Psyko’s reviews of TNA Bound For Glory and WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2024

This weekend had two big PPV events, one by TNA and one by NXT. Here are my quick thoughts on both events.

Bound for Glory

I’m not really going to talk about the pre-show stuff. The women’s tag match was decent, but it made Xia look really bad, and the gauntlet match had the right winner, in my opinion.

The opening match was a great way to start the show. Vinkingo and Mike Bailey put on a clinic, and it did its job as an opening match. 8/10

The women’s tag title match was pretty good overall, but the big takeaway was the split between Wendy and Rosemary and what seemed to be the end of the partnership between WWE and TNA, at least for now. “Spoiler alert” — they’ll have the blow-off match between the two on Impact, which might be the last of NXT on TNA television for a while. 6/10

Josh Alexander vs. Steve McClain: Overall a good match, though I’m still not buying this forced babyface turn for McClain. Both guys delivered a strong performance and really tried to get their characters over. 6/10

PCO vs. Matt Cardona: This is where it really dropped off for me. Nothing against either guy — I’m a big fan of both — but as far as a Monster’s Ball match, this was boring, and I ended up doing other stuff. I’m glad PCO won, but I’ve seen much better Monster’s Ball matches in TNA, and this one won’t be memorable. 2/10

Mike Santana vs. Moose: Not sure why they’d book this after the Monster’s Ball match, as it was basically another brawl-style match without weapons, and it was also pretty boring. I’ve never really connected with the Mike Santana character, even though I tried. 4/10

Masha Slamovich vs. Jordynne Grace: This was a really strong match and a passing-of-the-torch moment for Slamovich, as it seems like Grace is WWE-bound once her contract ends next year. 9/10

Nemeth vs. Hendry: This was a real mess, in my opinion, and felt like they were trying to protect both guys while keeping the title on Nemeth. This should have been Hendry’s moment — fans were ready for it, viewers at home were ready for it, but TNA wanted to keep milking it. They ended with a messy finish, involving a failed cash-in, JBL interfering and taking out Kaz, then JBL beating up Hendry after he disrespected him. Nemeth retained in a cheap way, which really killed the crowd. 6/10

Thank God the Full Metal Mayhem match was the main event, as it helped get the crowd back after the poor finish of the world title match. My only issue with this match, outside of the Hardy’s over-the-top gimmicks and props, was the tired trope of two teams taking each other out, leaving the ring for long periods. The first time, it worked because of the systems being taken out, but they stayed out for so long that it felt like they’d just come back and win out of nowhere. The second time, with the Hardys, it felt fake, especially when you could see Matt waiting for his cue. In the end, the Hardys got their nostalgic title win they probably should have had in AEW, and fans went home happy. 8/10

Overall, aside from the middle of the card, this was a strong show and a great night of wrestling. 7/10

NXT Halloween Havoc

Like Bound for Glory, Halloween Havoc started hot with the TLC match. Oba Femi is a major star in the making, and I could see him being called up soon — he’s a natural and really knows how to play the cocky monster. The ending was well-done, keeping Oba strong while giving D’Angelo the win. 9/10

Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer vs. Roxanne and Cora Jade: This was a solid women’s tag match. Both teams delivered a good performance, even Cora, who held her own. The right team won, but it was a standard match overall. 6/10

Ridge Holland vs. Andre Chase: I get that they want to set up Ridge as Trick’s next challenger, but this should have been Chase’s redemption story. Instead, they had Ridge dominate. Decent match, but nothing special. 4/10

Gauntlet Match: Kelani Jordan vs. Fatal Attraction: Another underwhelming match. The main goal was to make Kelani look strong in defeat, which they achieved, but the first match was sloppy — Jasmine needs more training for high-profile matches. The second match with Jacy was better, but Jacy shows why she’s still in NXT; she has a great personality but is average in the ring. The third match told a better story, with Fallon needing help from Jacy and Jasmine to win, making her look stronger as a heel. 6/10

The aftermath hurt Fatal Attraction. They got their big win and title reign, only to be immediately squashed by newcomer Zaria. It’s clear they did the title switch to set up Fallon vs. Zaria for the North American title, with Zaria likely destroying Fallon to win.

The main event was oddly booked. For a falls-count-anywhere match, they mostly stayed in the ring, wrestling a normal match. A few spots were outside the ring, including a fake blood spot that Trick had trouble pulling off, but compared to their previous match, this was lackluster. Trick won and now moves up to Ridge Holland. 6/10

In the end, this felt like just another episode of NXT, with nothing memorable happening. Same old, same old. 5/10