Jasper Troy. Notably, AAA was represented in the women’s tournament recently, but has been swapped out for EVOLVE this time. It wasn’t specified when the title match will happen.
OTM makes surprise return in co-main event
The co-main event saw three tag duos face off, each looking to make a statement and possibly become next in line for the division’s titles after the upcoming bout between The Hardys and DarkState. The teams in action: Chase U’s Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors, Hank & Tank, as well as The Culling’s Shawn Spears and Niko Vance.
This match barely got started before the OTM duo of Lucien Price and Bronco Nima attacked those involved. The Out The Mud duo hadn’t been seen on NXT TV since May (although they worked a Main Event bout last month against the War Raiders), so this was a long-awaited return.
Backstage, Sol Ruca and Zaria seemingly made up. To show her grief, Ruca gave up her battle royal spot tonight, giving it to Zaria instead.
Here’s what was announced for next week’s NXT:
- Ricky Saints & Trick Williams contract signing for Halloween Havoc
- Leon Slater vs. Stacks (TNA X-Division Championship)
- Hank & Tank vs. OTM
- Axiom vs. Sean Legacy (WWE Speed Semi-Final)
- Jasper Troy vs. Zachary Wentz (WWE Speed Semi-Final)
The broadcast did a quick rundown of what Halloween Havoc looks like thus far:
- Ricky Saints vs. Trick Williams (NXT Championship)
- Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy vs. Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin (NXT Tag Team Championships)
- Ethan Page vs. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. (NXT North American Championship) (Day of the Dead Match)
- Jacy Jayne vs. Winner of tonight’s main event (NXT Women’s Championship)
Tatum Paxley wins battle royal, secures title shot against Jacy Jayne
Before the main event, a cameraman found The Hardys down and out after getting attacked by DarkState.
Jacy Jayne’s Halloween Havoc opponent was determined in the main event of the night, as a 20-woman battle royal for the #1 contender’s spot was next. It was teased last week that members of the TNA roster would be part of this match. We saw the newly formed tag duo “The Angel Warriors,” Xia Brookside & Lei Ying Lee, Victoria Crawford, Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee of The IInspiration, and Mara Sadè among those in the mix.
Early eliminations included: Karmen Petrovic, Victoria Crawford, Arianna Grace, Lei Ying Lee, Wren Sinclair, and Jessie McKay.
There was a neat callback to the Meta Four days of Mara Sadè and Lash Legend, as Legend briefly saved Sadè from being eliminated, holding onto her on the ring apron. This was short-lived, though, as a dropkick from Zaria sent Sadè crashing to the outside.
Xia Brookside got taken out. Jaida Parker was eliminated by rival Legend, who took her off the ring apron with a big boot. An irate Parker took out some anger by attacking Brookside. All the women in the ring teamed up to throw out Legend just before the match went to a break.
It was noted that Heather By Elegance from TNA was eliminated by Izzi Dame during commercials. She kept the momentum going with two more eliminations right after: She capitalized on Thea Hail and Kali Armstrong battling it out near the ropes, knocking them both off the ring apron for a double elimination.
Blake Monroe charged down to the ring and attacked Sol Ruca at ringside. This caused Zaria to rush to the aid of Ruca, jumping over the top rope and eliminating herself in the process.
Lola Vice, who was aiming for another chance at the women’s title by winning this match, was tossed out by Cassie Lee, who outlived her IInspiration tag partner by a few minutes. Kendal Grey dodged a kick from Lee and then tossed her over the top and to the outside for an elimination.
TNA Knockouts World Champion Kelani Jordan had the most impressive athletic feat of the match, doing a handstand on the outside to avoid elimination. However, once she reached the ring apron, she was brutally stomped to the floor by Jordynne Grace, getting her out of the bout.
We were down to four at this point: Jordynne Grace, Kendal Grey, Tatum Paxley, and Izzi Dame.
Grey, the true underdog of the match, had a significant spotlight here, hitting a move on all three women during a sequence. However, she was the least plausible winner of the four here, and thus was the next one to get eliminated, being tossed to the outside by Dame.
Paxley held Grace near the ropes with a chokehold, luring Dame over for a clothesline to help eliminate her. But this sequence knocked both Dame and Grace over the top and out of the ring, giving Paxley the win. Despite being treated as the second fiddle of the two women in The Culling by Dame, Paxley is the one who will be challenging for the world title in a little over a week.
Lyra Valkyria, who The Culling had kept sequestered from Paxley in recent weeks, hit the ring to celebrate her afterward. An angry Dame watched on as the show went off air.
