Welcome to Ringside News’ coverage of WWE NXT. Please keep refreshing throughout the show for constant updates once it kicks off at 8:00 PM EST.
Only two matches have been announced for tonight’s edition of NXT, so let’s take a look at tonight’s card.
First up, Ember Moon is set to go one-on=one with Candice LeRae. Following the announcement that Candice LeRae will be going to WarGames, presumably as a team captain, LeRae will be attempting to gain momentum against a member of Team Shotzi, while Moon may be looking to do some damage to LeRae one week out from their match.
Also, in another match with WarGames implications, one member of Undisputed Era will take on a member of Pat McAfee’s Kings of NXT in a ladder match to determine who will gain the advantage in their WarGames match.
Lastly, while only two matches have been announced, it was announced last week that Kevin Owens will be taking the place of Wade Barrett this week on NXT commentary.
That’s all of the announcements for tonight’s episode of NXT. With only two episodes left, we will likely begin to see the WarGames card continue to take shape, and we will begin coverage of this week’s episode when NXT goes live at 8:00 PM EST!
Opening Segment
We see a recap of Finn Balor’s return and Pat McAfee and crew confronting him, while Undisputed Era also returned. We also see what happened after NXT went off the air last week when William Regal officially announced Undisputed Era vs. The Kings of NXT in a WarGames match.
Candice LeRae (w/Indi Hartwell) vs. Ember Moon
Moon goes after LeRae, but LeRae is able to evade Moon early on. Candice whispers in Hartwel’s ear, but Moon hits her with a dropkick. Moon hits a sidewalks slam on LeRae, but LeRae runs out of the ring.
Indi Hartwell tried to block Moon, and Candice tried to dive onto Moon, but Moon caught her and slammed her on the announce table. Moon gets Candice back in the ring and hits a fallaway slam.
LeRae rolls out of the ring and tries to retreat up the ramp, but Moon chases her and gets her back in the ring. LeRae hits Moon with a senton, then covers her for two. LeRae takes the advantage, picking up Moon, then getting her in a seated chinlock.
Moon gets to her feet, but LeRae and Moon trade pinfall attempts. Moon kicks LeRae in the chest, then pinned her for two. Moon goes for a suplex on LeRae, but LeRae blocks, and rolls Moon into an inside cradle for two. LeRae hits Moon with a clothesline, then pins Moon for two.
Moon catches LeRae with an elbow to the side of the head, but Candice hits a scoop slam on Moon, covering her for two. LeRae hits Moon with shoulder tackles in the corner. Moon catches and kick and hits a fisherman’s suplex on LeRae, then kicks her in the head and covers her for two.
Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez come out to ringside and LeRae rolls out of the ring. Kai, Gonzalez, LeRae, and Hartwell take a second to regroup outside of the ring as NXT goes to commercial.
Back from commercial, LeRae has Moon in a chinlock again, but Hartwell, Kai, and Gonzalez are all now at ringside. Moon rolls up LeRae for two. LeRae takes Moon down with a hurricanrana, and transitions into the Gargano Escape. Moon rolls LeRae into a pin, but LeRae kicks out.
Moon picks up LeRae, going for a power slam, but LeRae transitions into a sleeper. Moon falls onto her back, slamming LeRae to the ground. Moon hits LeRae with a series of kick, then hits LeRae with a suplex.
Moon goes to the top, looking for the Eclipse. Kai and Gonzalez get on the rope, distracting the referee. During the distraction, Indi Hartwell takes the Eclipse. The referee turns around but misses Hartwell. Kai hits Moon with a Wicked Stepsister, then pins her for the win.
Winner: Candice LeRae
LeRae, Kai, and Gonzalez surround Moon, but Moon escapes and retreats up the ramp. Toni Storm comes out and looks like she will back up Moon. Moon and Storm run down the ramp, but Storm stops Moon, and tosses her into the steel steps.
Storm tosses Moon into the ring, and LeRae, Gonzalez, and Kai attack her, ending it with Gonzalez hitting Moon with a single arm powerbomb.
Undisputed Era are shown arriving at the arena. They enter the building through a side entrance, and we are told that Undisputed Era are next, after a commercial.
Back from commercial, Legado del Fantasma are shown in a room, celebrating, talking about how they have elevated the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, and they have eliminated everyone: Jake Atlas, Ashanti Thee Adonis, and Isaiah “Sweve” Scott.
Wilde and Mendoza ask Escobar who is next, and they Escobar mentions a man named Curt Stallion.
Undisputed Era come down to the ring, and we see a clip from The Pat McAfee Show, where McAfee says that he won’t be on NXT tonight, but he trusts Pete Dunne to win the ladder match tonight.
All four members of Undisputed Era grab a mic. Cole says that they aren’t dead, and McAfee is just one more person in a long list of people who have failed in taking down Undisputed Era.
Cole says that McAfee isn’t there because McAfee is a coward, but he says that he can’t wait until he is face to face with McAfee in WarGames. Kyle O’Reilly starts to talk about how much fun they had in beating up McAfee’s crew last week.
Cole says that they need to focus on tonight, and they are undefeated in WarGames advantage matches. O’Reilly brings up Halloween Havoc and says that he “needs” to fight Pete Dunne. Cole, Strong, and Fish support O’Reilly.
Cole hypes up Kyle O’Reilly, and they are different as a group. Cole says that they have fought for championships and bragging rights, but this time, WarGames is about beating up McAfee and his goons, and Undisputed Era will make sure that they are never the same.
Candice Le Rae, Dakota Kai, and Raquel Gonzalez are backstage, and Candice is asked about what happened with Toni Storm. Backstage, Candice announces her WarGames team: Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, and Toni Storm.
The students of the Thatch-as-Thatch-can school of wrestling are shown backstage sitting in front of a television, and they are about to watch Timothy Thatcher take on Kushida, after a commercial break.
Back from commercial, and we are heading right into the next match.
Timothy Thatcher vs. Kushida
Tommaso Ciampa comes down to the ring dragging a steel chair, but he sets it up and sits at ringside. Kushida goes for a single leg takedown, but Thatcher blocks. Kushida goes for a bearhug, but Thatcher blocks and takes Kushida down, going for an armbar.
Kushida fights out of it and picks the toe of Thatcher, but Thatcher escapes and pins Kushida for one. Kushdia retreats to the corner, forcing Thatcher to retreat. Kushida drops to his feet and kicks Thatcher, but Thatcher takes Kushida down with a belly to belly, then he pins Kushida for two.
Thatcher gets a heel hook in on Kushida. Kushida is able to escape and lock in a submission of his own. Thatcher is able to reverse it into a chinlock. Thatcher his Kushida with a series of uppercuts, then goes for a hiptoss, but Kushida reverses into a hiptoss of his own, then he kicks Thatcher with a dropkick.
Thatcher goes to the apron and Kushida goes for a back handspring heel kick on Thatcher, but Thatcher catches Kushida’s leg and gets him a in submission against the ropes. He releases the hold at four, and we go to commercial.
Back from commercial and Kushida kicks away at Thatcher. Thatcher hits an uppercut on Kushida, then goes for a butterfly suplex, but Kushida escapes and takes Thatcher down to the ring. Thatcher goes into a head and arm submission, but Kushida escapes.
Kushida catchers Thatcher in a backsldie and pins her for two. Kushida stomps away at Thatcher, then goes for the Hoverboard Lock. Thatcher blocks the hold. Thatcher catches Kushida with a hammerlock submission of his own. Kushida transitioned into an attempt at an armbar, but Thatcher once again blocks.
Thatcher rolls through into an ankle lock. Kushida picks Thatcher’s toe and locks in an ankle lock of his own. Thatcher tries to roll up Kushida, but Kushida rolls through and pins Thatcher for two. Thatcher gets a body scissors sleeper on Kushida.
Kushida gets to his feet and Thatcher goes for another sleeper. Kushida rushes the ropesand dumps Thatcher the outside. Thatcher takes his eyes off of Kushida briefly, and Kushida hits an armbreaker on Kushida. Back in the ring, Thatcher hits a double underhook suplex on Kushida.
Tommaso Ciampa stands up and it distracts Thatcher long enough for Kushida to get a Hoverboard Lock in on on Timothy Thatcher, and Thatcher submits.
Winner: Kushida
Ciampa and Kushida stare each other down, and Ciampa looks into the camera, saying, “Maybe he has a problem with me now, referencing Thatcher saying that he has no problem with Ciampa.
We get a recap of Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship. Ripley asks herself where she goes from here, and she says, “Honestly? I don’t know.” Beth Phoenix tells us that Rhea Ripley will be live later tonight to address her future in NXT.
Also tonight, there will be a special NXT Edition of The KO Show, with special guest NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff, and that is up after this commercial.
Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch are backstage, and Pete Dunne is asked how he feels about facing Kyle O’Reilly and Dunne says that he is going to break Undisputed Era’s streak of undefeated WarGames advantage matches and he looks forward to finishing off Undisputed Era.
Kevin Owens has his KO Show setting set up in the ring, and he invites NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff down to the ring. Ruff takes a mic and they take a seat. Owens says that he wanted invite Ruff to The KO Show to spread his message and tell his story.
Ruff says that he has always wanted to be a WWE superstar, and KO asks them to pull up the video of Ruff becoming champion. We see the moment where Ruff put the title on and the belt slipped down to his feet.
Ruff talks about how embarrassing it is and Owens tries to comfort him, telling him that “the same thing happened to me.” Ruff says that he wanted to be an inspiration, and Owens says that it couldn’t have been easy, and he encourages Ruff to be proud of his accomplishment.
Owens encourages Ruff to have more conviction, because other NXT superstars might try to take advantage of Ruff’s weakness. He says that he became NXT North American Champion and is really proud of his accomplishment. He says that he beat Johnny Gargano twice, and Owens predicts that Johnny Gargano will come down to the ring.
Gargano’s music does indeed hit, and Gargano comes out. Gargano takes issue with Ruff saying that he beat Gargano. He says that Ruff is a child. Owens gets a new chair and asks Johnny to sit. Johnny tosses the chair out, and Owens gets another chair out, saying he “has a hunch” even though Gargano says that he doesn’t want a chair.
Owens tells Ruff to tell the truth and admit that Gargano is the NXT North American Champion, and the only reason that Ruff has the belt is because of Damian Priest. Owens again predicts that Priest will come down, and he does.
Priest says that Ruff was just better than Gargano, and Gargano says that the only reason Ruff won was because of Priest, and if he could face Ruff one on one, he would win. Priest stops Ruff from running getting in Gargano’s face, and Priest tells Ruff that he never got a rematch, and he brings up Ruff’s comment from last week, reminding Ruff of when he said he would defend his title against both of them.
Owens asks for a Teddy Long-like person to come down and make a triple threat match, and William Regal announces a triple threat match for the NXT North American Championship match between Gargano, Ruff, and Priest at WarGames.
Finn Balor cuts a video backstage, saying that he is back, and if advises the competitors in WarGames “Don’t play checkers on my chess board,” and “If anyone has a problem with it, The Champ works Wednesdays.” Then, we got commercial.
Back from commercial, and Cameron Grimes is on his way to the ring.
Cameron Grimes vs. Jake Atlas
Grimes gets Atlas in a headlock, but Atlas pushes him off. Griems takes Atlas down with a shoulder tackle, but Atlas hits a hiptoss on Grimes. Grimes hits a German suplex on Atlas, pinning him for two.
Grimes hit s a running knee on Atlas, then kicks away at him in the corner. The referee forces a break in the corner. Grimes whips Atlas in the corner, and Atlas stops himself. They trade blows, and Atlas rolls Grimes up for two.
Atlas hits Grimes with a German suplex and a forearm to the face, pinning Grimes for two. Grimes gets to his feet and hits a leaping forerarm on Atlas. Grimes and Atlas run the ropes and Grimes hits his Spanish fly-esque slam, then a Cave In on Atlas, pinning him for three.
Winner: Cameron Grimes
During Grimes’ celebration, Dexter Lumis appears behind Grimes on the apron. Grimes runs out of the ring and Lumis gets in the ring with a something in his hand. He starts a video that shows Grimes’ most humiliating moments from the Haunted House of Terrors match.
Grimes starts to walk back towards the ring, and Lumis reveals the item in his hand – a strap for a strap match. He tosses the other end out of the ring, and Grimes seems to reject the offer of a strap match between the two.
Rhea Ripley is shown backstage, walking towards the ring, getting ready to address the NXT Universe, and we are told that she is up next, after a commercial break.
Back from commercial and Cameron Grimes is asked if he is still scared of Dexter Lumis. Grimes says no, and William Regal approaches him, telling him that Grimes will face Lumis in a strap match at WarGames.
Rhea Ripley is in the ring. She puts Io over, saying that Io is one of the toughest women that she has ever stepped into the ring with. Ripley says that there is a lot of speculation about what is next for Rhea. She says that her hug with Io was nothing but respect – it wasn’t a send-off.
Rhea says that she is focused on regaining the NXT Women’s Championship. Before Ripley can continue, Candice LeRae and Toni Storm come down to the ring. Candice mocks Rhea, and Candice brings out the rest of her team, and Raquel Gonzalez has Io Shirai knocked out, carrying her over her should.
Kai, Gonzalez, LeRae, and Storm surround the ring and attack Ripley. Ripley is briefly able to fight them off, but numbers are too strong, and Kai, Storm, Gonzalez, and LeRae tear Ripley apart, then leave her at the ring, and we go to commercial.
Back from commercial, Boa and Xia Li are shown arriving at a strange compound with the older man from weeks ago. They drop to their knees in front of a mysterious cloaked figure, apologizing profusely. The old man stops them, marks the back of their hands, and the video ends.
Ever-Rise are in the ring, ready for a match, but Zack Gibson and James Drake attack Ever-Rise from behind. Gibson gets on the mic, saying that they are back in NXt. James Drake picks up one of the members of Ever-Rise and they hit an elevated Codebreaker on him.
Candice LeRae is shown leaving the arena with Indi Hartwell in a neckbrace. LeRae says that the purpose for attacking Rhea Ripley was to show the women’s roster what happens to anyone that joins Shotzi’s team.
Johnny Gargano tells Candice that he pulled the car around, and Indi Hartwell, Candice LeRae, and Johnny Gargano join another mystery figure in a Ghostface mask, showing that there have been two masked figures helping the Garganos.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Pete Dunne to Determine Which Team Will Have Advantage in WarGames
Kyle attacks Dunne before the bell rings, but O’Reilly doesn’t care. Dunne rolls out of the ring, and gets back on the apron, but O’Reilly sweeps Dunne’s legs, sending him off the apron, back to the mat on the outside. Dunne and O’Reilly stare each other down as NXT goes to commercial.
Back from comercial and O’Reilly goes for a diving move onto Dunne on the outside on the apron, but Dunne knocks O’Reilly out of the sky. O’Reilly gets a second chance and hits a diving knee onto Dunne. O’Reilly pulls a ladder out of the ring, and Dunne stomps on O’Reilly ands on the ladder.
Dunne sets up the ladder across the ring and the barricade, but O’Reilly picks Dunne’s leg and slingshots Dunne into the plexiglass around the ring. O’Reilly sets up a ladder and goes to climb, but Dunne knows the ladder over, sending Kyle crashing to the mat.
Dune sets up a ladder in the ring and uses it to his advantage, bending O’Reilly’s arm around the leg on the ladder. Dunne stars climbing the ladder, and O’Reilly hits a dragon screw on Dunne on the ladder. O’Reilly keeps Dunne’s leg and locks in a knee bar around the ladder.
Dunne is able to hit an enziguri on O’Reilly, then hits a powerbomb on O’Reilly ,sending him back first into a ladder leaning against the corner. Dunne stomps O’Reilly’s head into the ladder laying across the ring and the barricade.
As Dunne tries to get back in the ring, O’Reilly hits a dragon screw on Dunne, catching his leg in the rope. Dunne and O’Reily trade blows with Dunne on the apron. Dunne hits a suplex on O’Reilly, sending him through the ladder laid across the ring and the barricade. Both men fall to the floor outside and we go to commercial.
Back from commercial and Dunne slams O’Reilly hand in a ladder. Dunne grabs a chair and gets in the ring, but O’Reilly punches the chair into Dunne before Dunne can use it. Dunne goes for the Bitter End, but O’Reilly reverses, locking in a guillotine choke on Dunne. Then, O’Reilly hits a suplex on Dunne onto a ladder.
Dunne stays on the ladder, and O’Reilly climbs the ropes. O’Reilly goes for a diving knee onto Dunne on the ladder. Dunne rolls out of the way and O’Reilly’s knee goes straight into the ladder. Dunne starts the climb the ladder, but O’Reilly picks Dunne’s leg and locks in an ankle lock, pulling Dunne off the ladder.
Dunne breaks the hold and goes for an enziguri, but O’Reilly ducks and Dunne kicks the ladder. Both men get to the feet on opposite sides of the ladder. O’Reilly kicks Dunne , then they repeatedly pull each other into the ladder.
Dunne tries to push the ladder onto O’Reilly, but O’Reilly catches it and pushes it into Dunne’s face, knocking him down. O’Reilly picks up the ladder and sets it up, Dunne and O’Reilly climbs opposite sides of the ladder. Both men comes very close to grabbing the briefcase, but Dunne sends O’Reilly of the ladder.
O’Reilly hits two slingshot lariats on Dunne, taking him down, and the ladder has also fallen. Dunne rolls to the outside and O’Reilly sets the ladder up in the middle of the ring. O’Reilly starts the climb, but Dunne attacked O’Reilly’s injured knee with the ladder, then hit him in the back.
Dunne picks up O’Reilly on the outside, then dumps him over the barricade. Dunne starts to climb the ladder, but O’Reilly dumps the ladder over, sending Pete Dunne crashing into the ladder set up in the corner.
O’Reilly began to climb the ladder, but a masked, hooded man, wearing the same mask as Pat McAfee from weeks ago, runs in and pushes the ladder over, dumping O’Reilly to the outside. Dunne runs in and sets up the ladder, then climbs the ladder and grabs the briefcase.
Winner: Pete Dunne
The rest of Undisputed Era are outraged at ringside with Kyle O’Reilly as Dunne, Lorcan, and Burch celebrate at the top of the ramp as NXT goes off the air.
credit ringsidenews.com