NXT Halloween Havoc Review – 10.25.25

Let’s take a peek at the week in WWE/Impact: Raw | NXT | Evolve | Impact | Smackdown

NXT’s now-annual Halloween Havoc takes place at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, AZ. The television presenters for the show are Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome on ring announcements, and Sarah Schreiber on breaking news and backstage segments.

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

Arrivals: Trick Williams and Ricky Saints prior to their men’s title match. Sol Ruca hangs with Zaria while Blake Monroe is tended to by some underlings. Fatal Influence and The Culling escort Jacy Jayne and Tatum Paxley ahead of their clash for the women’s title.

Je’von Evans and TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater vs Mr Iguana (w/ La Yesca) and La Parka

Evans and Slater vibe pretty hard with Mr Iguana’s entrance music as I’m guessing this is going to be a party-type match. Evans and La Parka start and end up in a striking battle mid-ring. Evans snaps off a slingshot rana and La Parka responds with one of his own. They both nip up and decide to tag in their partners. Slater misses an enziguri but manages to catch Iguana with the subsequent back kick. There’s some acrobatics and it ends with Iguana posing playfully mid-ring. Slater catches an Iguana cross-body and he tags Evans before smashing Iguana with a back elbow.

Slater and Evans hit some double-team stuff but waste some time vibing with each other again. La Parka gets the tag and wipes out Slater with a clothesline and then dumping Evans over the top rope. Iguana tosses La Yesca down and Slater and Evans play hot potato with him. Iguana waffles both guys with a tope suicida and La Parka hits a ropewalk moonsault on all three. La Parka rolls Evans in and covers for two. La Parka presses Evans and then smashes him with a gutbuster before covering for two.

Iguana tags in as La Parka wipes out Slater from the apron. Iguana ties Evans up and then sits on him. La Parka tags in and hits a dropkick right to Evans’ butt before covering for two. Evans and La Parka slug it out and Evans snaps off a German. La Parka catches Evans before he can tag and hits a German of his own. Slater and Iguana get the tags and Slater runs wild on Iguana with a rolling neckbreaker that gets two. Evans tags in and after some double-team work on Iguana Evans rips off a flying roundhouse. Evans cover gets two.

Evans hits a suplex and taunts La Parka. Iguana rolls Evans into an armbar but Evans powers up and out. La Parka tags in and he runs wild for a bit before hitting a Sidewalk Slam on Slater. La Parka’s cover gets two. Slater fires up with some chops so La Parka removes his glove to join the chop battle. Evans tags in and waffles La Parka with a right sending him into Iguana. They decide to have a chop battle and my patience for this is quickly running thin. Iguana asks Evans and Slater to cover their eyes so of course they do. This leads to La Yesca coming in and hitting Slater and Evans with his….body. Slater wastes no time in sending Iguana to his corner where La Parka tags in. Slater hits a huge leg lariat on La Parka but Iguana breaks the cover up at two.

Slater dumps Iguana and La Parka to the floor and then flies over the top rope to waffle both with a tope con hilo. Slater hits a cross-body on La Parka and tags in Evans. Evans hits his frog splash and La Parka kicks out at two. Slater tags in and he and Evans botch a double team neckbreaker on Iguana. There’s more La Yesca shenanigans that lead to La Parka hitting a sheer drop twisting brainbuster on Evans that gets two. La Parka hits a backdrop suplex on Evans. Iguana wipes out Slater before he and Evans miss attempted springboard cutters. Slater hits a cutter on La Parka and then hits a 450 splash on Iguana. Slater covers and gets three.

Too long. Just WAY too long. I appreciate Iguana’s act a bunch but twenty minutes is just not my thing anymore. Get in, get your shit done, and move along. Iguana botched a few things and probably had some nerves. Slater and Evans did all their bouncy stuff, for the most part, and I guess this ersatz partnership can continue. Still though, this was a test of my will to not just stop recapping it and talk about the finish. 2.75*

Winners – Leon Slater and Je’von Evans (Slater 450 splash on Iguana)

Here’s Sol Ruca and Zaria walking the hallways as Zaria tells Ruca that it’s good news that medical at least cleared Ruca to be at ringside. Ruca says it’s a lot to process and Zaria assures her that she’ll still be North American champ by the end of the night. Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley slide into the scene and Dame tells Zaria she’s not so sure about her chances but she is sure that Paxley is going to beat Jacy Jayne. Insults fly and Dame and Paxley leave.

Day of the Dead Match for the NXT Men’s North American Championship: Ethan Page (C) vs AAA Latin American Champion El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr

Booker complains that this match is not title-for-title because Page would surely walk out with both of them. Page has half of his face painted in a Canadian day of the dead theme and I wonder if Darby Allin is mad about it somewhere. Wagner bullies Page to a corner and starts throwing bombs, so Page goes to the eyes to break it up. Wagner dumps Page to the apron and then superkicks him to the floor. Wagner snaps off a rana and then goes for plunder. Wagner smashes Page with a chair and then rolls him onto the announce desk to pound away. Wagner ascends and smashes a dazed Page with a dropkick before covering and getting two.

Wagner hits a discus punch and a big kneelift. Wagner sets a chair up on a prone Page’s…rump…and dropkicks it. Wagner goes for a trashcan and lid and immediately smashes Page in the back with the can. Page tries an elbow and Wagner just smashes him with the can again. Page fires up and slams Wagner from the top rope onto the can. Page uses the trashcan lid in a Codebreaker before covering Wagner and getting two. A fired up Page whales away on Wagner with the trash can lid. Wagner fires up but Page cuts off the flurry with a chairshot to the gut. Page mounts the chair and rams Wagner’s head into it.

They start slugging it out on the floor and Page ends up using a skeleton bone to choke Wagner out. Page rams Wagner into the ring steps so Wagner responds in kind. Wagner drags out a table and Page ends up dropping him throat-first on the leg brace. Page runs Wagner’s hip into the ring steps and then smashes him with a chair. Page is busted open as he sets up chairs in opposite corners. Page smashes Wagner with another chair and then runs him into both mounted chairs. Page snatches up Wagner and hits him with a Sidewalk Slam on yet another chair. Page covers and gets two.

Page starts trying to take Wagner’s mask and he ends up ripping it in half so that Wagner’s eyes and forehead are exposed. An enraged Wagner gets to his feet and starts smashing Page around the ring. Wagner hits a top rope Codebreaker but his cover only gets two. Wagner snaps off an enziguri before grabbing another trash can. Wagner mounts the trash can against Page and then goes coast to coast with a dropkick. Wagner’s cover gets two. Page again goes for the mask and in the confusion he’s able to run Wagner head-first into a mounted chair. Page smashes Wagner with the Ego’s Edge through a trashcan and covers for two.

Page sets up another chair and Wagner fights his way out of whatever Page had planned. Wagner hits a rana that sends Page onto the chair and Wagner’s cover gets two. Wagner hits a moonsault and covers for two. Wagner finally sets up the table to the crowd’s delight. Wagner and Page slug it out before Wagner gets crotched on the top turnbuckle. Page uses Wagner’s torn mask to blind him a bit and then Page throws powder in his face after Wagner makes some re-adjustments. Page hits the Twisted Grin through the table and his cover gets three.

For a plunder match, I didn’t hate it as much as I usually do. Wagner is a hell of a worker, quite frankly. Page can take some punishment, too, because they did not hold back with the chair stuff. The crowd was into it and it had a finish I can live with. Maybe a bit too long but I have the feeling that’s going to be a regular complaint from me on this show. 3*

Winner AND STILL NXT Men’s North American Champion – Ethan Page (Twisted Grin through a table)

Here’s TNA Knockouts Champion Kelani Jordan (dressed as the Queen of Hearts) and Jordynne Grace (dressed as Velma from Scooby Doo) to discuss Jordan’s title. Grace chastises Jordan for being fake and Jordan calls out Grace for crawling back for the title after leaving TNA. Grace slaps Jordan and Jordan storms off after telling Grace she’ll regret it.

There’s a two week television special coming up called NXT: Gold Rush on November 18th and 25th that will have title matches from AAA, Evolve, TNA and NXT. Well, that sounds kind of fun.

NXT Women’s North American Championship: Zaria (defending for champion Sol Ruca) vs Blake Monroe

Monroe is wearing a bridal veil for her costume theme while Zaria has kind of a Road Warrior type look. Ruca accompanies Zaria to ringside. Monroe jumps Zaria at the bell but Zaria’s power lets her fight back. Zaria hits a pump kick and gets a quick two. Monroe climbs on Zaria’s back but it’s to no avail as Zaria snaps her over to the mat. Zaria whips Monroe to a corner. Monroe fires up and snaps Zaria’s arm off the second rope as she drops to the floor. Monroe hits a Codebreaker on Zaria’s arm and then starts hammering it on the mat. Monroe bullies Zaria along the ropes and continues working the arm. Monroe yanks an armbar while draped over the top rope. Monroe hits a dropkick on Zaria’s shoulder and covers for two.

Monroe pulls Zaria into a modified Fujiwara armbar. Zaria fires up with a backdrop and a clothesline. Zaria hits a pump kick and a belly-to-back suplex. Zaria hits an overhead throw suplex and covers Monroe for two. Zaria hoists Monroe over her shoulders but Monroe counters into an armbar. Zaria powers up and hits a sitout powerbomb on Monroe. They start slugging it out and a double headbutt sends both to the floor. Zaria misses a charge and runs her shoulder right into the ring steps. Ruca runs Zaria into the ring post which apparently pops her shoulder back into place. Zaria runs wild on Monroe but Monroe reverses an F5 attempt into another Fujiwara. Zaria rolls Monroe over and gets a quick two. Monroe springs up and waffles Zaria with a knee to the jaw. Monroe’s cover gets two.

Monroe has her hair pick that she used to beat Zaria two weeks ago. Zaria hits a spear and gets two. They bail to the floor and Monroe kicks the crutch out from under Ruca. Zaria checks on Ruca so of course Monroe comes by to hit a Glamour Shot DDT on Zaria. Monroe pulls Zaria into the ring and hits another Glamour Shot before covering and getting three.

Hey, look at that, a nice evenly paced hard hitting affair that went about ten or so minutes. How happy am I right now? VERY. I still think Blake Monroe is an average talent overall but Zaria is definitely a work in progress at this point. I like this as a storyline progression for her and Ruca so we’ll see where that goes. NXT is getting a little heel-heavy with champions right now, though, so let’s see what the rest of the show has in store. 3*

Winner AND NEW NXT Women’s North American Champion – Blake Monroe (Glamour Shot DDT x 2)

Post-match sees a despondent Ruca consoling Zaria while Monroe celebrates with the title belt.

Here’s Wren Sinclair describing Kendal Grey helping her out on Tuesday night to Karmen Petrovic and Grey. Charles Dempsey is on the phone with Sinclair and she bails on the call as Lash Legend strolls in to berate Grey. Legend challenges Grey for the Evolve title and promises to take it from her.

NXT Women’s Championship: Jacy Jayne (C) vs Tatum Paxley

The Culling are in all white tonight, while Fatal have a black and purple theme going. This is the first singles meeting ever between Jayne and Paxley. Mike Rome handles the in-ring announcements and we’re off. Jayne works an armlock and snaps Paxley back down when she tries to nip up out of it. Jayne hits a senton and chirps at the crowd before bullying Paxley and calling her a “loser”. Paxley fires up and trucks Jayne before barking right back at her. There’s an exchange of roll ups that both get two. Jayne hits an armdrag and a rana that sends Paxley reeling into a corner. Jayne misses a charge so Paxley waffles her with a cross-body splash in the corner. Paxley drops a big elbow and gets a two count.

Paxley hoists Jayne into a Gory special that ends up as a backslide that gets two. Jayne kicks Paxley off of her but eats an immediate retaliatory dropkick from Paxley. Jayne misses another charge and Paxley wallops her with an enziguri from the floor. Jayne catches Paxley’s baseball slide attempt and puts her inside the ring apron. Paxley escapes under the ring and then smacks an unsuspecting Henley with a kick. Jayne catches Paxley and smashes her face first into the ring structure. (Listen, fuck that spot right there a whole bunch. I would like to have many words with whomever signed off on that.) Jayne hits a reverse bulldog and covers Paxley for two. That spot has taken the crowd right out of this and rightfully so. Jayne pounds away on Paxley in a corner and then distracts the ref so Lainey Reid can choke Paxley a bit.

Jayne hits a cannonball and covers Paxley for two. Jayne hits a running elbow and covers again for two. Jayne hooks in some leg scissors but Paxley fires up and fights out of it. Jayne cuts it off and waffles Paxley with a clothesline. The subsequent cover gets two. Jayne drops a bunch of elbows and goes to a bridging rear chinlock. The crowd finally is back into it and start chanting about how much Fatal sucks. Paxley hits a belly-to-back suplex and then a series of strikes that culminate in an enziguri. Paxley hits a modified fisherman’s suplex and ascends. Jayne fires up and whales Paxley with an enziguri of her own. Jayne hits a top rope avalanche neckbreaker and covers Paxley for two as Shawn Spears carefully places Paxley’s boot on the bottom rope.

Lainey Reid ascends and hits Spears and Vance with a crossbody, so Izzi Dame wipes her out with a big kick. Fallon Henley charges down the apron and smacks Dame with her swinging kick thing. The ref ejects everyone on the floor and Booker is apoplectic. Paxley sneaks in and rolls up Jayne for two, but Jayne springs up immediately and crushes Paxley with a knee to the jaw. Jayne’s cover gets two. Jayne pounds away but Paxley fights her way out of it. Paxley gets rolled up by Jayne for two after a Cemetary Drive attempt. Jayne misses a cannoball attempt and Paxley waffles her with the ROLLING ENCORE before ascending. Paxley hits a 450 splash and covers for two as the crowd is losing their minds.

Jayne hits some backfists and a big knee lift. Paxley catches Jayne and drops her face first onto the apron. Jayne gets caught in a roll up as Paxley covers for two. They slug it out and hit simultaneous dropkicks and both are down. Spears and Vance charge back out and they’re met by Henley and Reid in the aisle. Izzi Dame sneaks into the ring with the title belt and goes to hit Jayne with it. Jayne hits the Rolling Encore on Dame but Paxley catches her in the Cemetary Drive. Paxley’s cover gets three!

This was just incredible even with the screwy finish. Just loved it from start to finish. Jacy Jayne is SO good and is just a terrific heel. She had a solid run as champ, too. Paxley is wildly beloved by the crowd despite being in an overtly heel group. I think this will really be a cool thing for Paxley and it opens up a bunch of new possible stories. Excellent match. 4.5*

Winner AND NEW NXT Women’s Champion – Tatum Paxley (Cemetary Drive)

Here’s Myles Borne complaining to NXT GM Ava about Josh Briggs, and he wants a match. Tavion Heights charges in and wants a match as well and points out that Borne has already had a match with Briggs. Borne points out that without him, Heights would still be in the NQCC. Ava decides the best course is a match between Heights and Borne.

We are in Iron Survivor season! Deadline will be December 6th in San Antonio.

Broken Rules for the NXT Men’s Tag Team Championships: The Hardy Boyz (C) vs Darkstate (Dion Lennox and Osiris Griffin)

Broken Rules include making the match a tornado match, and there predictably are a bunch of ladders at ringside. Broken Matt is starting to look like Ronnie James Dio at this point. This is going to be hard to recap, I’m not going to lie. Jeff hits Griffin with a big flying clothesline and then they drop him with a DDT. Matt covers for two. Jeff hits a splash on Lennox and covers him for two. Saquon Shugars and Cutler James charge in because this match is “anything goes” apparently and it becomes a four on two. Shugars sets up a table at ringside, but the Hardys get chairs and start waylaying everyone. Jeff smacks Griffin with three chairshots and then back drops him over the top rope.

Matt hits a Twist of Fate on Griffin that includes a chair and his cover is broken up by Cutler James. James and Matt slug it out on the floor and Shugars joins in to pound away. Jeff flies in with a chair to break that up. Matt starts using a ladder as a battering ram and then smacks Shugars and James over the barricade. It’s all broken tables and chairshots on the floor before Jeff grabs a couple of painted tables. Matt puts James on one table and Jeff mounts Shugars on the other. Matt climbs a ladder and hits a legdrop on James while Jeff climbs and hits a swanton on Shugars. Lennox and Griffin are revived and they start pounding away on Matt and Jeff.

Now we get kendo sticks and trashcan lids which are immediately put to use by Lennox and Griffin. Griffin smashes Jeff onto a trashcan and then pounds away on Matt. Lennox snatches Matt up and slams him on a mounted ladder. Griffin and Lennox hit a 3D and Matt kicks out at two. Jeff flies in with two kendo sticks and goes to work on Griffin and Lennox. Lennox trucks Matt and Jeff with clotheslines and then tosses Matt into the timekeeper’s area. Lennox flies over the barrier and smashes Matt with a splash. Griffin charges and smashes Jeff through the timekeeper’s barrier. Matt fires up with a Twist of Fate on Griffin and Jeff follows with a swanton. Jeff’s cover gets two. Matt hits a Plot Twist on Lennox and covers for two.

Jeff grabs an enormous ladder as Matt sets up two tables next to it. They mount Griffin on the far one and Jeff ascends. Jeff comes off the top of the ladder and misses his swanton through two tables as Griffin flies off. (Jeff, friend, I urge you TO STOP DOING THAT.) Lennox hits a spinebuster on Matt and covers for two. Lennox sets up a table and puts Matt on it. Lennox ascends but Matt fires up. Griffin charges in and Matt fights both of them off. Griffin starts bullying Matt and then drapes him in the Tree of Woe. A revived Jeff fires up but his flurry is cut off. Griffin mounts Jeff on his shoulders and Lennox comes off the giant ladder with a Doomsday Device through the table. Griffin covers and gets three!

So many plunder matches tonight and I’m over it. I give Matt and Jeff credit, they’re pros and they apparently have bodies that can still hold up after things like this. Darkstate are what they are at this point and I’m not surprised they moved the titles back to them as they have ready-made stuff both in NXT and TNA. I don’t have to like it, though. 2.5*

Winners AND NEW NXT Men’s Tag Team Champions – Darkstate (Doomsday Device through a table on Jeff)

Leon Slater and Je’von Evans mourn the Hardys loss and chat about “goofy ass Darkstate”. Evans reminds Slater about Darkstate ruining their match at Bound for Glory and says they should go after the tag titles. Slater says he has X Division responsibilities but he’s on that tag title quest as soon as he can get back to it.

Joseph runs down Tuesday night’s NXT card. Looks to be a good show. El Grande Americano offers some words about the Speed tournament finals.

NXT Men’s Championship: Ricky Saints (C) vs Trick Williams

Mike Rome does in-ring intros and we’re off. Trick pounds away to start and dumps Saints to the floor. Saints scampers back in as Trick promises to put Saints through the announce desk. Saints eats a huge Trick dropkick and then gets dumped back out again. Saints scampers back in again before Trick can do any floor damage. Williams heads back in and slams Saints down before barking at him some more. Trick once again dumps Saints to the floor but this time he’s successful in smashing Saints head into the announce desk. Saints disappears under the ring as Trick clears off the desk. Saints ends up in the ring posing as Trick is frustrated after looking for him.

Saints fires up with some ground and pound and chops in a corner. Trick taunts Saints after he misses some strikes so Saints calmly chops him in the chest. Saints skins the cat back in after a strike exchange and sends Trick to the floor. Saints showboats a bit to Booker’s chagrin and then runs directly into a Trick lariat. Trick starts pounding away and drives Saints back into the ring for his leg lariat. Trick’s cover gets two.

Trick hits a flapjack and covers Saints for two. Trick locks on a guillotine and we see that Saints is busted open over his eye. Saints bullies his way out and mounts Trick on a top turnbuckle. Trick fights Saints off and hits a blockbuster before covering Saints for two. Trick hits back suplexes but Saints blocks a third one and snaps Trick over with one of his own. Trick hits a back roundhouse followed by a neckbreaker and covers Saints for two. Trick goes back to the guillotine but Saints fights out of it and drops Trick with an Angle Slam.

Saints hits a running elbow and then does his weird rope walk before catching Trick with a side Russian leg sweep. Trick bounces up but Saints catches him with an atomic drop and a clothesline. Saints hits a drop neckbreaker and covers Trick for two. Trick escapes a Saints moonsault attempt and puts Saints in a Boston Crab. Trick stomps away and hits a couple of uranages before covering Saints for two. Saints hits an inside cradle and gets a quick two.

Trick hits an Attitude Adjustment and covers Saints for two. Trick misses another neckbreaker attempt and Saints rolls him up for two. Saints rolls over and puts Trick in a crossface. Trick crawls and makes the ropes to break the hold. Trick bails to the floor and grabs the title belt. Saints sees this and dropkicks Trick through the ropes as the belt smacks Trick in the face. Trick shakes it off and ends up finally putting Saints through the announce desk as previously promised. Trick runs Saints in and hits the Trick Shot but Saints kicks out at two to the utter shock of…everyone.

Saints hits a weird springboard clothesline off the ropes and both he and Trick are down. They rise and Saints starts pounding away with forearms. Trick hits a capoeira kick and then rolls a staggering Saints up for two. Saints gets out of being hoisted after a pump kick by dropping Trick in to a jawbreaker. Saints hits a spear and then hits a top rope assisted tornado DDT. Saints covers and gets three!

Man, Trick put an absolute whooping on Saints tonight and still couldn’t get it done. Saints is all busted up after the match which is reasonable because Trick kicked his ass for about 80% of it. If you’re going to fight from underneath like Saints is clearly being positioned to do, you have to be able to take that kind of pounding. I liked it but I didn’t love it, I guess is the best way to put it. 3.5*

Winner AND STILL NXT Men’s Champion – Ricky Saints (Top rope assisted tornado DDT)

Sarah Schreiber catches up with a jubilant Tatum Paxley and the Culling. Paxley hugs Schrieber and promises that Tuesday night will be even crazier. The credits roll and we’re out.

Well gang, it was a mixed bag as usual with the NXT PLE level events. I’m not a fan of plunder matches and we had more than enough of that on this show. Three title changes was kind of an unexpected development but other than Darkstate being obvious, at least there was some suspense and intrigue around the Ruca-Zaria-Monroe thing and the Jayne-Paxley contest. I have mixed feelings on this show but the bright parts really stood out for me and the main event delivered pretty well overall. Thumbs slightly up but can we move on from plunder for awhile? Oh right, it’s War Games season. Never mind.

Have a good Sunday, and thanks for reading and commenting. Please make sure to check out our other recappers when you can as everyone is really going hard for the site. Y’all be cool.