Trick Williams vs. Ethan Page headlines NXT Halloween Havoc 2024. (Photo via WWE)
WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2024 made for a fun Sunday night event at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. A WCW throwback event that first began in 1989, this year's version featured a fun five-match lineup.
Outside of the tag team match between NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez and tag partner Cora Jade vs. Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer, all matches had a stipulation. They didn't need one, though. That four-piece combination was awesome and Vaquer and Giulia are phenomenal and rightfully won.
Andre Chase and Ridge Holland went at it in the seventh Ambulance Match in WWE history. It was a fun time and mostly a progression for Holland who beat down Chase en route to a door-slamming victory. Holland and wrestling legend Bubba Ray Dudley have some issues that will be dealt with sooner rather than later.
The NXT Women's North American Championship was contested in one of the three "Spin the Wheel: Make the Deal" matches. The champion Kelani Jordan spun gauntlet rules, which meant she had to get through all three members of Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne, and Jazymn Nyx) to retain her title. Unfortunately for her, the numbers game was too much in the end as Henley became the new champion after her friends caused the distraction in the final of three matches within the contest. Jordan was the star even in defeat, but Henley and company were great dance partners.
Tony D'Angelo defended his NXT North American Championship against Oba Femi. Their "Spin the Wheel: Make the Deal" stipulation was Tables, Ladders, and Scares. This was a perfect kickoff match to the night and was filled with big spots between two big men. Femi looked like a beast but couldn't overcome The D'Angelo Family as they helped Tony win in the anything-goes match.
Last but not least, the NXT Championship main event saw Trick Williams challenged by Ethan Page. This match fell under Devil's Playground rules and lived up to the chaos. This match had a bit of everything as falls counted anywhere and displayed Page's well-known ego. The freedom to be creative got the best of Page when trying to put away the champion late. Williams retained and this built toward Holland's involvement in the title scene and culminated with his Dudley interaction. There's no way this doesn't give us an ECW Arena tag team match with all four, at the very least.
It was a solid Premium Live Event overall. Nothing special but nothing bad. Perfectly fine and what you'd hope for out of a Halloween Havoc with a handful of creative stipulations. There were plenty of good moments, comedic and violent.
I've always been one to embrace the more hardcore elements of wrestling and enjoyed what we got from that realm tonight. However, the women were the highlights of the night. So, congrats on the great performances, ladies. I'm curious to see where things go from here. Even outside of matches, we saw Zaria make her mark by taking out Fatal Influence after their triumph.
Let's hand out some Uncrowned awards to send us off for the night.
MVP: Stephanie Vaquer
Uncrowned gem of the night: Kelani Jordan's overall work against Fatal Influence
Match of the night: Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia vs. Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade
Best spot of the night: Tony D'Angelo spearing Oba Femi through a ladder
I give NXT Halloween Havoc a crown score of: 👑6.5/10 👑
NXT Halloween Havoc 2024 full card results and highlights:
NXT Championship: Trick Williams (c) def. Ethan Page — Devil’s Playground Match
Ridge Holland returned after Trick's win and went on the assault. Page aligned with him shortly after, looking for another Ego's Edge but Bubba Ray came in with the save!
We're surely going to get a tag match out of this at the very least. The Bubba Ray and Holland build was evident throughout the show and we're here for it.
Drake Riggs
Page tossed Trick into the steps at a horrendous angle when he got back in the ring. Page almost smashed him with the other steps but got countered with a Rock Bottom. They traded low blows and Trick came out on top with a shot from the steel steps followed by a Trickshot in the middle of the ring. The champ retains.
Match was a little short but they hit plenty of good spots for the "Devil's Playground."
Winner: Trick Williams
Best (or worst...?!) Spot: Page's scoop slam onto the steps
Page hit the Ego's Edge off the steel steps onto the announce table. This was a great spot aesthetically and despite the big impact scene, Williams managed to kick out. The medical staff came out to check on the champion.
Trick nearly won after a Trickshot landed. Page was by the ropes and got his foot on it to break the count. That was terribly stupid because of the stipulation this match has. Thankfully, the commentary saved it by explaining that and saying the ref made a mistake.
Page rolled out and found himself a bag of goodies. For this match? Some washers, nuts and bolts, rather than the classic thumbtacks.
Drake Riggs
Page and Trick went into the crowd briefly. Page went for a piledriver on a garbage can but got reversed. He kicked out of the pin and went on to just completely take over with every type of chair attack he could think of. To the back, the neck, Page was working over the champ, and a sidewalk slam onto an unfolded chair was a nice spot.
Page couldn't wait to get the action going as he attacked Trick during his announcement from Rome. He rolled out of the ring to grab a chair and Trick found one, too. A chair battle!
When by the announce table, "All Ego" made fun of Vic Joseph's pumpkin jacket and grabbed the pumpkin, which eventually got kicked off his head by Trick. You love to see it. Trick is getting the ladders involved next.
Drake Riggs
(C) Trick Williams vs. Ethan Page - Devil's Playground match for the NXT championship
The main event has arrived. Trick walked out with a nice nod to Willy Wonka for his Halloween attire. Falls count anywhere.
Mike Rome makes the announcements and has a wonderful Beetlejuice suit on. I almost thought he was the referee with those stripes.
Drake Riggs
Tatum Paxley is alive!
Booker T was hyping up the main event before Tatum Paxley hilariously emerged behind him from the closed container Wendy Choo put her in.
Tatum skittishly walked around Booker before Ava came out and requested a match against Choo. They were by the match wheel and Tatum spun it and got a Casket Match. So be it. Ava made it for Tuesday's NXT. Let's party.
Dudley and LeGreca were in the crowd doing another recap and preview. That was until Holland came and disrupted them when they talked about his win over Chase. Dudley was not having it and warned him not to do it again. This is setting up for the ECW show, for sure. Sounds good to me.
Drake Riggs
Tony D'Angelo celebrates backstage with the D'Angelo family
D'Angelo sold the beating of his match with Oba Femi. Rizzo noted she knew who attacked her and would reveal it on this week's NXT. Stay tuned.
Zaria's played again after Henley's win and appeared behind the trio. Outnumbered? No problem. Zaria took them all out and let it be known she was about to be a force.
Drake Riggs
A gauntlet match is the perfect showcase match. That goes without saying, but having a champion get through or go against multiple opponents instills good faith in delivering and Jordan did that.
Jordan meshed the best with Henley but still had the odds stacked against her when the previous members of Fatal Influence interfered. That allowed Henley to survive, get her knees up on a 450 splash, and hit a running knee on the champion to take the title. And new!
The best was saved for last here and both women looked great but Jordan was the star of the match.
Winner: Fallon Henley
Best Spot: Jordan's 450 splashes
Drake Riggs
Jordan makes it to Henley
Jayne was the hammer as the middle opponent for Jordan. She controlled and dominated with plenty of offense until her showboating cost her.
Jordan has looked great overall, though. She caught Jayne in a bridge roll-up to get the 1, 2, 3 and Jayne hit her with a big clothesline afterward as Henley ran into the ring.
450 splash from Jordan puts away Nyx and it's on to Jacy Jayne for Jordan. Nothing too taxing for the champion. Quick first of three possible matches to get through.
(C) Kelani Jordan vs. Fatal Influence (Jazmyn Nyx, Jacy Jayne, and Fallon Henley) - Gauntlet match for the NXT women's North American title
It was decided earlier that the "Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal" stipulation resulted in a gauntlet match for the champion Jordan. Therefore, she'll have to beat all three in a row to hold onto her title. First up it's Jordan vs. Nyx.
Drake Riggs
NXT tag champions Nathan Frazier and Axiom get ready at the Performance Center
The champs butted heads a bit in the ring as Axiom wanted to see some more fire from Frazier, which was a fun touch.
Ava spoke to Sarah Schreiber afterward and expressed her excitement for the upcoming matches. She announced Lola Vice vs. Jaida Parker will go down in in a Hardcore match when NXT goes to ECW Arena.
These guys battled over a pumpkin before Chase jumped off the ambulance onto Chase. Talk about a wild sequence. The crowd ate it up.
Holland avoided getting stuck in the ambulance by clawing at Chase's face and slamming him against the ambulance door. A big DDT on the stage followed and Holland tossed him in the ambulance and closed the door.
Stretchers, kendo sticks, pumpkins, fire extinguishers. We're getting it all in Holland vs. Chase.
It feels weird to have the Chase character in a match like this as it's gone on. He's taken the brunt of the abuse in big spots. A kendo stick battle saw momentum swing to Chase for some big moments.
Chase essentially ran over Ridge with the stretcher to get him over to the announce table for a big DDT and now we're headed back toward the ambulance!
Drake Riggs
Commentary revealed this was only the seventh ambulance match in WWE history and the second in NXT. So, some rarified air for both guys to be a part of.
Chase's Freddy Kruger sweater was a nice touch for the Halloween Havoc theme. They wasted no time getting toward the ambulance at the top of the stage.
Shane McMahon vs. Kane floods my memory whenever I think of ambulance matches,. I know that might be a weird choice but that rivalry was fitting for it. I'm curious to see what kind of match Chase and Holland put together here. The first superstar to put their opponent in the ambulance with the doors closed wins. Plain and simple.
Drake Riggs
Dave LaGreca and Bubba Ray Dudley give a mid-crowd recap, Cedric Alexander and Je'Von Evans got hyped for their big week
I'm always all for some Bubba Ray on my wrestling programming. The nostalgia hits never get old. This is just filler but again, it's nice to see legends like him when we can. They set things up to preview the Ambulance match between Ridge Holland and Andre Chase.
Before that, we got a tag team tease for this week with Cedric Alexander and Je'Von Evans backstage.
Vaquer looked awesome in this match right out of the gate. She displayed her talent with plenty of great offense and reversal maneuvers opposite Jade. We even saw a 619 from her.
Giulia certainly lives up to her "Beautiful Madness" nickname. When she was in, it was all gas and no breaks. Great chemistry between all four but Vaquer felt like the MVP. She's destined to be a champion and star, assuming she gets booked properly. Her hot tag was the highlight as she singlehandedly went on the attack of both.
A lot of fun spots overall and I wouldn't mind seeing these teams go at it again. Vaquer hit the corkscrew splash to the champion Perez after a near Doomsday Device. This was a blast.
Winners: Vaquer and Giulia
Best Spot: Vaquer's corkscrew splash to Perez
Drake Riggs
Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer
Time for tag team action. The ladies made their way to the ring and opened with Cora Jade and Stephanie Vaquer for their teams to start the match
Sarah Schreiber catches up with Lexis King backstage. King mentions how he wants to be his own man, not his father Brian Pillman. William Regal enters the shot and lets King know he'll be his cornerman. This could be a fun pairing.
Tony D'Angelo vs. Oba Femi kick things off with "Tables, Ladders, and Scares"
After a fun Halloween presentation to open the show the night got off to a hot start. D'Angelo went through a table in the corner, and it looked like it could have been an early surprise ending.
D'Angelo regained momentum with some chair shots and continued to duke it out. Femi found some zip ties amongst "the scares" before The D'Angelo family came out to disrupt Femi. They were no match at first until Adriana Rizzo took the focus from Femi with D'Angelo stuck in the corner. She distracted him long enough to whip out a crowbar while D'Angelo escaped and speared his opponent through a propped-up ladder outside the ring.
The family gathered themselves and hit Femi with a Shatter Machine before D'Angelo hit a spinebuster through a table for the win. A wild start to scary night!
Winner: Tony D'Angelo
Best Spot: D'Angelo's spear to Femi through a ladder
