WWE NXT Review - October 1, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez def. Giulia

This was as excellent as you'd expect given both women are top talents. Giulia's an absolute star and the crowd treated her as such. I was fully expecting a Giulia win, but I have no issue with Perez retaining the title with an assist from the returning Cora Jade (a Chicago native). I assume Stephanie Vaquer will help out Giulia against Perez and Jade, but I'm curious what the championship match ends up being for Halloween Havoc.

Wes Lee def. Zachary Wentz in a Street Fight

These two had a fun match at No Mercy and this was even better. They made the most of the stipulation and delivered some sweet spots. Wentz pulled out the surprise win at No Mercy, so it made sense for Lee to avenge the loss here. This felt like the blow-off to the feud, and if so, I'm glad we got to see this story with The Rascalz. I'm curious where Lee goes from here, though. Perhaps back to the NXT Championship picture?

NXT North American Champion Oba Femi and Tony D'Angelo Went Face-to-Face on Miz TV​ Hosted by The Miz

I haven't seen the movie myself (I only just recently saw the first one), but from what I understand, they're telling the Rocky 3 story with D'Angelo, so I have to imagine he'll be the one to dethrone the undefeated Femi next week. This was a solid exchange to hype up next week's championship clash. I don't think it was necessary for them to face off on Miz TV specifically, but I get they wanted to load up this show with as much "star power" as possible.

Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley and Jacy Jane) def. Lola Vice and Jaida Parker

I'm all for featuring fresh faces and getting the CW audience used to some of the regular NXT talent, but this felt out of place on the premiere show considering there was nothing out of the ordinary about it whatsoever. It was perfectly fine from an in-ring standpoint, but this isn't a feud that interests me, personally. Thankfully, Parker walking out on Vice means she's staying heel, which is the right call.

Trick Williams def. Ethan Page to Win the NXT Championship (CM Punk Served as Special Guest Referee)

For a heavily-hyped championship main event in front of a Chicago crowd, this didn't feel like as big of a deal as it should have, even with Punk as the special guest ref. They had an enjoyable main event, but I think I enjoyed Page vs. Joe Hendry from No Mercy more. This was more along the lines of Page and Williams' first meeting at Battleground and that was an average outing, too. It didn't help that the final few minutes felt rushed, including Punk hitting Page with the GTS as the show went off the air.

Overall Show

Surprises were promised, and in a way, this show delivered on this promise. No, we didn't get Motor City Machine Guns (who are reportedly NXT bound) or any other free agents, but Triple H and Shawn Michaels kicked off the show, Belair and Cargill showed up, and Jade returned. Plus, a new NXT Champion being crowned at the end made it a newsworthy night. I'm actually more excited to see how next week's episode goes in front of the smaller crowd in St. Louis (or wherever they'll be emanating from because I know they had to move arenas). The CW premiere wasn't the home run I hoped for, but it was entertaining enough and they filled the two hours a lot better than they normally do.

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