The 2023 ''

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * '' WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * '' NXT UK'', the British spi ...

'' Halloween Havoc was the fourth annual

Halloween Havoc Halloween Havoc is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE for the company's developmental brand, NXT. As the name implies, it is a Halloween-themed show held in October. It was originally produced as an annual pay-per-view (PPV ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

event produced by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

, and 16th Halloween Havoc event overall. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's

brand division. Unlike the previous year, which was held as a

livestreaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

event, the 2023 event returned NXT Halloween Havoc to being a

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

like the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

events. The 2023 event, however, was expanded to a two-part special episode of ''

'' on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

, taking place on October 24 and 31, 2023, at the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE wre ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. SmackDown wrestlers Shotzi and Scarlett served as the hosts of the event, marking Shotzi's third time hosting the event, after 2020 and 2022. The card comprised a total of 16 matches. Thirteen of these matches were televised, with seven on the first night and six on the second, as well as three dark matches, with one on the first night and two on the second night. In the main event of Night 1,

Lyra Valkyria Aoife Cusack (born 23 October 1996) is an Irish professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Lyra Valkyria and is the current NXT Women's Champion in her first reign. Profession ...

defeated Becky Lynch to win her first NXT Women's Championship. In another prominent match,

Chase University Chase University (often known as Andre Chase University and Chase U) is an American professional wrestling stable consisting of Andre Chase, Duke Hudson and Thea Hail. They are currently signed to WWE, where they perform on NXT. The group's cha ...

( Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) defeated The Family (

Tony D'Angelo Joseph Arriola (born June 9, 1995) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Tony D'Angelo. Professional wrestling career On the October 5, 2021 episode of NXT, Ariola ma ...

and

Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo Mitchell Lavalley (born March 3, 1997) is an American professional wrestler now signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and is a member of The D'Angelo Family stable as the underboss of the te ...

) to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. Night 1 was also notable for the NXT in-ring debut of Lexis King (formerly known as Brian Pillman Jr. in All Elite Wrestling). In the main event of Night 2, Ilja Dragunov defeated Carmelo Hayes to retain the NXT Championship. In other prominent matches, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio defeated

Nathan Frazer Benjamin Timms (born 23 July 1998) is an English professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under ring name Nathan Frazer. Professional wrestling career Early caree ...

to retain the

NXT North American Championship The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is primarily defended as the secondary men's championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental ...

and

Bron Breakker Bronson Parmar Rechsteiner (born October 24, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Bron Breakker and is the current NXT ...

defeated Mr. Stone. Rock band

New Years Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whi ...

also performed their songs, "Vampyre" and "Hurts Like Hell", to open Night 1 and 2, respectively.

Production

Background

is a

event currently produced by

. As the name implies, it is a

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

-themed show held in October. It was originally produced as an annual

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

(PPV) by

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

(WCW) from 1989 until 2000 as WWE purchased WCW in 2001. The 2000 event was the final Halloween Havoc until WWE revived the show as an annual event for their

developmental brand In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

in 2020. The

and

events were held as

s of the ''

'' program on the

, but for

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, it was held as a

event. At NXT No Mercy on September 30, 2023, it was announced that NXT Halloween Havoc would return as a television special, but expanded to a two-part special of ''NXT'' on the USA Network. The fourth annual NXT Halloween Havoc, and 16th Halloween Havoc overall, was scheduled to take place on October 24 and 31, 2023, at NXT's home base, the

. SmackDown wrestlers Shotzi and Scarlett served as the hosts of the event—Shotzi previously served as host of the 2020 and 2022 events, and in 2023, she and Scarlett began hosting a paranormal series on WWE's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel called ''Chamber of Horrors''. It was also announced that the rock band

would perform their song, "Vampyre", during Night 1 of the event, which was the theme song of the two-part show, and they returned on Night 2 to perform "Hurts Like Hell".

Storylines

The card included 13 televised matches, with seven on the first night and six on the second, that resulted from scripted storylines. There were also three

dark matches Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

, with one held the first night and two the second. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, ''NXT'', and the supplementary online streaming show, ''

Level Up Level Up may refer to: Film and TV *Level Up (2016 film), a British thriller film * ''Level Up'' (American TV series), a Cartoon Network live action series ** ''Level Up'' (2011 film), the movie pilot for the Cartoon Network series * ''Level Up' ...

''. On the October 3 episode of ''NXT'',

defeated

Roxanne Perez Carla Gonzalez (born November 5, 2001) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Roxanne Perez, where she is the current NXT Women's Champion in her first reign. She is a former ...

and Indi Hartwell in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

to become the number one contender for Becky Lynch's NXT Women's Championship during Week 1 of Halloween Havoc. On the October 10 episode of ''NXT'',

NXT Tag Team Champions The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on January 2 ...

The Family (

and

) proposed to guest NXT General Manager Cody Rhodes to set up a

tag team battle royal In professional wrestling, a battle royal (sometimes battle royale; plural battles royal or battle royals) is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared the winner. Typical battles royal begin w ...

where the last two remaining teams will compete in a standard tag team match to determine a number one contender for their titles during Week 1 of Halloween Havoc. Rhodes accepted the proposal and called this match the ''Bada Bing Bada Boom'' Battle Royal. The following week, the Battle Royal was won by

( Andre Chase and Duke Hudson). On the October 10 episode of ''NXT'', guest NXT General Manager Cody Rhodes announced a

between Baron Corbin, Dijak, and the winner of Carmelo Hayes vs.

to determine the number one contender for Ilja Dragunov's NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc. Later that night, Hayes defeated Breakker to be added to the match. The following week, the triple threat match was won by Hayes. On the September 5 episode of ''NXT'', during Gigi Dolin's match against Thea Hail, Dolin was attacked by

Blair Davenport Beatrice St. Clere Priestley (born 22 March 1996) is an English-New Zealand professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Bea Priestley. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Blair Davenpor ...

, costing her the match. The following week, Dolin and Davenport engaged in a brawl backstage. Two weeks later, a scheduled match between Dolin and Davenport never occurred after Davenport attacked Dolin backstage. At the NXT No Mercy pre-show, after Davenport defeated Kelani Jordan, she was attacked by Dolin, and a match between them was set up for following episode of ''NXT'', where Dolin won. After the match, Davenport choked the referee and yelled that her feud with Dolin was not over. Two weeks later, Davenport challenged Dolin to a match at Halloween Havoc, which Dolin accepted. Later that night, Dolin unveiled the

Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

Wheel, and spun the wheel with it landing on a Lights Out match, which was later made official. On the September 5 episode of ''NXT'',

and

were chatting in the locker room before being interrupted by Kiana James, where Perez hit her with a forearm to start a brawl. On the October 3 episode of ''NXT'', during a triple threat match to become the number one contender for NXT Women's Championship, James pulled Perez to ringside, costing both James and Perez the match. The following week, James tried to attack Perez after her match with

Asuka Asuka may refer to: People * Asuka (name), a list of people * Asuka (wrestler), professional wrestler * Asuka (wrestler, born 1998), professional wrestler also known as Veny outside of Japan Places In Japan * , an area in Yamato Province (now N ...

, but Shotzi appeared and attacked James. On the October 17 episode of ''NXT'', Perez distracted James during her match with Shotzi, costing her the match. Later that night, a

match was announced between Perez and James, where Perez spun the wheel and it landed on Devil's Playground Match. The NXT Women's Breakout Tournament is a tournament composed of eight female wrestlers from the NXT brand. The tournament began on the October 3 episode of ''NXT''. The winner earns a contract and can cash-in for a NXT Women's Championship match at any time. On the September 5 episode of ''NXT'',

severely injured

Von Wagner Calvin Bloom (born June 30, 1994) is an American professional wrestler and former college football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Von Wagner. A second-generation professional wrestler, ...

after crushing his skull with steel steps. At NXT No Mercy, Wagner's manager, Mr. Stone interfered in Breakker's match against Baron Corbin, ultimately costing him the match. On the October 17 episode of ''NXT'', Mr. Stone stated that Wagner has a long way to go in his recovery and took issue with Breakker's lack of remorse. Mr. Stone challenged Breakker to a match at Halloween Havoc, which was later made official. On the October 17 episode of ''NXT,''

Fallon Henley Theresa Schuessler (born September 25, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE performing under the ring name Fallon Henley on the NXT brand and currently is one-half of the NXT Women's Tag Team Champions with ...

was giving advice to competitors in the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament before being interrupted by Tiffany Stratton, who mentioned she defeated Henley to advance to the finals in the previous year's tournament. The following week on Week 1 of Halloween Havoc, Henley cosplayed as Stratton and mocked her which lead to a brawl between the two. A match between Henley and Stratton was scheduled for Week 2 of Halloween Havoc. On the October 17 episode of ''NXT,''

The Creed Brothers The Creed Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Brutus Creed (Drew Kasper; born May 13, 1996) and Julius Creed (Jacob Kasper; born October 3, 1994). They are currently working for the professional wrestli ...

(

Brutus Creed The Creed Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Brutus Creed (Drew Kasper; born May 13, 1996) and Julius Creed (Jacob Kasper; born October 3, 1994). They are currently working for the professional wrestli ...

and

Julius Creed The Creed Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Brutus Creed (Drew Kasper; born May 13, 1996) and Julius Creed (Jacob Kasper; born October 3, 1994). They are currently working for the professional wrestli ...

) and

Angel Garza Humberto Garza Solano (born September 23, 1992) is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Angel (shortened from his previous ring name Angel Garza). He is a th ...

and

Humberto Carrillo Humberto Garza Carrillo (born October 20, 1995) is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Humberto. He previously worked under the ring name Último Ninja whi ...

competed in the ''Bada Bing Bada Boom'' Battle Royal. Garza and Carrillo eliminated the Creed Brothers before the latter cost them the match. The following week, the Creed Brothers asked for a match against Garza and Carrillo and spun the

wheel, landing on a Tables, Ladders, and Scares match. In a digital exclusive on the October 16 episode of ''Raw,'' "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio interrupted an interview with

, who wanted a match for the

, but Mysterio declined, saying Frazer didn't deserve a title match. A brawl then ensued between Mysterio and Frazer. The next night on ''NXT,'' Mysterio and Frazer brawled again before Rhea Ripley, Mysterio's

Judgment Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

stablemate came to his defense. A title match between Mysterio and Frazer was later scheduled for Week 2 of Halloween Havoc. On Week 1 of Halloween Havoc,

( Andre Chase, Duke Hudson, Thea Hail, and

Jacy Jayne Taylor Grado (born June 2, 1996) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Jacy Jayne as a member of Toxic Attraction. She is a former record-tying two-time NXT Women's Tag Team Cha ...

) were celebrating Chase and Hudson winning the NXT Tag Team Championship before Chelsea Green and Piper Niven took issue with their loud voices. Green threatened to file a formal complaint and asked to be directed to

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...

's office. Hail and Jayne offered to take them there and ask for a match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Green and Niven, which was scheduled for Week 2 of Halloween Havoc.

Results

NXT Women's Breakout Tournament

References

External links

* {{WWE NXT events 2023 in professional wrestling in Florida 2023 in professional wrestling Events in Orlando, Florida Halloween Havoc October 2023 events in the United States Professional wrestling in Orlando, Florida Holidays themed professional wrestling shows WWE NXT