NXT Halloween Havoc – 10.31.26

By Niz on 1 November 2026

This past week on NXT: Tony D’Angelo spent the entire show chasing down Grayson Waller, and when he finally caught him, IT WAS ON.

NXT’s Halloween Havoc stays home this year, coming to the CW/ESPN Unlimited airwaves from The Performance Center in Orlando, FL. The television presenters for this evening will be our usual suspects, Vic Joseph and Booker T on match calls and analysis, Mike Rome on ring introductions, and Emily Agard on news and interviews. We have six matches scheduled for tonight, and I’m sure there will be some special guests. Let’s watch some wrestling!

My recording starts with the end of a NASCAR race, and thus, I miss the opening part of the show. This was apparently a highlights video of all the feuds leading up to tonight’s show, and the arrivals of some folks.

Here’s Danhausen out with his troop of Mini-Hausens to greet the NXT UNIVERSE. Danhausen was paid lots of HUMAN MONIES to make sure tonight is terrifying when we SPIN THE WHEEL, MAKE THE DEAL. Danhausen has also turned some of the rooms in the PC into “Scare Rooms” so I’m sure we’ll get some shenanigans.

Weapons Wild: Tavion Heights vs Myles Borne

Vicky D’Errico is your referee. Costume/Gear theme: Heights = Freddy Kreuger, Borne = Jason Voorhees. They slug it out to start and Heights dumps Borne with a back body drop. Borne bails and goes right for the kendo sticks. Heights ducks an initial shot for some rights but Borne catches him with a stick before blasting him in the throat. Heights finds a fire extinguisher and lets Borne have it full blast. Heights clubbers away while Booker puts over how much getting hit with “human crutches” hurts. Heights drags out a SLIM JIM TABLE and sets it up on the floor. Borne has a chair and nails Heights with a gut shot before missing a big shot along a ring post. Heights hits Borne with an overhead toss onto a pile of chairs, and we go to commercials.

Borne stomps on Heights ankle which is wrapped up in the chair as the show returns. Borne puts the boots to Heights before grabbing a trash can and placing it on Heights lap. Heights fires up and whips the chair at a charging Borne before tossing him over his head into some exposed turnbuckles. Heights covers and gets two. Heights finds a tool box under the ring and Borne rams the chair into him when he charges. Borne blasts Heights with the toolbox which flies open on impact. Borne finds a bag of nuts and bolts and Heights holds off a Borne Again attempt to send Borne onto the pile. Heights covers for two. They go to the apron and Borne goes to the eyes before dropping Heights with a bulldog. Borne nails Heights with a draping DDT and runs him back in. Borne tears the ring steps apart and puts the top piece in the ring. Heights nails Borne with a kidney shot and runs right into a Borne powerslam on the chair. Borne’s cover gets two, and he stomps away on Heights. Borne yanks up the ring steps and puts them over top of Heights before positioning a chair on top of him for a two count. Heights whips the chair at Borne’s leg and then smashes Borne’s back with the chair. Heights puts the trash can on top of Borne to ram him into a corner. Heights smacks the trash can with the chair and then puts Borne’s ankle in a chair. Heights finds another chair and Borne begs him to not do it, but Heights pulls the trigger before yanking Borne into an ankle lock. Borne makes the ropes but there’s no break in a Weapons Wild match. Borne sends Heights head-first into an exposed turnbuckle. They ascend and Borne gets dropped by a big right hand. Borne grabs a camera before blasting Heights with it. Heights goes through the SLIM JIM TABLE before Borne drags him back into the ring. Borne hits Borne Again on the trash can and that ends things.

A pretty standard but very intense plunder brawl, with some callbacks to this feud’s high points. In terms of Tavion Heights, I used to always say about Zaria that at some point they had to give her a big signature win, and the same now holds true of Heights. He never wins these big matches and he really needs something on his resume like this. Borne is a golden child though, as you can see him working through being a heel the best way he can. We’ll see how successful he is with this. Nothing majorly wrong here, but it’s a plunder match and subject to those limitations. 3.25*

Winner – Myles Borne (Borne Again on a Trashcan)

Here’s Tristan Angels with some lady friends backstage and they apparently wander into one of Danhausen’s scare rooms. Here’s Sean Legacy in a butcher’s apron to scare Angels, before absconding with Angels dates. We go to commercials.

Here’s Shiloh Hill being jumped by NARAKU while on the way to the ring. NARAKU hits the orange mist, and a lot of it rebounds onto him. NARAKU and Hill awaken in some kind of scary landscape and Hill, of course, finds it very cool. TO BE CONTINUED…

NXT Women’s North American Champion Zaria vs Izzi Dame

Dame wanted this to be non-title, so that’s what we’re doing. Dame emerges in a Galinda-inspired outfit. Derek Sanders is your referee. Dame puts the badmouth on Zaria until she’s had enough. Zaria chases Dame around and grabs her for some ground and pound. Zaria trucks Dame and yanks her up for a slam. Zaria screams at Dame who fires Zaria down by her hair before putting the boots to her. Dame mocks Sol Ruca (DRINK!) while standing on top of Zaria. Zaria fires up and yanks Dame into a hangman’s choke in a corner. Zaria rams Dame into a corner but Dame reverses only to run into a high boot. Zaria gets driven into a turnbuckle and we go to commercials with Dame in control.

Zaria grabs a roll up for two when the show returns. Zaria hits a massive pump kick and nails Dame with a German. Zaria hits a reverse lariat and covers Dame for two. Dame escapes and fires off a high boot when Zaria charges. Dame gets nailed with a headbutt and a fallaway slam as Zaria covers and gets two. Dame gets smashed head-first into a turnbuckle but Zaria walks into a back elbow and ends up in the tree of woe. Dame fires off a spear and then ascends. Zaria fights her way out of it with some elbows and tries a moonsault that fails. Dame hits a leaping Codebreaker and covers Zaria for two. They slug it out and Dame wins the skirmish with a lariat and a chokeslam that gets two. Dame goes back to ground and pound before running into a Zaria knee. Zaria hits a spear and then notices a bunch of different iterations of her past in the arena. Zaria hits another spear and covers Dame for two. Dame grabs an inside cradle and gets two. Dame fires off a crucifix driver and yanks Zaria up for a Gory Special driver that gets two. Dame grabs the title belt and gets rolled up by Zaria for two. Zaria fires off a discus lariat and yanks up the belt, but she turns right into a Dame dropkick that smashes Zaria’s face with the belt. Dame covers and gets three.

They are really TRYING to make this feud into something and I’m not really seeing the point of all of it. I think picking on someone for being a theater kid is kind of mean, quite frankly, but I guess there’s been wildly stupider stuff in wrestling. I thought this was fine for a slug-fest but it also felt like “you do a move then I’ll do a move” type work from an agenting perspective. It never grabbed me, so here we are. 2.5*

Winner – Izzi Dame (Dropkick/belt shot)

Post-match sees Dame POINT TO HEAD TO INDICATE SMARTNESS while screaming that the title is next, as we’re apparently going to continue with Examining Zaria’s Past. Hooray. Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal is up after we take a commercial break.

Here’s Hank & Tank admiring the Dusty Cup before being joined by Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno. Everyone is very excited for Wednesday night, and apparently “Ultra Nueva” is the new team name for Dar and Moreno. There’s banter and everyone daps it up in a show of respect.

Here’s The Vanity Project backstage running into NXT GM Robert Stone. NXT Tag Team Champions Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes are upset about not being in the Dusty Cup finals. Stone puts Baylor, Smokes, and NXT Men’s North American Champion Jackson Drake into a trios match against AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix, Dragon Lee, and WWE Men’s Intercontinental Champion Chad Gable on Wednesday Night’s NXT. (It’s a good thing there’s no other wrestling shows on Wednesday night, friends. What a mess that would be with all these main roster folks and legends showing up!)

Here’s Dave LaGreca, Tatum Paxley, and Blake Howard on top of the NXT Roost. Howard asks LaGreca and Paxley about Stone’s announcement regarding the Vanity Project, and Paxley is super excited to see the Project get humbled. LaGreca says that Shiloh Hill was fearing the orange mist when he spoke to him yesterday on Busted Open. Paxley puts over the Weapons Wild match but laments the lack of chainsaws in it. Costumes: LaGreca = Cody Rhodes, Paxley = An axe-wielding Tatum Paxley, Howard = Mean Gene Okerlund (Rot in hell, Gene! I mean, as far as a few ex-posters are concerned.)

Danhausen joins Emily Agard, and spins the wheel. It lands on VERY NICE, VERY EVIL and Danhausen wants some ooze to fix the wheel because he wasn’t expecting that result. After some prompting from Agard, Danhausen says the match will be No Rules and Falls Count Anywhere. Danhausen and the Mini-Hausens scamper away, and we go to commercials.

VERY NICE, VERY EVIL MATCH (No Rules, Falls Count Anywhere): Charles Dempsey vs Zilla Fatu

Birthright costumes: Uriah Connors = a sea captain, Stacks = Stacks, Arianna Grace = Maybe Sandy from Grease?, Lexis King = a playboy, Dempsey = DeNiro in “Taxi Driver”. Fatu emerges looking like something straight out of Mortal Kombat. Katie Reynolds is your referee. Dempsey attacks at the bell and smashes Fatu around briefly. Fatu fires up with a couple of corner splashes but Dempsey yanks him down by his damaged arm. Dempsey wants a gutwrench and finally hits it for one. Dempsey eats a hip toss and Fatu plants Dempsey in the tree of woe. Fatu misses a leaping headbutt and Dempsey escapes to nail Fatu with a bridging German that gets two. Dempsey gets trucked and Fatu fires him to the floor with a lariat. Fatu jumps onto Dempsey’s exposed hand and then rams it into the announce table. Fatu hits some knife-edge chops and goes to do more damage to Fatu, but Stacks and Connors descend to attack Fatu. Lexis King mistakenly gifts Fatu a shovel from ringside and it’s time for commercials.

Fatu drops Dempsey with a DDT for two as the show returns. Fatu has a piece of the gate being used for set decorations and mounts it in a corner before ramming Dempsey into some mounted shovels. Fatu gets reversed into the shovels and Dempsey slaps on a standing bulldog choke. Fatu steps on a shovel in the ring and the handle goes right into Dempsey’s nuts. Fatu gets rammed into the mounted gate and Dempsey backdrops him onto the gate for two. Dempsey rams Fatu into the ring steps and finds a jack-o-lantern. Fatu ducks a pumpkin shot and King takes it instead. Dempsey uses Connors interference to ram Fatu’s hand into the ring steps. The Birthright crew remove Fatu’s cast and then ram the hand back onto the top of the steps. Fatu gets run back in and Dempsey kicks away. Stacks finds a chain and Dempsey uses it to slap on an octopus around Fatu’s damaged arm. Fatu shakes off Dempsey briefly, but he climbs back onto Fatu’s back with a sleeper. Fatu escapes from that and nails Dempsey with some lariats. Fatu hits a senton and then has to dispose of King and Stacks. Connors gets dropped head-first onto Stacks chest, and Fatu and Dempsey fight over the chain. Fatu hits a Samoan Drop and wants the Spike, but Dempsey puts the shovel in front of his face and Fatu’s thumb slams into it. Fatu nails Dempsey with the Triple Z and crushes Dempsey with the Fatu splash to end things.

So in watching the replay, the spot where Zilla dropped Connors head-first onto Stacks chest was WILDLY dangerous and I hope Connors is okay. He appeared to be, but that could have gone horrendously wrong. This was another fun plunder brawl, and for the most part, I think they’re doing a good job of speed-running Zilla through the needed stuff before he inevitably joins the family on Raw. Dempsey was fine here but he’s another guy who could really use a signature win on his resume. 3*

Winner – Zilla Fatu (top rope splash)

Here’s more of Shiloh Hill and NARAKU in their house of terrors. (There’s a real Kenny-Gerald Broflovski “cheesing” vibe to all of this, if you get that reference.) Hill runs across all kinds of characters and gets some advice on how to find NARAKU. Hill continues searching and gets attacked by some randoms in the Skull Room. TO BE CONTINUED….

Here’s a look at presenting sponsor Clive Barker’s Hellraiser video game. I would think a Hellraiser game would be cool as hell to play if I still played anything harder than Mario Kart. We go to commercials.

Here’s a look at the ongoing war between Cruz Montana and Dion Lennox. They will be fighting in an Unsanctioned match this Wednesday, and it turns out that Michael Chandler from UFC will be the Special Enforcer. Chandler cuts a pretty solid promo, and hey, let’s get that guy some boots and gear!

EARLIER TODAY there was a sit-down with Cruz Montana and Dion Lennox. Montana again emphasizes what bringing his family into this meant to him and there’s nothing that’s holding him back from emptying the clip. Lennox says he wanted this from the jump and Montana played into his hands. Lennox says he wanted the killer so he can prove that he’s built differently. Lennox invites Montana to unleash his demons. Montana says Lennox will feel rock-bottom and helpless, and Montana will beat Lennox within an inch of his life. Montana calmly leaves.

Here’s Chantel Monroe in a room full of mirrors, and Thea Hail advises her that it’s not for Monroe’s vanity. Here’s Evolve Women’s Champion Nikkita Lyons to say that she aligns with Monroe’s thoughts. Skylar Raye joins the scene to make fun of Lyons and Monroe, and after Monroe mocks Lizzy Rain, Rain emerges from a conveniently-placed coffin in a jump-scare as Lyons scampers away.

Here’s a look at NXT Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan and her evolving feud with challenger Wren Sinclair. Their match is up next after this short commercial break!

Here’s NARAKU in the shadow realm searching for Shiloh Hill. NARAKU seems unconcerned with all the ghouls and goblins about and kicks one of their asses thoroughly. NARAKU fights off more denizens before coming across a haunted king who advises him where Hill is. TO BE CONTINUED…

NXT Women’s Championship: Kelani Jordan (C) vs Wren Sinclair

Costumes: Sinclair = The Scarlet Witch, Jordan = The Lion King (?). Kendal Grey was out to support Sinclair during the entrances but does not remain at ringside. Joey Gonzales is your referee. Mike Rome has a SWEET Jack Skellington get-up and he does in-ring intros to kick things off.

They grapple to start and Jordan eats a big forearm after some banter. Sinclair gets pushed into a corner for some Jordan kicks. Jordan smashes Sinclair in the back but gets hoisted onto Sinclair’s back for a rolling senton. Sinclair goes to ground and pound. Jordan snaps off a rana and a dropkick that sends Sinclair to the floor. Jordan goes to the apron but Sinclair catches her and dumps Jordan down. Sinclair nails Jordan with a shotgun dropkick and we go to commercials.

Sinclair fires off a back heel kick but misses a charge as Jordan starts stomping away. Jordan removes a turnbuckle stanchion cover but eats a Sinclair bulldog that gets two. Jordan drops a leg and covers Sinclair for two. Sinclair throws some body shots but Jordan cuts it off with a knee. Jordan snaps off a Northern Lights suplex and gets two. Jordan kicks Sinclair in the head a few times and Sinclair fires up. They slug it out and Sinclair fires off some chops and an elbow. Sinclair drops Jordan with a double sledge and Jordan grabs a quick jackknife roll up for two. Sinclair hits a double-underhook suplex and sends Jordan into a corner. Sinclair hits a neckbreaker and ascends for a cross-body that gets two. Sinclair hoists Jordan and they exchange roll ups that get two. Jordan fires off a superkick and blasts Sinclair into a corner. Jordan misses a split-legged moonsault and Sinclair grabs a roll up for two. Jordan leaps over the top rope and lands on Sinclair’s elbow and we go to another commercial break.

Jordan gets rolled up for two when the show returns. They crash together and we reset with both women down. They slug it out and Sinclair eats a big Pele Kick. Jordan yanks Sinclair up for a shoulder-breaker and ascends. Jordan hits a frog splash and covers Sinclair for two. Jordan slaps on an armbar and Sinclair rolls her over for two. Sinclair yanks Jordan up for a helicopter facebreaker that gets two. Sinclair counters a bridging roll up into the Final Wrench and Jordan manages to roll over and out of it. Sinclair ends up on the floor and Jordan pulls her into the exposed stanchion when she tries to return. Jordan hits a 450 and covers Sinclair for two. Jordan ascends again and her moonsault meets Sinclair’s knees. Sinclair grabs an inside cradle for two and then slaps on the Final Wrench again. Jordan rolls out of it but Sinclair twists Jordan back into it. Sinclair torques away but Jordan manages to roll out and pull Sinclair into a top turnbuckle. Jordan rolls up Sinclair and uses the bottom rope for leverage as Gonzales counts three.

I don’t know how I feel about that. I thought Jordan would retain here and I’m guessing the cheating, such as it was, at the end might lead to a rematch? Who can tell. Here’s what I can tell you – long doesn’t always equal great. I’d call this “good” but it never got to a gear where I was like “OH HELL YES THIS RULES”. I thought Jordan was solid here, and her ringwork was crisp. She needs to work on heeling to the the crowd more. Sinclair is a solid underdog babyface and hopefully this won’t be her only shot at this title, but I’d imagine her partner in the WrenQCC might want back into the picture as well. 3.5*

Winner AND STILL NXT Women’s Champion – Kelani Jordan (roll up with bottom rope leverage)

Here’s NXT Men’s Champion Grayson Waller warming up in the locker room. We go to commercials.

Here’s more of Shiloh Hill wandering through the nether-world and I’d really like this to get to the fireworks factory at some point soon. A zombie Adrian Butler emerges as NARAKU finally comes into focus for Hill. Zombie Butler orders a lock up, and they tumble through the bottom of the NXT Roost and out to the floor. They go in the ring and NARAKU hits a sit-out powerbomb for two. NARAKU misses a senton and they start slugging it out. Hill hits a discus lariat and yanks NARAKU up for a body slam. Hill hits his inverted senton and covers NARAKU for two. NARAKU drives Hill to the floor and they mash each other with rights on the apron as Hill is trying to return. NARAKU fires off the black mist but Hill counters with THE FOG and that counteracts the mist? Hill fires off a lofted right hand and a neckbreaker finishes things.

So I guess this was a show-long cinematic deal that ended in the ring. They certainly spent the entire Spirit Halloween budget on this, that’s for sure. 31*

Winner – Shiloh Hill (lofted neckbreaker)

Here’s Robert Stone on the phone with “Punk” as Kelani Jordan wanders into his office. Stone says that Jordan’s appearances on the main roster have him a bit nettled, and Jordan will be defending her title Wednesday night against a MYSTERY OPPONENT.

Here’s Blake Howard back with Dave LaGreca and Tatum Paxley. Paxley suggests she might be the mystery opponent for Jordan to the delight of Howard. Howard puts over Stone’s phone call with CM Punk and LaGreca is excited about the possibilities. They shift to talking about the main event Men’s title match, and Paxley mentions how personal it’s gotten between Waller and D’Angelo. Paxley is excited to see them lock up, and Howard says IT’S TIME. What it’s time for is apparently commercials.

Here’s an announcement of the next NXT PLE, and well, it’s NXT TLC on Saturday December 12th! More ladders? AWESOME. (In case you couldn’t tell, I was being SARCASTIC.)

Booker conveniently avoids mentioning Edge and Christian when putting over the TLC concept.

Here’s Kam Hendrix with Danhausen and Hendrix says he’s magic. Danhausen wants to clone Hendrix to make either a football or basketball team. Danhausen leaves to find his cloning machine, and Hendrix is attacked by an orderly who turns out to be EK Prosper.

Joseph and Booker run down this coming Wednesday night’s card that includes visits from JOHN CENA and Cody Raheem Rhodes.

We’re padding this show a lot because here’s a look at the build-up of Grayson Waller and Tony D’Angelo’s rivalry. Waller claimed the title during a Fatal Fourway at Heatwave and has been holding it since. There was a fight in the NXT Parking Lot this past Tuesday night so you know things are very serious.

NXT Men’s Championship: Grayson Waller (C) vs Tony D’Angelo

There’s no real costume work here, and I’m disappointed that D’Angelo didn’t bust out the Don, although Waller has a fedora to tweak D’Angelo a bit. Chip Danning is your referee. (A grown man named Chip? FOR SHAME.) They go right at it after the bell and and Waller ends up on the floor. D’Angelo hits a tope suicida but Waller ducks a charge and sends D’Angelo into the ring steps which burst apart. Waller gets flipped off the bottom part of the steps and we go right to commercials.

Waller drives in a knee as the show returns and D’Angelo blocks the last one before tossing Waller over his head. D’Angelo bellows at Waller and tosses him over his head out of a corner. D’Angelo tosses Waller again and fires him over with a gutwrench. Waller bails and D’Angelo goes out after him. They go to the apron and Waller yanks D’Angelo’s arm over the stanchion. Waller snaps D’Angelo’s neck over the stanchion and Danning starts a count. Waller decides to end it with a sliding lariat and then rams D’Angelo into the announce table. Waller chokes D’Angelo with the ring apron and then stomps on D’Angelo’s head. Waller crushes D’Angelo in a corner and then puts on a hanging headscissors. Waller nails D’Angelo with a leg lariat and rolls him over for two. D’Angelo grabs an inside cradle and gets two. Waller fires off a neckbreaker and covers him for two. Waller rams D’Angelo into a corner and mounts him into the tree of woe. Waller torques on D’Angelo’s neck and barks at the crowd that contains D’Angelo’s wife and son. Waller works D’Angelo’s shoulder before trying another cover that gets two. D’Angelo fires up with some forearms and lariats but runs right into a Waller big boot that drops D’Angelo to the floor. Waller misses a charge and D’Angelo yanks him up for a chokeslam on the apron. Waller yanks D’Angelo into a DDT on the bottom of the ring steps. Waller drives D’Angelo into the barricade and puts some more badmouth on D’Angelo’s family. D’Angelo has had enough and he starts smashing Waller around. D’Angelo spears Waller and starts clubbering away. D’Angelo hits a belly-to-back off the ring steps and goes to his wife for a kiss from her and his son. We go to commercials.

Waller hits an over-the-top-rope neckbreaker when the show returns. Waller fires off a bunch of knees to D’Angelo’s head. D’Angelo fires up and pulls Waller up to a top turnbuckle. D’Angelo fires Waller over his head to the middle of the ring and both guys are down. Waller is up first and they start slugging it out. D’Angelo mashes Waller with a bulldog and fires Waller down with a powerslam that gets two. Waller lifts a knee and hits a curb stomp before ascending for the Waller Effect. Waller’s cover gets a LONG TWO. Waller finds a crowbar but can’t use it before they start slugging it out again. D’Angelo nails Waller with a spear and they go to the floor. D’Angelo yanks Waller up but Waller shakes it off before waffling D’Angelo with a cutter through the announce table. Waller tosses D’Angelo back in and charges right into a D’Angelo chokeslam that gets two. D’Angelo sees the crowbar and crawls to it. Danning warns D’Angelo and then takes the crowbar from him. Danning gets mashed down when Waller smashes D’Angelo into him. D’Angelo ducks a crowbar shot and spears Waller for a visual pin, but there’s no ref to count. Waller goes to the floor and smashes D’Angelo with the crowbar. Waller hits a stunner and conveniently Danning is now available to count three.

It’s kind of the theme of this show that this was good, but not great. I thought they worked very hard and the match itself had a lot of bells and whistles but a ref bump and a crowbar shot kind of take me out of thinking it was some kind of epic. I don’t really enjoy the “family at ringside” trope much either, but its much more a part of modern wrestling than I was used to so I’ll learn to deal, I suppose. I legit have no idea what they do with D’Angelo now unless he’s just going to endlessly hang around the upper card getting occasional title shots. Ah well. 3.5*

Winner AND STILL NXT Men’s Champion – Grayson Waller (stunner)

Post-match sees Danhausen emerge to tell Waller that his close personal friend has a message. Here’s CM Punk on the video board to say that Waller’s boastings have been heard, and Punk is coming for the title on Wednesday night. Waller grins as “Cult of Personality” plays over the PA. The credits roll and we’re out.

This was a good show, but not a great one! There’s nothing wrong with a good show, mind you, and I did enjoy a lot of this. I was hopeful for Wren Sinclair but not surprised, and the Waller retention didn’t shock me either. Overall, this show could have used one more match because there was a LOT of padding. That being said, everyone worked hard and nothing stood out as being bad, so we’ll call it a success and move on to what is now a HUGELY loaded show on Wednesday night.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your Sunday.