WWE NXT Review - October 25, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter def. Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons

This was a smart choice for the opener because it had a really nice energy to it and the crowd was into both teams. Although I'm no fan of Lyons, I think she and Stark compliment each other well and make for a quality team. The false finish should set up a rematch and I'm totally fine with that after what we saw here. This was an example of how women's tag team wrestling can work when crowds care.

Grayon Waller and R-Truth Interrupted NXT North American Champion Wes Lee

​Lee has come a long way on his own this year, and as bummed as I was when MSK had to split due to Nash Carter's release, he made the most of it and is now has a bright future as a singles star. Waller being his first challenger wouldn't make a ton of sense considering he just lost to Apollo Crews at Halloween Havoc, but he'll first have to beat Truth next week. Yes, Truth on NXT is very random, but it was an entertaining bit with Truth thinking he was hosting Halloween Havoc. It was one of those things that was so dumb it was funny.

Shotzi def. Lash Legend

I didn't have the highest of hopes for this match when it was announced because of how Shotzi's matches tend to be hit or miss and Legend is not known for being very good in the ring, but to their credit, they had a passable match that didn't go longer than it needed to. Legend loses on TV far more than she wins, which is expected, but it begs the question if she should even be on the show at all currently. At least she can only improve working with more seasoned stars like Shotzi.

Indus Sher Attacked NXT Tag Team Champion The Creed Brothers

By virtue of Julius Creed's win over Damon Kemp in the Ambulance match at Halloween Havoc, Brutus Creed was supposed to get five minutes with Kemp in the ring here. However, Kemp said he was too hurt to compete, which led to Indus Sher officially reuniting and attacking The Creed Brothers while wearing suits (a la AOP in their final few months with the company). I appreciated how Sanga showed hesitation because he was recently a babyface, but it looks like they'll be a monster heel team going forward.

NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly def. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade

I've praised Enofe and Blade before as being a promising up-and-coming team and I felt they proved that with the showing they had here. Meanwhile, Pretty Deadly are the perfect foils for any babyface tandem and made this bout even better with their facial expressions and mannerisms. I didn't legitimately think Enofe and Blade would take the titles here, but they did gain some credibility in defeat.

Ava Raine Was Revealed as Schism's Newest Member

A mystery masked person has been following Schism backstage for weeks and I just assumed it would be Isla Dawn, who I don't believe was released when NXT UK went under last month. Well, it turned out to be The Rock's daughter Ava Raine instead. I know nothing about her development since she was signed in early 2020 other than I know she was hurt multiple times, so I wish her the best, but being put in Schism doesn't exactly get her NXT career off to the strongest start. The group has some skilled Superstars, but the act itself sucks and I don't expect that to change just behind Raine is now with them.

Indi Hartwell def. Sol Ruca

I thought Hartwell was primed for a main roster call-up in the near future and that could still happen soon depending on the direction of the Dexter Lumis and Miz storyline, but now I'm getting the feeling that NXT just doesn't have anything for her at the moment. She's worked mostly with the newer talent and the matches aren't anything special. Elektra Lopez resurfacing afterward and attacking both women was notable, though.

JD McDonagh def. Ilja Dragunov by Referee Stoppage

These two had an excellent pair of matches at the beginning of the year over the NXT UK Championship, and as seen at Halloween Havoc, they still work wonderfully together. This was another above-average encounter from two very talented individuals as they worked a great pace and had the crowd engaged in the action throughout. The referee stoppage finish protects Dragunov in defeat and indicates the feud will continue.

Overall Show

This was quite the eventful post-Halloween Havoc show with so many people returning and debuting, including a few others I didn't discuss above such as Odyssey Jones and someone named Scrypts. We were also treated to some above-average action between the two tag title matches and the main event, making for a thumbs-up show on the whole. We'll see where all of this stuff is headed and if it will make for a better television program in the weeks ahead.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews