WWE NXT Review - October 17, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Chase U (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) Won the Bada Bing Bada Boom NXT Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Battle Royal

This started out as a Battle Royal and turned into a standard tag team match once it came down to Chase U and Los Lotharios. NXT has done a commendable job of trying new things this past year and this was another example of that. That isn't to say it's never been done before in wrestling, but I certainly don't recall the gimmick previously being done in WWE. The Battle Royal portion was whatever, but the final stretch was quite good. The crowd was behind Chase U throughout and popped for them winning. They'll challenge The Family for the tag titles on Night 1 of Halloween Havoc.

Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams Attacked Baron Corbin and Dijak

Hayes, Corbin and Dijak all took turns interrupting each other, and although the mic work was solid, I was wondering what purpose this was supposed to serve (the main event was already announced last week) until Ilja Dragunov popped up on the big screen and said that Cody Rhodes' last acting as NXT general manager last week was to include Trick Williams in the number one contender's match. He got mysteriously attacked before the main event and it reverted to a Triple Threat, but it's pretty clear Hayes betraying Williams is imminent.

Karmen Petrovic def. Jaida Parker in an NXT Women's Breakout Tournament Quarterfinal Match

I've seen Petrovic wrestle on Level Up a few times and she's been impressive. Most of those matches were against established talent, however, whereas Parker is presumably as inexperienced as she is. Thus, this was rough, but I can't say I'm surprised. This tournament is more about giving these women exposure than it is delivering instant classics. Petrovic advancing to the next round was the right call.

Lyra Valkyria def. Tegan Nox

This marked Nox's first NXT TV match in over three years. Her last match for the brand was back in the summer of 2020, but she suffered an injury that caused her to miss a year of in-ring action. She got called up in July 2021 before being released a few months later. I've been super happy to see her get consistent television time on Raw recently, but I don't think booking this bout made sense. Sure, they worked well together and it gave Valkyria another victory over a notable name, but it didn't do her any favors to win off a distraction from Chelsea Green and Piper Niven at ringside. I enjoyed this for what it was, though.

Shotzi def. Kiana James

Shotzi attacked James on last week's show, so they went one-on-one before Shotzi hosts Halloween Havoc with Scarlett (they host a ghost hunting show together on WWE's YouTube channel) next week. Shotzi isn't exactly my definition of "star power" and I'm not sure what this was supposed to accomplish, but this was fine while it lasted. Roxanne Perez distracting James from ringside furthered their feud and they'll have a Devil's Playground match (whatever that is) next week.

NXT North American Champion "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio and Nathan Frazer Brawled

These two crossed paths backstage last week on the show and at Monday's Raw in an exclusive video on WWE's socials, so Frazer looks to be next in line for a shot at the NXT North American Championship. Frazer is terrific, so I'm all for him doing something meaningful again. This was a basic brawl that saw Frazer stand tall. Could Frazer team with his trainer Seth Rollins against The Judgment Day on Raw one of these days?

Arianna Grace def. Brinley Reece in an NXT Women's Breakout Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Grace was originally scheduled to take on Jakara Jackson here, but Jackson was deemed unable to compete due to an injury and was replaced by Reece, who I'm completely unfamiliar with as I don't remember her ever wrestling on Level Up. Grace is more of the complete package and was the correct choice to make it to the semifinals, though she's definitely losing to Kelani Jordan. This was passable at only three minutes long.

Carmelo Hayes def. Dijak and Baron Corbin in an NXT Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Match

Fun fact: I met/interviewed Hayes and Dijak on the same indie show in Lowell, MA back in April 2016. I've been looking forward to them mixing it up in WWE for a very long time, and while this wasn't one-on-one, it was still cool seeing them mix it up. I'm not complaining about Corbin being added because he had strong chemistry with both guys. This was a really fun Triple Threat and Hayes winning not only sets up a big rubber match between him and Dragunov for Night 2 of Halloween Havoc but also indicates he was responsible for Williams getting attacked so he could be the number one contender again.

Overall Show

Although this was a significant step down from last week's hot, star-studded episode, that was obviously expected, especially ahead of Halloween Havoc. This show was meant to set the stage for both nights of Halloween Havoc and succeeded in that sense. I also really liked that the women got as much television time as they did. Four matches on a two-hour show is awesome, even if the two tourney matches were fairly generic. The main event delivered and that Jade Cargill tease at the end was intriguing. This was a middle-of-the-road episode, but the next two weeks' worth of themed shows should be entertaining.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews