SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NXT TV REPORT
OCTOBER 21, 2025
ORLANDO, FLA. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON THE CW
REPORT BY DAVID MILLER, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
[HOUR ONE]
-Highlights of the Ricky Saints and Trick Williams shenanigans from last week were shown, along with DarkState taking out The Hardy Boyz, Zaria losing to Blake Monroe, and Tatum Paxley winning the battle royal to become the #1 contender to Jacy Jayne’s NXT Women’s Championship.
-The Culling came to the ring, with an elated Tatum Paxley receiving “Tatum” and “you deserve it” chants. She took the mic and excitedly spoke of her journey to get to where she is now. She thanked the fans for their support. Izzi Dame was smiling and acting like she was happy for Paxley. Tatum said she would bring singles gold to The Culling and Dame would be by her side.
-Fatal Influence then came to the ring. Jayne mocked Paxley, calling her a “creepy little weirdo” and told her she had no chance of beating her. She called Paxley barely average and told her she’d have been better off letting Izzi win the battle royal, because at least Izzi would stand a chance. Dame grabbed the mic from Paxley, but Tatum said she’s got it and cut a passionate promo on Jayne, telling her that greatness was expected of her, but not of herself. She guaranteed victory. Fallon Henley insinuated that The Culling would desert her if she lost. Dame said that was rich coming from a couple of women who just kicked their best friend out of their group.
-Jayne told Dame she considered her the leader of The Culling, but now she appeared to be a babysitter. Dame got in Jayne’s face, but Paxley pulled her back and challenged them to a match. Fatal Influence attacked, but were easily fought off by Dame and Paxley as Vance cheered them on and Spears stood back, smiling.
-In the back, Stacks questioned Arianna Grace regarding the comment Santino made about him being a “son-in-law”. She said she may have dropped a few hints. He corrected her when she called him Channing instead of Stacks and asked her not to embarrass him.
-TNA X-Division champ Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans watched as they passed by. They talked about Slater’s upcoming title match and what they were going to do at Halloween Havoc. They seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s company. [c]
(1) LEON SLATER (c) (w/Je’Von Evans) vs. STACKS (w/Arianna Grace) – TNA X-Division Championship Match
Stacks took the early advantage with a stiff elbow to the face, but Slater quickly turned the tide with some fast-paced offense. Trick Williams was shown walking through the parking lot. Stacks fought back with some forearms and a wicked whip into the corner before Slater came back with some more high-flying offense and took the fight to the outside. Evans jokingly sat on the announce desk, grabbed a headset, looked into the camera, and said, “We’ll be right back after this commercial break.” [c]
When they returned, Stacks had an abdominal stretch locked in. He threw the champ gut-first across the top rope and began clubbering him. A suplex variation led to a two count on Slater. He hit a gut-buster for another near fall, but a suplex attempt was reversed into a sunset flip by Slater. Grace got up on the ring apron for some reason, then got inadvertently knocked off the ring apron, where she was caught by Evans. Stacks turned to see Evans holding Grace, and immediately slid out to the floor to confront Evans, who hid behind Grace. Slater dove over the top turnbuckle with a sky-high cannonball right to the face of Stacks, who will probably be wearing the indentation of Slater’s right butt cheek for the rest of the night. He threw Stacks back in the ring and hit a stunning 450 splash for the win.
WINNER: Leon Slater at 10:54 to retain the TNA X-Division Championship.
(Miller’s Take: I really think Leon Slater could wrestle a folding metal chair and get a good match out of it. The guy is just a sight to behold. Stacks, to his credit, kept up with the X-Division champ and played his part to perfection. I can’t wait to see more of him, and I’d love to see him form a team with Evans.)
-After the match, Evans joined Slater in the ring and they pondered the idea of forming a tag team at Halloween Havoc. They said it could be anyone from NXT, TNA, or even anybody from “all…what’s that other?” It did sound as if they were teasing mentioning a promotion that is unmentionable on WWE programming, but Mr. Iguana’s music hit instead. Iguana and La Parka walked out to a huge ovation from the NXT faithful. Iguana said they talked to Ava, and it would be them vs. Evans & Slater at Halloween Havoc.
-Zachary Wentz and Jasper Troy cut promos on each other regarding their Speed tournament match. [c]
(2) ZACHARY WENTZ vs. JASPER TROY – Speed Tournament match
Wentz tried avoiding Troy in the beginning, then used his speed, no pun intended, to chop down the much larger Troy. It was all Wentz in the first minute. He got a near fall in the second minute, but got clobbered as the third minute started and then crushed with a black hole slam.
WINNER: Jasper Troy at 2:01 to advance.
(Miller’s Take: What can I say about these Speed matches? It was quick. Troy didn’t do much except stand there and take some offense the first two minutes before delivering a black hole slam that nearly put Wentz through the mat. I really don’t see anyone beating Troy, but time shall tell.)
TNA Knockouts Champ Kelani Jordan walked up to the locker room door to find all of her stuff lying on the floor. Lola Vice opened the door and told her she was basically being evicted from the NXT women’s locker room for choosing Team TNA. Vice, Kali Armstrong, and Karmen Petrovic exited the locker room, with each of them dumping some things of Jordan’s on the floor as they passed her. Jordynne Grace came to her defense, but Jordan said she didn’t want her help. The locker room door opened again, and Jaida Parker dropped the last of Jordan’s stuff on the floor. Jordan told Grace she was just jealous of her. [c]
-DarkState cut a promo talking about their beatdown of Matt & Jeff Hardy and how they were going to win their NXT tag team titles back. The Hardys then cut a promo of their own as they waded through the Lake of Reincarnation. Matt and Jeff emerged from the lake “broken”. They said the match at Halloween Havoc would be a Broken Rules match. It was over-the-top, cheesy, ridiculous, and wonderfully entertaining.
-Sol Ruca and Zaria were walking in the back. Well, Zaria was walking. Ruca was hobbling with two canes and a heavy knee brace, presumably from being locked into Charlotte Flair’s Figure 8. Zaria asked her if she was sure she wanted to do this, and a dejected Ruca said she was. [c]
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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[HOUR TWO]
-When they returned from the commercial break, Ava was standing in the ring with Sol Ruca and Zaria. Ruca got emotional as she explained that she was injured in their tag team match on Smackdown against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss.
She said she was not cleared to defend her North American title at Halloween Havoc. Blake Monroe came out and said since she was the #1 contender and Ruca couldn’t defend, she should be champion.
-Zaria stepped forward and told Blake you have to EARN titles in NXT, not get handouts. Monroe again chided Zaria for fighting Ruca’s battles for her (which may be more true than we know, if my suspicions of where this is going are right). Ruca agreed with Monroe that NXT needed a North American champion, but Zaria thought for a second, and then told Ruca she had her back and would defend the title in her honor. Monroe threw a fit, but Ava liked the idea and Ruca said she trusted Zaria, so the match was made official. As Monroe screamed at Ava, Zaria hoisted her up and delivered an F5 to her. She grabbed the title from Ruca and held it over Monroe’s head. Ruca looked extremely uncomfortable with the whole scenario.
-The Progressive NXT Spotlight was on Axiom, as he spoke of his upcoming match against Evolve standout “Super” Sean Legacy, who cut a promo of his own. [c]
-A camera was filming through a cracked doorway to catch Tavion Heights and Myles Borne. They were lamenting their recent misfortunes when Josh Briggs walked in and told them they couldn’t be popular with the fans and successful at the same time.
(3) AXIOM vs. SEAN LEGACY – Speed Tournament Match
Both competitors were already in the ring when they cut away from the last segment. Axiom missed a big running dropkick after the bell rang. He missed a second one, and Legacy was in firm control. Axiom quickly took the advantage as the second minute started. A Legacy 450 splash was caught by Axiom, who locked in a submission. Axiom lit up the ring going into the third minute. A series of powerful strikes by both men was followed by a Spanish Fly off the top by Axiom for the last-second victory.
WINNER: Axiom at 2:57 to advance.
(Miller’s Take: Axiom is quicker than a wink and Legacy is no slouch, himself. They packed about 10 minutes worth of action into three, and it was hard for my eyes to keep up with all of it. Legacy has a future in WWE. Axiom should be going after, and winning tag team gold with Nathan Frazier, not fighting for a title that, quite honestly, not many people care about.)
-North American Champion Ethan Page cut a promo on El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr, praising his accomplishments, yet belittling him at the same time. [c]
(4) HANK & TANK vs. OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price)
The fight started before the bell, with Hank & Tank attacking their foes before they entered the ring. Once the bell rang, OTM took over on Hank. They cut the ring off and roughed up The Hankster. They looked menacingly calm while beating on him. Tank took an early hot tag and exploded on both men. With all four in the ring, Price easily picked up Hank and slammed him to the mat. Shortly afterward, OTM hit a double Alabama slam on Tank for the easy win. After the match, OTM thoroughly destroyed the Belly Boys on the floor, along with the announce desk.
WINNERS: OTM at 3:38.
(Miller’s Take: This is the way to get over a returning team as an unstoppable force. They demolished the former tag team champions in just under four minutes. Price and Nima looked intimidating and powerful. Hank & Tank have lost a bit of their shine, but they’re still a pretty serviceable team.)
-A somewhat hyper Wren Sinclair was talking on the phone to “Charles” Dempsey. When she hung up, she caught Lash Legend and began talking her ear off about an idea she had for a new NQCC with a feminine flair. Legend said it was stupid before newly-crowned Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey walked up and told her she wasn’t going to let her run her mouth with no consequences. Lash told her to watch it and walked off.
-Fatal Influence made their ring entrance before they cut to a commercial break. [c]
(5) FATAL INFLUENCE (Jacy Jayne & Lainey Reid w/Fallon Henley) vs. THE CULLING (Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley)
Paxley and Reid started things off. Reid bullied Paxley in the corner, but Tatum got the best of her and she tagged the champ. Dame soon tagged in and beat on Jayne until she hit a beautiful armdrag variation into a pin attempt. Paxley got back in the ring and went for a kick through the ropes to Henley, but missed by a country mile and only hit Henley’s outstretched hands. Not exactly a Jackie Gayda moment, but not good. [c]
Back from the break, a double hot tag was made. Dame landed a double codebreaker onto Fatal Influence and got a two count. Paxley tagged in and quickly ate a superkick from Jayne. Reid hit a kick on Dame, who returned the favor with a lariat. Henley jumped onto the ring apron, but Dame knocked her to the floor. Reid pulled Dame out of the ring and got fed a knuckle sandwich for her efforts. In the ring, Jayne hit a forceful Rolling Encore on Paxley for the victory.
WINNERS: Fatal Influence at 10:12.
(Miller’s Take: The #1 contender taking the loss right before her title shot is unusual, as it’s customary to put over the challenger as a credible threat going into the title match. Other than the missed kick by Paxley, this was a pretty solid match. I was interested in seeing if Dame would be fully on her friend’s side, but she was and she looked upset when she couldn’t break up the pin.)
-After the match, Fatal Influence beat down Izzi and left her lying on the floor. They got in the ring and turned their attention to a fallen Paxley. Jayne tried to hit her with the belt while Henley and Reid held her, but Paxley kicked her feet up and knocked her to the mat. She then proceeded to beat up all three members of Fatal Influence and left them lying while she picked up the title belt and held it over her head as Dame looked on approvingly.
-Trick Williams and NXT Champion Ricky Saints were shown walking the hallowed hallways of the Performance Center before they cut to a final break. [c]
-Ava was standing mid-ring behind a table that just screamed to be broken in half, flanked by four black shirt security dudes. She brought out Trick Williams, then Ricky Saints. Trick reiterated that he did things on his own time and said he’s still the main event. He said he didn’t owe NXT or TNA anything and was only loyal to himself. He signed the contract as Saints began talking. He told Williams he thought he was bigger than the title. Williams said he wasn’t indy, he was Hollywood. Saints signed the contract as Trick continued bragging. Saints took exception to the comment about the indies and told Trick he’d have never made it on the indies. A furious Saints got up and went face to face with Trick. Unbelievably, a fight broke out and Trick Williams got put through the table. I sure didn’t see that coming.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Not a bad prelude to Halloween Havoc, but nothing terribly memorable, either. A lot of the show was actually quite predictable. From the moment they appeared onscreen, I surmised that Zaria would want to take Sol Ruca’s place in the North American title match. While I find the storyline interesting, I find the logic absurd. Zaria told Monroe in one breath that handouts weren’t given in NXT, then with the next breath she said she’d cosplay as North American Champion this weekend. My prediction is that she’ll lose the belt, Ruca will blame her, and they might even add a twist to it and turn Sol. I’m sticking my neck out here, so let’s see if I’m right. I like the “hidden camera” angle they did with Heights and Borne. Little things like that help to suspend disbelief. Ricky Saints cut the promo of his career tonight, as far as I’m concerned. I’ll see you all tomorrow for Evolve!
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