NXT Halloween Havoc 2024: The Women Steal the Show, and Oba Femi Needs Four People to Lose

Tony D'Angelo and Oba Femi start as though Halloween Havoc has a thirty-minute curfew. Tony interrupts the introductions, attacks immediately and spears Femi through the barricade before the audience has time to settle. The urgency helps because their rematch does not need another long explanation. Tony already took the North American Championship. Femi is here to prove that one loss did not change the power relationship.

The weapons fit the wrestlers better than they fit most gimmick matches. Femi uses chairs, ladders and the crowbar as extensions of his strength rather than excuses to stop wrestling. His running uppercut sends Tony through a table with enough force that the furniture looks incidental. Tony answers with belly-to-belly suplexes, the spinebuster and a willingness to attack from positions where Femi cannot simply overwhelm him.

The ladder-bridge spear is the best spot. Tony breaks free after being tied to the rope and launches both men from the apron through the ladder that has been waiting beside the commentary area. It pays off something established much earlier instead of introducing another weapon only for the finish.

The ending is where the match becomes politically strange. Femi destroys Stacks and Luca, takes the crowbar from Rizzo and still gets attacked by all three members of the Family. The Shatter Machine onto a chair and Tony's spinebuster through the table finally keep him down. The champion retains, but the challenger has required a small organization to defeat him.

B+ / 8.3 reflects very good violence with a compromised finish. TJR and Pantoja both give it 3.75 stars, and Pro Wrestling Dot Net voters place it second in the Match of the Night poll. WrestleFile agrees with that range. The match is exciting, physical and well paced.

The most important result may be what happens to Femi's perception. Losing twice to Tony could have damaged him. Needing four people to make the second loss possible does the opposite. NXT removes Femi from the North American title without convincing anyone that the division has actually surpassed him.

The women's tag is the cleanest match on the event because it trusts the wrestlers more than the furniture. Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer already move like a team despite being presented primarily as major singles acquisitions. Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade have the longer friendship but also the more fragile personalities. The match uses those differences without turning every exchange into a storyline speech.

Vaquer is the standout whenever the pace accelerates. Her headbutts, dragon screw and running knees create immediate reactions, while Giulia provides the harder strikes and the most important late setup. Roxanne remains the smoothest wrestler in transitions, and Cora works effectively as the partner willing to interrupt whenever the challengers appear to have control.

The match improves steadily instead of emptying its best material early. Double submissions create symmetry, the four-way strike sequence gives everyone a moment, and the outside dives finally bring the crowd fully into the match. The closing sequence is excellent because it combines both winners rather than asking one woman to disappear while the other finishes.

Giulia hits the avalanche double-underhook suplex on Roxanne, Vaquer tags in and lands the corkscrew dive for the pin on the NXT Women's Champion. The result immediately tells the audience that both newcomers belong near the title. Zaria then appears above them, silently adding another name to a division that already looks overcrowded in the best possible way.

B+ / 8.4 makes this WrestleFile's Match of the Night. Pantoja gives it four stars, TJR gives it 3.5 and 46 percent of Pro Wrestling Dot Net voters select it as the best match. WrestleFile lands slightly above the opener because the finish is cleaner and the wrestling never has to recover from a questionable alignment choice.

The hindsight is strong too. Giulia, Vaquer and Zaria all become major players in the months that follow. Halloween Havoc does not need to announce that future. It simply places them near Roxanne Perez and lets the division look deeper than almost any other part of WWE at the time.

Ridge Holland and Andre Chase have a personal enough rivalry to justify a violent match. Holland betrayed Chase University, injured Andre and attacked the people around him. The problem is not motivation. The problem is that an Ambulance Match creates only one finishing idea, and fourteen minutes gives the wrestlers too many opportunities to repeat it.

The early brawling is competent. Chase uses the fire extinguisher, stretcher and kendo stick, while Holland works with the heavier throws and tries to turn every transition into a march toward the vehicle. Moving back and forth between the ring and entrance area repeatedly drains momentum because neither location becomes dangerous enough to feel decisive.

The crowd comes alive for the more theatrical material. Chase throws the pumpkin, climbs the ambulance and dives onto Holland, giving the match the Halloween image it had been missing. That sequence also creates the strongest false finish when Chase nearly closes the doors.

Holland survives, attacks the eyes, uses the ambulance door and hits the Redeemer on the floor before finally loading Chase inside. The result is correct for Holland's upward push, but the match has spent enough time teasing door closures that the actual ending feels more procedural than dramatic.

C- / 5.8 reflects a below-average grudge match rather than a disaster. TJR and Pantoja both give it 2.75 stars, while Bleacher Report grades it even more harshly. WrestleFile gives credit for Chase's commitment and the ambulance dive but agrees that the stipulation outlasts the idea.

Holland leaves with the win and eventually moves toward the NXT Championship picture. Chase leaves having done almost everything a sympathetic loser can do. The story advances. The match does not make the advance especially memorable.

The Fatal Influence gauntlet has a strong concept for protecting Kelani Jordan and a weak concept for creating suspense. Jordan must defeat all three members of the group while they enter one at a time. The moment Fallon Henley is saved for last, the audience understands that the champion's real opponent is exhaustion as much as any individual wrestler.

Jazmyn Nyx goes first and is eliminated quickly after the 450 splash. Jacy Jayne lasts longer and forces Jordan to work harder, but the structure still functions exactly as expected. Jordan survives the first two stages and reaches Henley already worn down.

Henley benefits from the group's cheap shots and distractions, which is appropriate for Fatal Influence even if it makes the outcome obvious. Jordan repeatedly gets close enough to winning that the championship loss does not feel like a collapse. Nyx and Jayne create the opening, Henley avoids the 450 and finishes with the running knee.

C / 6.1 reflects competent wrestling with limited mystery. TJR gives it 2.75 stars and Pantoja gives it 2.5. Both assessments fit a match that accomplishes what it needs to accomplish without producing much that demands another viewing.

The aftermath is more important than the gauntlet. Zaria appears and destroys all three members of Fatal Influence, immediately presenting herself as somebody who can alter the division. Fallon gets the championship. Kelani gets protected. Zaria gets the larger moment. That is efficient storytelling even if the match itself remains ordinary.

Trick Williams and Ethan Page have enough history that a violent rematch makes sense. Trick regained the NXT Championship from Page on the October 1 CW premiere, and Page spends this match trying to turn the rematch into punishment rather than another wrestling contest. Chairs appear immediately, followed by trash cans, ladders, nuts and bolts, and eventually the steel steps.

The first half is slower than the stipulation suggests. Trick gets the pumpkin spot and Page controls several weapon exchanges, but the match rarely feels as chaotic as its name promises. One especially odd moment arrives when Page uses the bottom rope during a pin attempt and the count pauses despite falls being allowed anywhere. Even commentary recognizes that normal rope-break logic should not matter.

The match becomes much better late. Page drives Trick through the commentary table with the Ego's Edge, officials check the champion, and Trick insists on continuing. Page then tries to finish the job with the steel steps, only for Trick to counter into the strongest exchange of the match. The low blows are inelegant but fit a feud where neither man is pretending to be polite.

Trick hits Page with the steps and follows with the Trick Shot to retain. The result is obvious because Trick has only recently regained the championship, but the final several minutes give Page enough danger to make the champion's survival feel earned.

B- / 7.2 lands between the two most useful full-match reviews. TJR gives it 3.5 stars while Pantoja gives it three. WrestleFile agrees with the middle position: the finish and commentary-table sequence are good, but the match spends too long searching for intensity.

The post-match scene sends attention elsewhere. Ridge Holland attacks Trick, Page joins him, and Bubba Ray Dudley makes the save to a major reaction. The angle works as promotion for the ECW Arena event. It is less successful as the final image of an NXT Championship premium live event, where the champion should probably feel like the largest person in the scene.