Photo Credit: WWE NXT
GOOD: Joe Gacy was in the ring to open the show and he said he will beat the toxic masculinity of Tomasso Ciampa & he will enter the NXT Championship match at Halloween Havoc. This was simple, but effective.
GOOD: Tomasso Ciampa defeated Joe Gacy in a good match where Gacy showed that he has the ability to put on a good match.
Result – Ciampa Wins By Pinfall
Dakota Cohen WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
GOOD: Toxic Attraction came out next & Gigi Dolin said that they wanted to put an end to Raquel Gonzalez, but Io & Zoey ruined it. Jacy Jayne then said that Toxic Attraction doesn’t care about rules and they want the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. Mandy Rose then said that she is also challenging Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s Championship. Mandy ended by saying it doesn’t matter what hair color she has, she is still the baddest b*tch in the game. This was really good.
GOOD SQUASH: In our first squash of the night, Xyon Quinn looked impressive by defeating Malik Blade.
GREAT SQUASH: Ivy Nile defeated a jobber in a semi-extended squash match. Nile looked awesome & like the future.
GOOD: After the match, Malcolm Bivens got on the mic & said the pit bull in Ivy Nile has been relegated. Bivens then said the Creed Brothers have been the most dominant tag team in NXT. He then gave the mic to Roderick Strong & Ikeman Jiro’s music hit & signaled that he wants a shot at the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. One of the Creed brothers, I believe it was Julius, then got on the mic and told Jiro that he is always ready for a fight. Jiro got in a cheap shot and then rolled out of the ring. This was good and Diamond Mine have really impressed.
GREAT SQUASH: Julius Creed defeated Ikeman Jiro in another squash match, but Creed looked absolutely awesome.
GOOD: After the match, Diamond Mine beat down Jiro until Kushida came out, but the numbers difference was too much for Kushida. This all made sense.
GREAT: Lashing Out with Lash Legend was next & she said that she watched WWE Draft & made a Squid Games reference. She then said the Legends of the Week were Hit Row. She then said the Lashing Out of the Week goes to Tony D’Angelo & if he wants to be on her show, he can “fogettaboutit.” This was great.
GOOD: Von Wagner & Kyle O’Reilly defeated Ridge Holland & Pete Dunne in a pretty good tag team match which highlighted Wagner. He looked good in the match.
Result – Wagner and O’Reilly Win By Pinfall
Dakota Cohen WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
GREAT: Andre Chase University with Andre Chase was then shown where he said that Odyssey Jones lacks ring awareness and that is why he won’t be successful. He then asked if anyone had any questions and a man named Brandon raised his hand. Brandon asked Chase if what he did was illegal, why didn’t Jones win by DQ. Chase then said that would be a great question if he gave a f*ck and slapped everything off Brandon’s desk and told him to get out of his class. He told him to join Steve in the dumb*ss class & give him a big f*ck you from him. This was just fantastic & Chase is one of the best personalities on NXT 2.0.
MUST WATCH: When the break ended, Tony D’Angelo was shown in a promo package leaning on a car where he said he had a very successful debut and that he can’t remember his opponents name. He said he does things on his own time & the producer for Lash Legend should watch his mouth next time before he says Tony is not allowed on the show. He then walked away and it seemed that he trapped the producer in the trunk. I mean, this dude has everything that anyone should want, he’s a social media star and is still trending as this is written.
AVERAGE SQUASH: Back to the squashes as Duke Hudson basically squashed Grayson Waller. This was alright.
AVERAGE SQUASH: Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta defeated Sarray and Amari Miller in a decent squash match.
GOOD: After the match, Pirotta challenged Zoey Stark and Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. Io and Zoey came out, followed by Toxic Attraction, which led to a brawl between the three teams. Stark and Shirai stood tall at the end. This was good.
GREAT: Cameron Grimes and Grayson Waller had a hilarious backstage segment where Grimes saw Waller get a girl and wanted to know how he did it. Waller then told Grimes it’s not about wins and losses, but it’s about likes and swipes and then showed him how online dating works. This was so fun and I would like to see more of this.
GREAT: Isaiah Swerve Scott defeated Santos Escobar in a great main event to retain the NXT North American Championship. With some help from Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes.
Result – Swerve Retains By Pinfall
Dakota Cohen WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
MUST WATCH SQUASH: After the match, Williams and Hayes attacked Scott and Hayes cashed in his contract for a North American Championship match on the spot. Hayes then beat Scott very quickly to become the new North American Champion. This was the first time that this has ever happened on NXT and it was certainly awesome.
Overall, this was by far the best episode of NXT 2.0 yet and a lot of the characters are really starting to show their true potential. Some more than others of course, but this show is looking really good. They chose an awesome way to end the show, crowning a new North American Champion in Carmelo Hayes, who has been one of the most impressive new wrestlers.
Show Theme and Presentation: 7/10
Watchability: 8/10
Crowd Reaction: 7/10
Overall Storyline Progression: 9/10
Production: 8/10
Overall Rating: 7.6/10
