The NXT 2.0 Rewind: 11.02.21 – Solo’s First Match and the Return of Dakota

Previously on the NXT 2.0 Rewind: Halloween Havoc!

We start our show with the golden arrival of our new NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose. Wade Barrett compares the dominance of Toxic Attraction to that of the Bloodline on SmackDown. Back in 2021, we were in chapter one of the Bloodline. Our commentary team is Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix and we have the great Alicia Taylor on the ring mic.

The fans chant for Mandy and give her a “you deserve it” / “no you don’t” chant. She says she told us it would happen and she is a woman of her word. “Most importantly, I’m still the baddest bitch in this whole goddamn company.” There’s a guy in the front row in an “All Elite Bay Bay” shirt, something I’m surprised got through the controlled atmosphere of the Capitol Wrestling Center. Probably didn’t happen again.

We cut backstage to see NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne standing over an injured Zoey Stark. Mandy: “Poor Zoey.” Mandy says there isn’t one woman in NXT who can stop them, which brings us out Io Shirai. “I saw what you guys did. I don’t like Zoey but I like you even less, so I want the leader of Toxic Attraction.” Mandy tells Io that she’s in her world now and attacks Io, tossing her to the announce table. Mandy tells her that this is NXT 2.0 and Io will never look like her. Shirai attacks and lays out Mandy with the Bullet Train. She goes for the Over the Moonsault, Dolin and Jayne come in for the mugging. Kayden Carter and Kacy Catcanzaro fly in for the save, evening the numbers and standing tall. Mandy is fantastic as the bitchy heel character.

The Toxics walk backstage and come across Dakota Kai. Dakota says she didn’t do things to help Mandy, she did it to end Raquel.

Duke’s Poker Room. Cameron Grimes joins Duke Hudson and some other Performance Center faces. “Comedy” ensues and we’ll tap back into this later.

Dakota Kai vs Cora Jade

Since this is our first match for Dakota in these Rewinds, let me introduce her a bit though there is a good chance you know her. Dakota was a big name on the indie scene as Evie for a few years including big roles in Stardom and Shimmer. She made her first NXT appearance in 2015 as Evie in a squash loss to Nia Jax before signing with the company in 2016. She competed in the 2017 Mae Young Classic, defeating Kavita Devi and Rhea Ripley before falling to Kairi Sane in the third round. She worked NXT and NXT UK for a while, but her big moment came when she replaced the injured Mia Yim in the 2019 WarGames match and slammed Tegan Nox, her partner, into the cage. She formed an alliance with Raquel Gonzalez that eventually shattered, ending with Kai losing a title shot to her at TakeOver shortly before 2.0 started up. And here we are.

Sk8tr Grl Cora is 2-0 on NXT 2.0, both fluke victories over Franky Monet and Elektra Lopez. The fans chant “Kota’s gonna kill you” as Kai and her new attitude sling Cora around the ring. Jade gets one reversal in during the onslaught, but Dakota hits a Scorpion Kick and the big running kick in the corner for the easy pin.

Dakota Kai pins Cora Jade. Cora looked a little rough here but Dakota and the edge is fun.

Post-match, Dakota drags Cora around outside by her hair and pulls out the always popular table. She puts it on top of Cora and heads onto the apron, listening to the voices in her head and deciding not to jump. She grabs Cora’s skateboard instead and places it on Cora’s stomach before backing down the aisle.

Here’s a look at Xyon driving Stone through a table at the Halloween party last week. Via video filmed on what had to have been a potato, Mr. Stone challenges Xyon through Twitter.

MSK are hanging out at a bus stop, mad about their tag team title loss. Wes wonders if they are paying a lot for advice from a mystery person but Wentz says it is worth it because he is the man who invented MSK. He tries to tell the story of what MSK stands for but a bus rolls by, so we don’t hear it. Turns out it was their bus and now they have to walk, but at least they have a fanny pack full of supplies for the walk. Weed. It is full of weed. They’re potheads.

Xyon Quinn vs Robert Stone

Stone tells Quinn that he knows he is jealous of Robert Stone so he’s going to out sing him and then “stomp ya while I’m wearing my romper.” Stone does indeed give us a performance which is bad, probably on purpose. And now he’s running the brand. The music of Shawn Michaels plays and Xyon does his own performance as he tries to strip, Stone running right into his arm and slapping him. The party is over and we finally ring a bell. Quinn smashes Stone in the corner and jackhammers him for the easy three.

Xyon Quinn pins Robert Stone. Well, this happened. I’m not sure what inspired the karaoke party, but I kind of enjoyed Quinn’s HBK turn.

Joe Gacy tells us that the world is a cesspool filled with closed minded individuals. Social media is full of nothing but negative energy. He’s heard people call his friend Harland a monster but they’re alienating him without giving him a chance. “We will change the world together.” I can hardly wait.

Legado comes across Xyon on their way to the entrance. Elektra Lopez is very impressed by the side of him she just saw.

Legado de Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza with Elektra Lopez) vs Kyle O’ Reilly & Von Wagner

The Von Wagner experiment continues. The Legado guys here are now most regularly seen on Main Event, often facing off with names from NXT. Very decent tag team match here that focuses on the story of Wagner and O’Reilly becoming a cohesive unit. They did go camping last week, after all. O’Reilly tosses Mendoza out and tags in the big man, but we have some confusion between our buddies that end with O’Reilly being kicked and Mendoza rolling Wagner up for the pin. Well, they looked like doofs with that.

Legado de Fantasma defeat O’Reilly & Wagner. A good tag match with a goofy ending. Boy, I hope their friendship can continue to exist.

McKenzie Mitchell is with NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams. Carmelo promises no Scooby Doo chase like last week. Andre Chase appears and promises to have their back. Andre freaks out because social media is calling him a coward and says he’s going to the ring right now to give somebody an Andre Chase University ass kicking.

Back to the poker game where Grimes continues to have luck despite not knowing what he is doing. Nikkita Lyons joins the game and Duke tells Grimes he has no luck with her or winning the game.

We come back to Andre Chase in the ring as the student section has expanded, including a student waving a Chase U flag. He slings the first microphone that doesn’t work and “what we have right now is a teachable moment.” Tonight, we’re going to learn that Andre Chase fears nothing and “the only thing to fear around here is Andre Chase, so if there is anybody in the back that wants a PhD in getting their ass kicked, come on down to this ring right now and get your degree.”

Bron Breakker vs Andre Chase

Andre gives us the “I didn’t mean HIM” look as the sirens hit. Andre tries to attack when the bell rings and gets clotheslined to the floor. Andre hits Bron with a boot and a few forearms, but it doesn’t hold for long as Bron suplexes him to the mat, drops the straps, and body presses him into a slam and a pin. A teachable moment.

Bron Breakker pins Andre Chase. No, it’s not a five star match, but it is a fantastic segment. Andre being bold, Andre’s reaction, and the destruction that comes after is all fun.

Bron grabs a mic after the match. He says he fell into all of Ciampa’s traps and he knows that Ciampa is the man in NXT. “BUT there’s nothing that pisses me off more than losing.” He promises to get another shot and win the title or die trying.

McKenzie is with NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium. They say that nobody can keep up with them. Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin come in to congratulate them and tell them they should come watch it. They’re into it because NXT is horny.

It’s time for Lashing Out with Lash Legend, our favorite Wednesday night talk show. She talks about the costumes of Halloween Havoc before being joined by her special guest Tony D’Angelo. She questions him about the disappearance of her producer Mark who reappears with his arm in a sling and looking nervous to sit next to Tony. Tony describes Mark’s house and family in detail and makes him tell Lash that everything is alright.

Our announce crew let us know that Zoey Stark has been taken to the hospital. We give a shout out to Wale featuring Maxo Kream and Yalla Beezy for “Down South,” our theme.

Solo Sikoa vs Jeet Rama

This is the very first match for Solo Dolo in his WWE/NXT career and it happens to be televised. He had a few dozen matches as Sefa Fatu prior to joining WWE including a tag win with Jacob Fatu against Mr. Anderson and Davey Boy Smith Jr. This is a more serious version of Solo. Jeet Rama has 93 matches to his name, all 93 under the WWE banner ranging from his start in 2015 all the way to this one, the final match of his career. His most notable match was at the 2021 WWE Superstar Spectacle at the ThunderDome where he lost to AJ Styles. He only had three other televised matches, all losses on 205 Live.

Things are all Solo here and the crowd is all for him as he beats the shit out of Rama. Sikoa heads up for a splash and the easy pin.

Solo Sikoa pins Jeet Rama. A great showing for the Samoan street fighter and the final whimper for Rama. Solo looked like a star. This might just have been his warning shot.

Back into the spooky zone, Boa pays tribute to Mei Ying, who refuses to come to ringside with him. This segues into L.A. Knight at ringside, saying he is here to watch the “waste of space” Grayson Waller in action.

Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen are on the grill. I’m with Briggs on the medium rare steak. Let it bleed. They play cornhole, horseshoes, and says they will make their opponents second guess getting in the ring with them.

Boa vs Grayson Waller

Knight is still with us on commentary, immediately bringing fun to the show. 2026 has come and Grayson Waller has made it to the NXT Title scene. Waller mostly dominates until Knight distracts him, Boa striking him off the ropes and pinning him.

Boa pins Grayson Waller. Just some storyline advancement, but congrats to big Boa on getting the W.

Back to the poker room as a crowd has formed to watch. They both go all in and Duke flips the table.

Kay Lee Ray is still in her rage room, spray painting things and breaking bowls.

Boa returns to find that Mei Ying has disappeared. He touches the chair and turn around, face painted and spraying her smoke. Mei Ying has vanished and he has inherited the spirit of Tian Sha, you see. Will we ever see Mei Ying again or was it all a dream? Stay tuned.

Alicia Taylor introduces NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa to the crowd who are happy to sing along with his entrance theme. He tells us that Halloween Havoc was a changing of the guard in NXT except at the top. Bron earned his respect but Tommaso Ciampa is the god of NXT. With his title comes great responsibility. With that comes our interruption by NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams. Melo hates to be that guy, but he feels he is the one who needs to put Ciampa in check. As long as he’s around, Ciampa is taking a backseat to him because he is the “A Champion” of NXT. Ciampa tells Melo that he looked into his eyes and he can tell he doesn’t believe a word he’s saying. Tommaso punches Trick and taunts Melo, a showdown looming somewhere down the line.

As Ciampa leaves, the music of Johnny Gargano hits and the old partners cross paths on stage. Johnny Wrestling eyeballs the title as we take a break before coming back to our main event.

NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams vs Johnny Gargano & Dexter Lumis

We start big with Trick and Dex. Johnny and Dex do some good tag team work, cutting off Trick from his corner as we learn Ikemen Jiro and Kushida will face the Creed Brothers next week. Johnny and and Dex both armdrag their opponents and dropkick them to the outside, doing the Lumis crawl around the ring to send us to a break.

When we come back, Dex gets a hot tag and smacks Melo with a big clothesline in the corner and tosses Trick to the outside. Dexter springs Melo off the top rope with a suplex but can’t get the three. Melo flips into a tag as the fans chant about the match being awesome. Gargano tags in as well and superkicks Trick. All four men come in again and the Gargano men give superkicks before Lumis drops an elbow from the top onto Trick for a near fall. Trick smacks Lumis with a shoe (a Lemon Pepper Stepper, maybe), giving Melo a chance to land a top rope dive and get the pin.

Trick Williams pins Dexter Lumis, Williams & Hayes defeat Gargano & Lumis. An action packed match. All four men looked like future stars here.

We close out our show with Melo and Trick gloating at the entrance. Halloween Havoc felt very hit-or-miss for me, but this one felt more on track.

Next week: A six-woman tag, the return of Kay Lee Ray, and a triple threat with Solo Sikoa, L.A. Knight and Grayson Waller.