WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Review - October 25, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater and Je'Von Evans def. Mr. Iguana and La Parka

As a match that didn't matter from a storyline standpoint (it was only just announced on NXT a few days ago) but was always going to be enjoyable from an in-ring standpoint, it was smart to have this serve as the opener. The crowd was into this and all four guys delivered. I still want Slater vs. Evans one-on-one again at some point, but I'm down for them teaming in the meantime.

NXT North American Champion Ethan Page def. AAA Latin American Champion El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. in a Day of the Dead Match (AAA Latin American Championship Was Not Defended)

Didn't Lucha Underground have a Day of the Dead match back in the day? I'm sure it was way more epic than this. WWE's Street Fight are all the same, but it was a good brawl nonetheless as they made the most of the stipulation. The only thing it suffered from was a predictable outcome. Sure, Wagner's been featured quite a bit on NXT TV in the last month or two, but I didn't think his title was in jeopardy of changing hands for a single second.

Blake Monroe def. Zaria to Win the NXT Women's North American Championship

Zaria defended the title on the "injured" Sol Ruca's behalf. The match itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but I applaud their storytelling with Ruca cheering on Zaria from ringside and the implication that there will be some dissension between them coming out of this. Monroe needed this victory coming off her loss at No Mercy to Jordynne Grace, and I'm glad she has gold so soon into her NXT run.

Tatum Paxley def. Jacy Jane to Win the NXT Women's Championship

With where this was positioned on the show, I didn't think Paxley would actually capture the title, but I'm very happy to have been wrong. To her credit, Jane did come into her own during her reign as NXT Women's Champion, but it was time to switch it up and I love that Paxley was the one to dethrone her. She's a fresh face, is a fan favorite and has improved immensely over the years. The tease of Izzi Dame almost hitting Paxley with the belt only to go for Jane instead was well done, too.

DarkState (Dion Lennox and Osiris Griffin) def. TNA World Tag Team Champions The Broken Hardys in a Broken Rules Match to Win the NXT Tag Team Championship (TNA World Tag Team Championship Was Not Defended)

Based on the vignette that aired on Tuesday's NXT, I thought this might be a cinematic match (a la Ultimate Deletion), but it probably made more sense for it to be an actual matchup since the crowd paid to see The Hardys in person, not on a screen. We already got a No Disqualification match earlier on and this was a little too similar to that in my opinion (though it was more TLC than No Disqualification), but it was still fun for what it was. I just hated how all of DarkState interfered in a majority of it, essentially making it a four-on-two Handicap bout. That made The Hardys look stupid for not bringing in backup, but I get that this was designed to protect them in defeat. I'm sorry but DarkState do nothing for me, so I would've rather seen them lose the belts to Slater and Evans or another team. The Broken Hardys appearing in front of a WWE crowd for the first time was cool, though.

NXT Champion Ricky Saints def. Trick Williams

For a main event that came together on a whim, this was perfectly passable. The problem is that it never hit that next gear and it didn't have a big fight feel to me. Williams just lost the TNA World Championship and the odds of him regaining the NXT Championship here were slim, so it was a main event that lacked drama. I can't even say it was underwhelming because I didn't have high hopes to begin with, but this would have benefited from either being an NXT TV main event or having a longer build.

Overall Show

With three titles changing hands, I was not expecting this event to be as newsworthy as it was. Amazingly, the main event was one of the least interesting aspects of the show. That's not a knock on Saints or Williams but rather the booking. I love Halloween Havoc, but NXT doesn't need monthly premium live events. They're not necessary if a lot of this stuff we can see on any average edition of NXT TV. Despite all that, this was a thumbs-up event and a slight step above some of the other PLEs NXT has produced this year.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews