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wXw Shortcut To the Top 2022

Kicking things off with a belated recap, let’s take a look back at wXw’s rendition of the Royal Rumble known as Shortcut To the Top!

wXw Shortcut To the Top 2022 took place on August 6, 2022 at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen, Germany. Not only did the 30-wrestler battle royal occur that night, but so did four other matches that took place prior; two of them were championship matches.

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This event began with a good four-on-four tag team match between Amboss and LSG’s team of himself, Aigle Blanc, Senza Volto and Peter Tihanyi, and this match definitely showed how intimidating all four members of Amboss can be as they continue to wreak havoc in competition as well as show anyone standing in their way—or planning to do so—coming up with a gameplan on how to stop the tough-as-nails foursome.

After the opener as well as before the battle royal itself, there were two championship matches. One was Baby Allison defending the wXw Women’s Championship against Calypso (in a match that was made after Calypso defeated her in a non-title bout at an APC show in Paris, France), and the other was Tristan Archer defending the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship against Ahura. I expected more from Allison and Calypso in the women’s championship match, even if it ended without the belt changing hands. As for Archer’s match with Ahura, it was very good as you could see how many times Ahura kept closing in on upsetting Archer as well as shooing away any tricks the champion had up in his sleeve even though Archer retained the belt per se.

Before I get to the third match that was sandwiched between the two aforementioned championship matches, I want to get to the main event which was of course the Shortcut To the Top battle royal. It was as good as the last STTT battle royal that I watched when I started watching wXw in early-to-mid 2021. I was expecting more women to be in that battle royal besides Orsi whom would later compete at Femme Fatale this year; didn’t we have more than one woman in that battle royal last year? Anyway, there were some moments that were enjoyable—especially to the fans—such as teamwork, surprise appearances and so forth; these moments included (like last year) Nikita Charisma refusing to take part of the battle royal until his tag team partner Michael Schenkenberg came in, Amboss member Dover coming from the crowd and going after one of the team’s rivals Peter Tihanyi with a kendo stick, Jurn Simmons (last year’s battle royal winner) and Vincent Heisenberg renewing their rivalry after eliminating each other—as well as the rest of the first seven competitors that entered—from the bout, Jacob Crane begging for mercy while telling referees (ala Santino Marella over a decade ago) that he “wasn’t ready” after getting eliminated by Bobby Gunns, and the returns of Ezel members Aytac and Teoman (who had the Die Familie theme instead of the original Ezel theme), Rambo, Tengkwa and Mike Schwarz (the 2020 battle royal winner). Making this long story short, Levaniel emerged as the winner. Honestly, when I saw Levaniel as one of the last remaining competitors of the battle royal, I kind of expected him to be the winner of this match; back when Marius Al-Ani and then Axel Tischer were holding the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship belt, Levaniel came close to winning it especially in main events. I believe this year will be THE year for the “Prince of the Stars”, especially when it comes to getting wXw’s brass ring.

Finally, to the third match of the show, it ended up being my favorite match as well as my fourth five-star match of the year; it was between Bobby Gunns and Axel Tischer. Gunns wanted to focus on his run as a singles competitor—ditto Michael Knight—ever since Only Friends was barred from the World Tag Team Festival; the primer ended up fighting the “Axeman” in a one-on-one bout. This was indeed an excellent exhibition match from start to finish, even with the two wrestlers knowing each other like books by going back-and-forth countering each other’s finishers, signature maneuvers and so forth besides shots and submission holds. In the end, it was the “Ehrenmann” (“honor man” in German of course) who emerged as the winner. These two veterans definitely gave their all in this event, and stole the show even before the battle royal main event occurred that night; if they ever had another match similar to this one, I would indeed watch it.

Here are the match results from Oberhausen…

Match #1: Amboss defeated LSG, Aigle Blanc, Senza Volto & Peter Tihanyi.

Amboss attempted to blindside their opponents until LSG and his teammates hit them with superkicks followed by diving attacks until LSG and Icarus came in to start the match. Near the end, LSG assisted Tihanyi who hit Amboss with a springboard 450. Aigle Blanc and Senza Volto went for a double tope suicida until it was blocked before LSG was pulled out of the ring; then, Aigle Blanc and Senza Volto hit Amboss with stereo moonsaults from one corner. Then, after LSG, Aigle Blanc and Tihanyi triple teamed on Robert Dreissker in the ring, the three and Senza Volto dogpiled on him until Laurance Roman, Icarus and Dover broke up the pin. While the rest of Amboss dealt with LSG, Aigle Blanc and Senza Volto at ringside, Dreissker almost made Tihanyi hit the referee before taking him down and winning with the Dreissker Bomb. Afterwards, Dreissker brought in two steel chairs and put Tihanyi’s left arm in one chair and attempted to hit it with the other chair until Elijah Blum ran in to stop the attack; LSG’s team and Blum fought Dreissker, Roman and Icarus out of the ring, then trapped Dover’s left arm in one chair and—courtesy of Senza Volto (after Tihanyi refused at first)—hit it with the other chair. My score: 3/5

Match #2: Calypso defeated Baby Allison by count out; Allison is still the wXw Women’s Champion.

Calypso took the championship belt from Allison and licked it before the match. Both women fought at ringside and then on the apron towards the end of the match; both wrestlers booted each other, and Calypso was able to get back in the ring while Allison was counted out. My score: 2.5/5

Match #3: Bobby Gunns defeated Axel Tischer.

During the match, Gunns blocked the Liger Bomb, leading to the two exchanging sleepers until Gunns put Tischer in an octopus; Tischer grabbed the ropes until Gunns rolled him up for two. The two then exchanged suplexes until Gunns worked on Tischer’s fingers before punting him down for two; Tischer recovered and hit Gunns with a sit out uranage until Gunns put his foot on the bottom rope, then Gunns came back with the Ehrenmann Driver and a running punt for the win. Both wrestlers shook hands and hugged afterwards. My score: 5/5

Match #4: Tristan Archer defeated Ahura to retain the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship.

Before the match started, Norman Harras fined Ahura €100 for taunting him during his entrance. Archer and Ahura fought into the crowd where Ahura had Archer in a fan’s chair and booted him off, then later on, Archer sent Ahura into the ring steps, and then punched his seated opponent—on another fan’s chair—before the two got back in the ring where minutes later Archer (after the La Terreur was blocked) hit Ahura with a discus forearm for one. Later on, Archer hit Ahura with the Decapite for a near fall, then went for the Coup d’État until Ahura threw him out of the ring with a hurricanrana; the two fought on the apron until Ahura got back in and kneed Archer off the apron before hitting him with a springboard corkscrew crossbody. Ahura then brought Archer back in the ring and hit him with a leg assisted DDT followed by his own Coup d’État for a near fall. The end of the match saw Archer hit Ahura with a top rope Samoan drop followed by the Coup d’État for the win. My score: 3.75/5

Main event: Levaniel won the Shortcut To the Top.

Order of entry: Peter Tihanyi, Fast Time Moodo, Nikita Charisma, Michael Schenkenberg, Dover (who was eliminated by injury courtesy of Tihanyi), Aytac, Aigle Blanc, Jurn Simmons, Vincent Heisenberg, Bobby Gunns, Jacob Crane, Alpha Kevin, Danny Fray, Laurance Roman, Michael Knight, Rambo, Elijah Blum, Tengkwa, Teoman, Mike Schwarz, Axel Tischer, Icarus, Senza Volto, Maggot, Orsi, Levaniel, Norman Harras, Hektor Invictus, LSG and Robert Dreissker. Post-match, Levaniel said that he was coming for Tristan Archer before thanking the fans for coming and support; Archer came from the crowd and blindsided and beat down Levaniel, then left. My score: 4/5

NXT Halloween Havoc

It’s time to head to Orlando, Florida in the United States, so bring your Halloween costumes along with the décor and candy, bring Chucky from the “Child’s Play” franchise (as well as the TV series “Chucky”) since he goes well together with WWE and WCW, and cue “They Only Love You When You’re Dead” by Blame My Youth because—with Quincy Elliott and Shotzi as the hosts—it’s time to look back at NXT Halloween Havoc!

For the first time in NXT history, Halloween Havoc was a pay-per-view/premium live event and not a special episode of NXT like it was last year and the year before. This event was of course named after the WCW pay-per-view event of the same name that lasted from 1989 to 2000, with the first two events held when WCW was part of the National Wrestling Alliance. Interestingly, for those of you keeping score at home, I noticed that NXT Halloween Havoc took place in three consecutive eras…the black-and-gold era back in 2020, the multicolored “2.0” era last year, and the current white-and-gold era this year.

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Six matches took place that night with three NXT championship belts on the line (with the tag team belts—for both men’s and women’s divisions—saved for this week’s episode NXT), and there were three one-on-one matches that were two “Spin the Wheel: Make the Deal” matches (one was a Weapons Wild match courtesy of Grayson Waller who spun the wheel) and one ambulance match; the only match that didn’t have a special stipulation like the rest of the matches did was the NXT Women’s Championship match between Mandy Rose and Alba Fyre. Out of the six matches that took place that night, my favorites would have to go to the ladder match—for the then-vacant NXT North American Championship—that kicked off the event, and the triple threat main event match that saw the NXT Championship on the line.

The NXT North American Championship ladder match was indeed what today’s generation—as well as the Brawling Brutes—would call a “banger.” Not only did we see hard-hitting moments that did or didn’t involve ladders, but also some “blink and you’ll miss it” moments such as dives that occurred in and outside the ring. Yes, all five competitors were often like James Bond’s drinks “shaken not stirred”, but in the end, Wes Lee emerged from the chaos and carnage and took the belt hanging from the ceiling for the win. I don’t think I have yet seen any ladder matches—including TLC matches—that have disappointed me one bit, and this one was very good from start to finish.

The main event match—as I noted—saw the NXT Championship on the line, with Bron Breakker taking on two NXT UK alumni JD McDonagh and Ilja Dragunov. Putting aside McDonagh driving a wedge into Breakker and Dragunov and wanting two of his opponents to tear each other apart before picking up the scraps, this three-way dance was also a hard-hitting war. In the end, Breakker continued his second NXT Championship reign by defeating the sinister “Irish Ace” McDonagh and the explosive “Czar” Dragunov.

Here are the Halloween Havoc results from Orlando…

Match #1: Wes Lee defeated Nathan Frazer, Oro Mensah, Von Wagner (w/ Mr. Stone) and Carmelo Hayes (w/ Trick Williams)

in a ladder match to become the new NXT North American Champion. Williams, dressed up as Hugh Hefner, narrated for Carmelo Hayes from the stage and had a video snippet of Hayes saying “rest in piss” while spilling a bottle in the ring while Hayes appeared at the entryway spilling a bottle and sending the “rest in piss” message to his opponents. One of the moments that occurred during the match was Hayes climbing up until Frazer dropkicked him and the ladder, causing Hayes to fall off; then, Lee—as if he were on top of a falling tree—landed on Frazer while riding on top of another ladder. Then, Hayes came back and hit Mensah with a springboard leg drop onto a ladder, then Frazer hit Hayes with a springboard Spanish fly onto another ladder. Later on, Lee climbed up until Williams ran in and tipped the ladder, causing Lee to fall off and into his opponents; this led to Williams and Mr. Stone climbing to the top of the ladder to get the belt, and Mr. Stone hit Williams with one of his shoes until Williams tipped the ladder, causing him to fall off and stumble out of the ring. Wagner, at ringside, set up a larger ladder and bridging it between the barricade—almost hitting a fan during the setup—and the ring until Frazer surprised him by putting him through the bridging ladder with a top rope crossbody. Then, Lee brought in another large ladder until Wagner went after him; Lee started to climb up until Wagner took him off the ladder and threw him out of the ring and into the announce table. Frazer and Mensah went after Wagner, including hitting him with a smaller ladder and sending him over the barricade while beating him down; the two then climbed up to the belt until Mensah knocked Frazer off before Hayes came back in hit Mensah with another ladder before bridging it between the larger ladder and the ropes. Lee came back in by running up a ladder that was leaning between the ropes and the announce table—ala Shelton Benjamin—and fought Hayes at the top of the ladder before hitting him with a senton onto the bridging ladder; Lee then climbed up and fended off Hayes—who was trying to reach him while looking like he was riding the bridging ladder like a rocking horse—before grabbing the belt for the win. My score: 4/5

Match #2: Apollo Crews defeated Grayson Waller in a casket match.

This stipulation was chosen after Shotzi spun the “Spin the Wheel: Make the Deal” wheel for the two in the pre-show. The druids came to the ring and set up a casket at ringside before the two wrestlers came in. Early in the match, Waller hit Crews with a tightrope elbow drop, and sat up like the Undertaker until Crews did the same thing. The two then brawled out of the ring and to the entryway before spilling to the announce table where Waller used Vic Joseph’s pen as a weapon, hitting Crews in the eye with it. The two then fought at the top rope until Waller hit Crews in the eye, causing him to fall off and through the casket; Waller declared himself the winner even though the only way to win is to put the opponent inside the casket and close it shut. Suddenly, the lights went out, and when they came back on, the druids and Crews reappeared with a second casket before Waller fought him back into the ring. Crews had Waller in the casket until Waller fought back and used the lid as a weapon before putting him into the casket; Crews blocked the closing attempt until Waller fell in and the two went at it inside the casket. After Waller hit Crews with a through-the-ropes cutter, he went for the Tombstone until Crews hit him with what looked like an upside down lungblower; the two then fought on the apron until Crews hit Waller with a chokeslam into the casket before closing it shut for the win. My score: 3.75/5

Match #3: Roxanne Perez defeated Cora Jade in a Weapons Wild match.

Roxanne came with a trashcan that had a skateboard inside. Besides trashcans and a skateboard, Cora’s kendo stick, trashcan lids, brooms, an aerosol can, steel chairs, a rope and a chain were also used as weapons. (Roxanne also brought out a table from under the ring and propped it against the barricade, but it wasn’t used for some reason.) Some moments during the match include Cora putting Roxanne in a trashcan and kicking and stomping her trapped opponent out of the ring, and also Roxanne using Cora’s stick as a weapon before—taking a page out of the Sandman’s playbook—hitting her with a White Russian for a near fall. Near the end, Roxanne chased Cora into the crowd and onto the stage until Cora slammed her on the stage; Cora then took apart the railing on the stage until Roxanne punched her and then hit her with a side Russian leg sweep off the stage and through a table. Then, Cora fought back and went for a suplex onto a pile of chairs until Roxanne countered with a back body drop onto the chairs before winning with the Pop Rox on the chairs. My score: 3.75/5

Match #4: Julius Creed defeated Damon Kemp in an ambulance match.

If Kemp won, Brutus Creed would be kicked out of NXT. Kemp came into the ring with a chair reading “JULIUS.” Julius threw pumpkins, that were part of the Halloween Havoc décor, from the entryway before dropkicking the chair into Kemp seconds before the bell rang. The two then fought to the ambulance that was parked at the back of the WWE Performance Center until Kemp used a crutch to pretend Julius from closing the doors before throwing more crutches at him. A fire extinguisher, a bottom portion of steel stairs, a wheelchair, a stretcher, the ring bell and the timekeeper’s table were also weapons used in this bout. During the match, after Kemp hit Julius with a uranage onto the bottom portion of the stairs, Julius fought back and put Kemp in a wheelchair and used the crutch as a seatbelt for him before wheeling him face first into the steps; Kemp got rid of the crutch while Julius was taking him to the ambulance until Julius yanked him down by the wheelchair. Towards the end, Kemp tossed Julius into a bin and sent him into the ambulance; Julius was blocking Kemp’s attempt of closing the doors, slamming the door onto his opponent’s fingers. Julius fought back and walloped him several times with the “JULIUS” chair before hitting him with a powerbomb through the stretcher and clotheslining the chair into him; he then put Kemp in the ambulance and closed the doors for the win. Julius celebrated with his brother Brutus and Ivy Nile in the ring afterwards. My score: 3.5/5

Match #5: Mandy Rose defeated Alba Fyre to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.

In the pre-show, Alba invited Toxic Attraction to a haunted house, and Mandy accepted it despite Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne being nervous about entering the house. As soon as the three entered the house, Toxic Attraction split up—despite Jacy thinking it’s a bad idea after seeing split-ups going awry in horror movies—to look for Alba; Jacy was surprised by a moving statue and a theater with skeletons before she was taken by Alba (who was sporting a half skull, kind of like Darby Allin’s face paint except it’s black and orange), Gigi encountered a dining room with a couple monsters and a Chucky doll before Alba fought her to a freezer that had a man with two axes inside (no, it wasn’t Dexter Lumis in case you missed it…lol…), and Mandy was surprised by a man with a scythe (looking like a grim reaper) and the pipe organ playing by itself before Alba fought her.

(A Jack O’Lantern monster—kind of like the one from the “Spider-Man” franchise—and a zombie surprised Mandy before Alba fought back.) Alba then put Mandy in Toxic Attraction’s Range Rover, fended off Gigi and Jacy, and drove away. Then, as the ambulance—from Damon Kemp vs. Julius Creed—was leaving, Alba drove to the WWE Performance Center and fought Mandy—who got out of the vehicle—to the ring to start the match. Near the end, Alba hit Mandy with a Swanton until Gigi and Jacy—despite what happened to them in the haunted house—appeared and pulled the referee out of the ring; Jacy got on the apron and Alba hit her with a super kick, knocking her off the apron and into the referee. Mandy went for the Kiss By the Rose, but Alba blocked it and hit her with a headbutt followed by the Fyre Bomb; Alba then put the referee back in the ring until Gigi and Jacy took her down before Mandy won with the Kiss By the Rose. My score: 1/5

Main event: Bron Breakker defeated JD McDonagh and Ilja Dragunov in a triple threat match to retain the NXT Championship.

Breakker’s entrance had two tombstones reading “Ilja Dragunov” and “JD McDonagh”, and he knocked down both of them with a shovel. Breakker and Dragunov fought over fighting McDonagh in a corner and argued until McDonagh blindsided Breakker. Later on, Breakker and Dragunov were having a slugfest while on their knees until they noticed McDonagh laughing and applauding at the two who then went after him. Dragunov hit Breakker with a fist drop for two, then McDonagh hit Dragunov with a 450 before pinning him and then Breakker for two; McDonagh then hit Breakker with a brainbuster for two. Towards the end, Dragunov attempted to hit McDonagh with a German suplex trifecta until Breakker hit the two with a German suplex of his own; Breakker then hit Dragunov with a Steiner bulldog until McDonagh broke up the pin and covered Dragunov for two. Breakker whipped McDonagh out of the ring, then attempted to hit Dragunov with a spear until Dragunov countered with a jumping knee before hitting him with a senton bomb and the Torpedo (now back to being called “Torpedo Moscow”); McDonagh stopped the referee from counting to three, then exchanged punches with Dragunov at ringside before hitting him with a Spanish fly on the floor. McDonagh grabbed a steel chair and attempted to hit Dragunov with it, but missed, and it allowed Dragunov to hit him with the Torpedo Moscow; Dragunov then came back in the ring and went for the Torpedo Moscow until Breakker hit him with a spear for the win. My score: 4/5

ICW Fight Club

Now, we head to the Asylum in Glasgow, Scotland in the United Kingdom for an episode of ICW Fight Club.

As I predicted, we’re going to see Dylan Thorn take on ADM at Fear & Loathing XIV, but we then learned that it will be more than just a match. The episode kicked off with Thorn saying that booting ADM on last week’s episode was “[f-bombing] amazing”, and that ADM deserves more than just a boot in the face which then led to Thorn challenging him to a match at F&L. Then, the Manifesto’s theme song played, and the members Grant McIvor, Eddie Castle and Moxie Malone appeared at the entryway, leading to ADM coming from the crowd and attacking Thorn from behind with a steel chair; the Manifesto beat down Thorn before ADM sat down and stared at him while he was unconscious until the Young Team and Angel Hayze appeared and fought McIvor, Castle and Moxie out of the ring, through the crowd, and out of the arena. Afterwards, ADM saw Thorn recover and hit him with a chokeslam backbreaker, then upped the ante by making their match at F&L a last man standing match. You can tell already—even before the match was made with the last man standing stipulation thrown in—that this rivalry is going to be an all-out war as we’re approximately a month away from F&L; I kind of figured that Thorn getting kicked out of the group made him reach his boiling point from the word “go”, and a match with a stipulation such as last man standing is definitely one way to see him take his frustrations out of the Manifesto’s self-proclaimed prophet.

There were three matches that took place this week on ICW Fight Club, and they were pretty damn good. The best of the three however would go to the main event between BT Gunn and—returning to ICW singles action in a long time—Sha Samuels.

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You may recall that at last year’s F&L, Sha Samuels returned to ICW—as a “one night only” thing—to team with his Kinky Party colleague Jack Jester to take on then-Thatcher’s Cabinet members Charles Vyce and Ian Skinner. This time, his first ICW match—post-NXT UK—was a one-on-one match with the current King of Insanity. It was definitely a hard hitting battle between the two, and despite seeing how a result was made that had the fans ticked off, it was still good seeing this match from start to finish; not only did we see what the two had in store, but also Gunn’s great portrayal of an arrogant heel and Samuels showing no signs of the metaphoric ring rust after getting back in the ring as a competitor. Here are the match results from Glasgow…

Match #1: Rhio defeated Kasey (w/ Molly Spartan).

This was a rematch from last year’s Fear & Loathing. During the match, Molly grabbed Rhio’s leg to distract her until Kasey told her not to do so because she wanted to get the job done on her own. Near the end, after Kasey hit Rhio with Off With Her Head for a near fall, she wanted to use Molly’s ICW Women’s Championship belt as a weapon, but Molly refused to do so; the She-Wolves then argued until Rhio hit Kasey with a super kick from behind before winning with a package piledriver. The two argued backstage afterwards, with Molly blaming Kasey for not winning and then thinking about who to defend the title against at F&L XIV. My score: 3.75/5

Match #2: Daz Black defeated Logan Smith (w/ The Wee Man) in a non-title match.

Before the match started, the Wee Man decided to be polite and not mess with Black or his physique despite seeing him as a “different species”; he then told the fans to get ready for the match between “two of the UK’s leading lads.” Black went for the Curbstomp early until Smith rolled him up for a close two count. Black showcased some unique maneuvers such as a rollup converted into what looked like a pumphandle suplex, a standing corkscrew moonsault (for a two count), and a sliding through-the-ropes tornado DDT on the floor. Smith made a comeback until Black countered a slingshot cutter attempt with a powerbomb for two, and then hit him with the Curbstomp followed by—sending a message to his F&L opponent Theo Doros—the Fall From Olympus elbow drop for the win. My score: 3/5

Main event: BT Gunn defeated Sha Samuels.

Samuels came into the ring with the same theme song he used during his time on NXT UK. After Samuels hit Gunn with the Mug Smasher spinebuster, the K.O.E. and Denise appeared; when the referee wasn’t looking, “Jackie Polo” ran in and hit Samuels with a low blow and then struck him with his polo mallet before Gunn pinned him for the win. After the match, the K.O.E. beat down Samuels, and then “Polo” said that this beating was what Samuels deserved for putting his hands on him in Cardiff; he then challenged Samuels to “a nice lovely singles match” at F&L XIV. My score: 4.25/5

NXT

Returning to Orlando, it’s time for an episode of NXT.

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To quote alternative singer/songwriter Lorde, “We live in cities you’ll never see on-screen, not very pretty but we sure know how to see things, living in ruins of a palace of my dreams, and you know we’re on each other’s team.” Not only did this week’s episode of NXT give us the aftermath of Halloween Havoc, but it was also known as “Tag Team Title Tuesday.” As noted in the Halloween Havoc recap, the tag team championship belts were saved for this week’s episode. The NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship match kicked off the episode at the top of the 8PM hour, as did the NXT Tag Team Championship match at the top of the 9PM hour.

I’m pretty sure that those of you that wanted to see those tag team championships defended on either an episode of NXT or an NXT pay-per-view/premium live event had this question (even though we waited until after Halloween Havoc to see the belts on the line per se)…“Was it worth the wait?” The answer is one simple word…“Yes.” I say that because both tag team championship bouts were indeed amazing and were my favorite matches of the episode.

The episode kicked off with the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship on the line; Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defended the belts against Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark. Like the veteran team of Kayden and Katana, Nikkita and Zoey worked like a well-oiled machine as well—from team continuity to metaphorically cutting the ring in half with “divide and conquer” strategies—regardless of how long the two wrestlers worked as a team. Even though the near end of the match had something similar to what we saw in wXw Dead End 2022 (even though this match didn’t have a stipulation where the losing team got kicked out of upcoming events per se), it was still great seeing both teams giving their all with gold on the line. Halfway through the episode, the second half began with the NXT Tag Team Championship bout; Pretty Deadly defended the belts against rising stars Malik Blade & Edris Enofé. For the second time on NXT, Blade and Enofé came real close to winning gold (the first time was against the Creed Brothers of course); unfortunately, Pretty Deadly came out on top even with a few devious tactics (definitely rare to see heels such as Pretty Deadly not using a lot of sneaky tactics unless I was seeing things) up the sleeves of Elton Prince and Kit Wilson. Yes, Pretty Deadly is doing very well on continuing their reign as NXT Tag Team Champions, but never say never when it comes to seeing Blade and Enofé giving tag teams on NXT a run for their money or, in this case, gold.

Here are the NXT results from Orlando…

Match #1: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defeated Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship.

During the match, Kayden and Katana fought their opponents out of the ring and went for crossbodies from the apron until Nikkita and Zoey caught them and—in stereo—slammed them on the floor. Near the end, Kayden blind tagged in and was knocked off the apron by Zoey; Katana attempted to boot Zoey until Zoey rolled her up for the win. Afterwards, the referee was informed that Kayden was the legal competitor and not Katana, leading to the match being restarted. Both teams went at it, and Katana hit Zoey with a top rope Spanish Fly for a close near fall, then after Kayden and Nikkita were tagged in, Nikkita hit Kayden with a jumping heel kick and a leg split leg drop until Katana broke up the pin. Then, Kayden and Katana won after hitting Nikkita with a neckbreaker/450 combo; this loss also marked the end of Nikkita’s undefeated streak on NXT. My score: 4.25/5

Match #2: Shotzi (w/ Quincy Elliott) defeated Lash Legend in almost four minutes.

This match was made after Lash argued with Shotzi and Elliott over who would host Halloween Havoc. Also, Elliott was in the ring, doing the introduction for Shotzi whom he called “everybody’s favorite scream queen.” During the match, Lash shooed away Elliott while going after Shotzi until Elliott taunted her. Shotzi won after hitting Lash with a leg trapped DDT (known as the “Never Wake Up”). My score: 1/5

Match #3: Brutus Creed (w/ Julius Creed) vs. Damon Kemp never occurred; the match, that Brutus wanted if Julius won at Halloween Havoc, was scheduled to have a five-minute time limit.

Julius revealed that he was in a lot of pain by showing the bruises on his fingers due to the ambulance match, and Brutus thanked him for winning before vowing to beat Kemp’s ass. Kemp appeared on the screen and said that Julius got lucky, and then said that he wasn’t medically cleared to compete; as soon as Kemp disappeared, Brutus said that Kemp’s “ass whipping” will get worse every time he makes him wait. All of the sudden, Indus Sher—Veer Mahaan and Sanga—came from the crowd and attacked the Creed Brothers. Then, Ivy Nile walked by the two, asked “Why?” to them, and then checked on Brutus and Julius. No score.

Match #4: Pretty Deadly defeated Malik Blade & Edris Enofé to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship.

Blade—after the hot tag—cleaned house on Elton Prince and Kit Wilson, and then hit them with a tope con giro before coming back in and hitting Prince with a top rope crossbody for two. Blade & Enofé went for the Climax twice, but it was blocked; Pretty Deadly went for Spilled Milk until Blade countered with a rollup to Prince for two, then—after Wilson knocked Enofé off the apron—Pretty Deadly came back with the Spilled Milk and won. My score: 4.25/5

Match #5: Indi Hartwell defeated Sol Ruca in a little over a minute.

Indi, who wore “Scream” inspired ring gear, clotheslined Sol several times near the end before winning with a blindsiding forearm (ala Karrion Kross). Suddenly, after the match, Elektra Lopez ran in and attacked the two wrestlers. My score: 0.5/5

(NOTE: You may have noticed that Elektra Lopez was flying solo; this is because the rest of Legado del Fantasma—Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz del Toro—are now on SmackDown with Zelina Vega replacing Elektra.)

Main event: JD McDonagh defeated Ilja Dragunov.

This match definitely had a lot of NXT UK vibes since it was a renewed rivalry. Dragunov, whose right ribs were taped, yanked McDonagh off the top rope seconds before the bell rang. Early in the match, McDonagh worked on Dragunov’s ribs and then shoved him off the apron and into the announce table; the referee and EMTs checked on him until he said that he was able to continue. Towards the end, Dragunov came back and hit McDonagh with a superplex and a fist drop, but was unable to hit him with the Torpedo Moscow due to his ribs. He then attempted to hit McDonagh with it until McDonagh countered with a bodyscissors/crossface combo; Dragunov, who bled from the mouth, was incapacitated and McDonagh won. After the match, Dragunov was stretchered out of the arena while McDonagh watched and smiled. My score: 3.75/5

NXT: LVL UP

Staying in Orlando, we wrap things up with an episode of NXT: LVL UP.

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Out of the three matches that took place, the main event was my favorite; it has been a long time since we’ve seen Trick Williams in singles competition, and he took on Brooks Jensen. Even though Williams wasn’t accompanied by Carmelo Hayes—who was probably resting due to the ladder match he participated in at Halloween Havoc—on that episode, he still didn’t let the numbers game throw him off track whatsoever.

Williams still does a make great singles competitor besides a tag team partner and manager as we’ve seen on both NXT and NXT: LVL UP. The same would go to Brooks Jensen whom we’ve seen in singles competition on occasion, and I still remember him as a singles competitor outside the WWE back when he competed as Ben Buchanan in Anarchy Wrestling in Cornelia, Georgia. (I believe he teamed with his father Bull Buchanan one time in that company!) Both wrestlers were indeed amazing in their singles match on that episode, and in the end, it was Briggs who was the winner.

Here are the NXT: LVL UP results from Orlando…

Match #1: Stacks defeated Tank Ledger.

Tony D’Angelo joined Sudu Shah and Byron Saxton on commentary. Ledger’s left fingers were worked on. Stacks won after hitting Ledger with a back elbow, a boot and a running basement elbow. My score: 1.5/5

Match #2: Thea Hail (w/ Andre Chase) defeated Jakara Jackson.

Duke Hudson was in the Chase U section; he substituted for Bodhi Hayward—who has been MIA as we’ve seen in the Chase U segment—especially as the flag bearer. Also, this was Jakara’s debut. Thea won with a headlock driver. My score: 1.5/5

Main event: Brooks Jensen (w/ Josh Briggs) defeated Trick Williams.

Williams countered a top rope crossbody with an uppercut, then hit Jensen with a running neckbreaker for two; then, Jensen rolled up Williams for two before winning with a scissors kick. My score: 2.5/5

Next time…

My current usual three along with a belated recap of—as of this writing—one of the five Progress events that came to Peacock.

For my newsletters as well as any articles that are on the Wrestling With Johners website, the website is wrestlingwithjohners.com/articles

For just my newsletters on the WWJ website, it is wrestlingwithjohners.com/authors/pro-darin/

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment! I’ll see you next time!

Also, have a happy and safe Halloween!

(Photos shown in the newsletter are from WWE, wXw and ICW.)