WWE NXT prepares for Halloween Havoc with key matches tonight

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(Photo by Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images) | WWE via Getty Images NXT emanates live from the Performance Center in Orlando tonight, with less than two weeks until Halloween Havoc. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic continues with two more quarterfinal matches: a recently eliminated team takes on another that’s still alive in the tournament, and two heated rivals who have gotten extremely personal lately meet in the ring. Tune in to the action on the CW starting at 8 PM ET, and follow along right here on Cageside! Halloween Havoc card continues to take shape Just a week after Wren Sinclair made a shocking return and earned an NXT Women’s Championship match at Halloween Havoc, the NXT Men’s Championship match was officially added to the card in just 11 nights. Fresh off a successful title defense in an open challenge against EK Prosper, NXT Champion Grayson Waller was searching for his next challenger a few weeks back, and two former titleholders almost immediately stepped up. Tony D’Angelo won the developmental brand’s top prize back at Stand & Deliver and reigned over Tuesday nights until the last weekend in August, when he lost the title at Heatwave. Tony D didn’t seem too concerned about winning his title back until recently, and though he felt he was owed a rematch, he still had to go through another former champion to earn it. Like Tony, Myles Borne entered Heatwave as a champion and left empty-handed. Worse, Myles lost not one, but two championships on that summer night. Since then, he’s turned his back on his longtime friend and tag team partner and has dealt with the fallout. After a vicious attack sidelined Tavion Heights for a few weeks, Borne’s former tag team championship partner made his return to the Performance Center under the guise of an NXT cameraman and distracted Borne during his main event match, allowing Tony D to earn a rematch for the NXT Title. With D’Angelo/Waller and Sinclair/Jordan locked in for Halloween Havoc, will a match between Borne and Heights be added to the card tonight? Will they ‘spin the wheel and make the deal’ for a stipulation on the spookiest night of the year? Find out by tuning in this evening! Dusty Quarterfinals wrap up The 14-team Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic enters its fifth week with just 6 teams left. Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno earned their spot in the semifinals last week, as did the NXT Tag Team Champions, the Vanity Project. Two more quarterfinal matches are on the docket tonight as the field is wittled down to four. After falling short in a June NXT Tag Team Title match, the Brothers Wagner travel across the Gulf of Mexico to Orlando tonight for their quarterfinal match against BirthRight. As the reigning AAA Tag Team Champions, El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. and his brother Galeno earned a first-round bye. Their first tournament match comes against the team of Lexis King and Charlie Dempsey. After the other half of BirthRight, Stacks and Uriah Connors, lost their first-round match, King and Dempsey entered the tournament as injury replacements for Dorian Van Dux and Sean Legacy. Of course, former NXT GM William Regal helped by finessing one of his successors into giving his own son the vacant spot. BirthRight knocked off AAA’s Tokyo Bad Boys in their first-round match, but tonight they face a completely different challenge in the form of the Brothers Wagner. The night’s other quarterfinal pits two former tag-team champion teams against each other as the Creed Brothers take on Hank & Tank. Both teams defeated their Evolve opponents in the first round to qualify for the quarterfinals. The Creed Brothers returned to NXT in recent months after spending much of 2026 appearing on Main Event. Julius and Brutus made a statement in the first round, quickly defeating Harley Riggins and Jax Presley in under four minutes. Across the ring, the Belly Boys are looking to climb back up the ranks on NXT after taking a backseat much of this year. They knocked off Shido Ash and Viktor Zanov to advance to the quarterfinals and hope to keep their momentum going this week. Which teams will advance one step closer to hoisting the Dusty Cup and join Vanity Project, Dar, and Moreno in the semifinals? Find out tonight! Quick Hits The rivalry between Dion Lennox and Cruz Montana escalated last week when Dion attacked Cruz backstage and immediately called Montana’s mom. After a few heated and personal promo battles in recent weeks, Dion and Cruz will throw hands in the ring this week. Will Dion back up his words and pick up the biggest win of his career over a former TNA World Champion? Or will Cruz begin his climb to the top of the NXT men’s division by knocking off the DarkState leader? One of the most exciting teams in the Dusty Classic was the makeshift duo of AAA’s Mini Vikingo and Evolve’s Chazz ‘Starboy’ Hall. After eliminating them last week, Vanity Project added insult to injury by confronting and taunting Vikingo and Hall in the locker room. EK Prosper happened to be there too, and after standing up for the young team, agreed to team with them this week in a 6-man tag with Smokes, Baylor, and Drake. Will the Vanity Project trio have as much success this week as they did in tag team action last week? Or will EK Prosper, who several people have dubbed the future of NXT in recent weeks, lead Vikingo and Hall to a big win? Minutes after a face-to-face confrontation with NXT Champion Grayson Waller last week, Saquon Shugars went out and lost a match to Tristan Angels. Will the Shuga Man find a way to regain momentum this week? Or is Tristan Angels the one Grayson should actually be worried about? Kendal Grey returned to the Performance Center last week after spending several weeks in therapy. What wasn’t immediately clear was how Kendal feels about her WrenQCC partner being next in line for Kelani Jordan’s NXT Women’s Championship. Could we get more insight into where Grey’s head is at tonight? AAA Reina de Reinas Champion La Catalina has been appearing regularly on NXT in recent weeks. After competing in the #1 contender’s battle royal two weeks ago, she successfully defended her title against Kali Armstrong last week. Will Catalina be in Orlando again tonight to mix it up with somebody else in NXT’s super-deep women’s division? Will we get the privilege of hearing Lexis King and BirthRight’s Zilla Fatu diss track on live television? After being officially named the host of Halloween Havoc, will Danhausen be on hand this week to build hype for NXT’s big fall PLE? All this and more on the CW tonight as the road to Halloween Havoc continues! Let us know what you’re most excited for on tonight’s show in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with the live coverage here on Cageside tonight, starting at 8 PM Eastern!