WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2026: Draws & Duds

This Saturday is Halloween, and "WWE NXT" is prepared to celebrate in style, with the 2026 edition of Halloween Havoc! The latest PLE from the developmental brand features six matches, two of which will be contested for a title, and will be hosted by none other than WWE's resident curse gremlin, Danhausen.

But which of the matches announced for Halloween Havoc has the Wrestling Inc. staff in the spooky season spirit, and which are leaving us ready for November to start? That's what we're here today to find out. Here are our biggest draws and biggest duds for "WWE NXT" Halloween Havoc 2026!

"NXT" does a pretty good job of integrating its talents' antics on social media into the broadcast, when relevant to a storyline, and we've seen that in the feud pitting Shiloh Hill against Naraku. Hill has taken to TikTok and Instagram to share his journey exploring the science behind the ancient mist, and it's all so very "NXT"-coded — meaning silly to the point that it would never happen on the main roster — that it's charming.

Hill himself is a charming, goofy babyface character, and the whole story works so well for him. If anyone was going to educate the masses on poison mist, it should be this guy. A match that may very well culminate in the use of black mist, which in WWE lore is blinding (as seen in Nidia in Jamie Noble's feud against Tajiri in 2003) should absolutely take place at Halloween Havoc.

This feud started all the way back on the August 18 edition of "NXT," when Naraku, fresh out of the NXT Championship picture, cost Hill a shot at becoming number one contender for the North American Championship by spraying him in the face with mist. The pair went on to have their first match on September 1, which Naraku won by spraying mist into his hands, then raking Hill in the eyes. Hill started to research the effects of various colors of the mist ever since, through their second match, where Naraku accidentally hit the referee with blue mist.

Naraku has warned Hill that he could bring any color of mist into their match at Halloween Havoc, including the dreaded black mist. Hill has been researching every color, even testing mists on himself and sharing them to social media, to ridiculous effects, like AI raccoons following him around. Hill could very well come prepared with a mist concoction of his own, or even an antidote.

This match may not necessarily be an in-ring banger like fans can expect from NXT Women's Champion Kelani Jordan and Wren Sinclair, but on a low-stakes premium live event where only two titles are on the line, it's a fun bout with a great story behind it. The gimmick surrounding the mist fits the theme of Halloween Havoc perfectly and should be plenty of fun thanks to the unpredictability of Hill.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Halloween Havoc is one of the lowest-stakes "NXT" premium live events in recent memory, and there's perhaps no better example of that than the singles bout pitting Women's North American Champion Zaria against Izzi Dame. There are only two titles on the line at the event, and Zaria's championship is not one of them.

Dame is hell-bent on proving Zaria is hiding behind the title, just like she hid behind Sol Ruca, a story beat that has continued (and been beaten into the ground) for the champion even since Ruca's call-up back in April. Dame, a former Women's NA Champion herself, has also brought up Zaria's past, digging up clips of the star performing in her high school production of "Wicked," as well as various other photos of Zaria from back in the day. It's all been very odd, as it's not exactly embarrassing for Zaria whatsoever. None of it has made the star look bad, and has only humanized the woman behind the face paint a bit.

Because she's trying to prove a point about Zaria, Dame has said over and over that it's "not about the title, at least, not yet." When Zaria challenged her to this match two weeks ago, offering to put her title on the line, Dame brushed off the gold, but said they'd meet at Halloween Havoc.

The women have only squared off one-on-one once, back in the summer of 2025, and their most recent bout came in a four-way match involving Lizzy Rain and Nikkita Lyons, where Dame was more focused on Rain. Dame has only gotten stronger in the ring over recent months, and Zaria is always a force to be reckoned with, so it's unlikely anything will be bad about the in-ring action here. The story behind this makes it a true dud, as it's entirely directionless, and Dame should be focused on getting back the Women's North American title instead of "exposing" and embarrassing Zaria.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Kelani Jordan will be making the second defense of her NXT Women's title this weekend, facing the partner of the woman she dethroned in Wren Sinclair.

Jordan defeated Kendal Grey for the title in August, leaving her sidelined. Sinclair has since taken on the pursuit of the title, looking to kill two birds with one stone in crowning herself and scoring some retribution for Grey. Jordan hardly made it easy for her, spurning her challenge and leaving Sinclair to get creative after she was suspended. She sneaked into a battle royal under the guise of AAA's Lady Shani, winning the No. 1 contendership right under Jordan's nose. The champion was initially amused by the idea Shani was her contender, only to have that smile wiped from her face when Sinclair unmasked. 

Jordan took the vitriol of the feud a step further when she left Grey bloodied as a message to Sinclair, and now all of the talking is done the only thing left for them to do is wrestle. That's the exciting part — these are two really good workers due to have a match that feels as though it will be spiteful. Not only is the title on the line but each competitor has that added incentive to make a statement against their rival. 

That feeds into a big fight feel, and bundling all of those factors together it stands out as one of the marquee matches on the card. Sinclair is a great challenger and her position here feels necessitated by the storyline — she has just slid into the role exceptionally. Win or lose, the outcome will undoubtedly play into both Sinclair's and Jordan's dynamics with Grey as well as one another. And then there's the simple fact that Jordan is the best talent on the "NXT" roster. 

She's already got one foot on the main roster and feels like a big fish in a small pond on the developmental brand, but that's purely because she is so good. It's apt that the "Stand Out" would be the draw on this event.

Written by Max Everett

Halloween Havoc will feature a first-time one-on-one clash between Tony D'Angelo and Grayson Waller for the NXT Championship held by the latter, and personally, that was a bit of a sad sentence to write. 

D'Angelo and Waller came up together at the same time as "NXT Black and Gold" became "NXT 2.0," victoriously teaming together in the subsequent WarGames match pitting the two eras against one another. Waller went on to the main roster in the years since, while D'Angelo continued to effectively complete the developmental brand. 

But then Waller came back and won the NXT title from D'Angelo at Heatwave in a four-way, thus consigning the main event picture to a time capsule of a title program. The feud has certainly tried to feel important, with Waller only this past Tuesday taking D'Angelo on a treasure hunt, all so they could brawl in the parking lot for a few minutes. 

But it doesn't feel important. It feels like a match that will, one way or the other, end with a boring champion lifting the belt. The brand has really got to move on because they feel like they're asphyxiating the division. Then there's the fact that the match stands a very good chance of being boring to alright. Everything about this match feels manufactured to seem significant when it can't be. At the most, it's a disappointing contest to put on this card.

Written by Max Everett