This week's edition of NXT 2.0 was a mess, yet again. However, among the chaos and questionable booking decisions, there were a few reasons to be cheerful. The pieces are all there, they just don't fit together yet.
Loser: Joe Gacy
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa defeated Joe Gacy in an opening contest that Gacy had to win if he wanted a title shot at Halloween Havoc in two weeks. Remarkably, they're sticking with the "creepy unhinged woke guy" gimmick, but this time they've given him an equally unhinged sidekick who's bald. Harland (Parker Bordeaux) appeared for a second consecutive week and attacked Ciampa after the bell. He went to attack Gacy too, but Gacy calmed him down by stroking his face The match was nothing special, but the post-match stuff was mega cringe.
Winner: The Diamond Mine
Ivy Nile, The Diamond Mine's female representative, kicked off her NXT career with a win over an enhancement talent named Valentina Feroz. The match was brief, as so many NXT matches have been lately, but Nile looked impressive for someone who has only worked four matches previously. She has enough ingredients to be a star, and The Diamond Mine is the perfect place for her at this stage of her career.
After Nile's match, her Diamond Mine stablemate Julius Creed went made short work of Ikemen Jiro in another short match. Creed looked decent too, and it was only the fourth match of his career. One positive of NXT 2.0 is the number of new faces such as Ivy Nile and the Creed Brothers, who WWE is eager to sink time into developing from scratch.
Loser: Lash Legend's Producer
The Lashing Out With Lash Legend thing isn't really working. The skits are too short and the jokes are too lame, and not in a fun way. It's a poorly executed Wendy Williams parody at this point, but it can be fixed with a little more effort.
Anyway, Lash Legend's producer ended up in Tony D'Angelo's trunk after he prevented D'Angelo from appearing on the show. He will presumably suffocate and expire in the trunk of WWE's newest mobster, becoming just another casualty of the NXT revamp. Rest in peace, Unnamed Producer.
Winner: Carmelo Hayes
In the main event, the lengthy feud between Hit Row and Legado del Fantasma finally reached its climax when Isiah Scott and Santos Escobar went one-on-one for in the main event. Hit Row has been called up to SmackDown, so it was time to wrap this thing up and get the North American Championship off Swerve ... which happened, but not in the way you probably predicted .
Swerve won the match and successfully defended the title for the first time. But it would also be the only time. As he celebrated with Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams (who had come to his aid when Mendoza and Wilde interfered on Escobar's behalf) Hayes attacked Swerve and revealed that he was pulling the trigger on the guaranteed title shot he had earned by winning the Breakout Tournament a few weeks ago. As the show went off the air, Carmello Hayes was the brand new North American Champion.
Full Results And Noteworthy Moments
- Tommaso Ciampa def. Joe Gacy via pinfall with a Fairytale Ending
- After the opening match, Ciampa was attacked by Harand (Parker Bordeaux) who had been sitting in the crowd throughout the match. Harland then grabbed Gacy by the throat, but Gacy stroked Harland's face and was released
- Toxic Attraction cut an in-ring promo n which Mandy Rose challenged Raquel Gonzalez to a title match at Haloween Havoc while Jacy Jane and Gigi Dolin challenged Zoey Stark and Io Shirai to a match for the tag titles
- Xyon Quinn def. Malik Blade via pinfall with a flying forearm
- While being interviewed backstage, Tommaso Ciampa was confronted by GYV (Zack Gibson and James Drake). The duo attempted to get under Ciampa's skin, but Bronn Breakker appeared and chastised them for showing disrespect. Breakker told Ciampa that he has his back until Halloween Havoc as he wants the NXT champ at his best for their match. Ciampa and Breakker will take on GYV next week
- In a backstage interview ahead of his main event North American Championship defense against Santos Escobar, Swerve revealed that his Hit Row colleagues were absent and unreachable
- Ivy Nile (w/Malcolm Bivens, Roderick Strong, Hachiman, Brutus Creed, and Julius Creed) def. Valentina Feroz via submission with a Torture Rack
- Diamond Mine's celebration was interrupted by Ikeman Jiro
- Julius Creed (w/Malcolm Bivens, Roderick Strong, Hachiman, Brutus Creed, and Ivy Nile) def. Ikeman Jiro via pinfall with a sliding lariat
- Diamond Mine attacked Jiro after the bell, Kushida attempted to make the save but was outnumbered
- In a backstage vignette, Raquel Gonalez cut a promo on Mandy Rose and declared that their Halloween Havoc match would be a Spin the Wheel Make a Deal match
- On Lashing Out With Lash Legend, Lash Legend said she doesn't want Tony D'Angelo on her show and laughed when her producer said he had told Tony there was a scheduling conflict
- Kyle O'Reilly & Von Wagner def. Pete Dunne & Ridge Holland via pinfall with a modified butterfly suplex from Wagner to Holland
- Tony D'Angelo cut a promo while standing near his car and implied that he had locked the aforementioned Lash Legend producer in the trunk of his car. As he walked away from the car, someone could be heard pounding on the trunk from the inside
- Duke Hudson def. Grayson Waller via pinfall by pulling Waller's tights
- A vignette aired which featured Imperium's Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel speaking Italian and German respectively
- Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta def. Sarray & Amari Miller via pinfall after Hartwell's springboard elbow drop
- Pirotta grabbed a mic after the bell and said she and Indi want to challenge for the tag titles. Stark and Shiai emerged to confront the two Aussies followed by Toxic Attraction's Dolin and Jayne. All six women brawled and it was later confirmed that the three teams would compete in a triple threat tag title match at Halloween Havoc
- Grayson Waller gave Cameron Grimes dating advice backstage
- Isaiah "Swerve" Scott def. Santos Escobar via pinfall with a JML Driver
- Carmello Hayes attacked Swerve after the match and cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract
- Carmelo Hayes def. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott for the NXT North American Champion via pinfall with a guillotine leg drop