This Saturday at Halloween Havoc, former NXT Champion, the first-ever NXT Grand Slam Champion, ‘The Don of NXT’ Tony D’Angelo, will be challenging for ‘The Aussie Icon’ Grayson Waller’s NXT Championship. Both men have a lot of history with one another, starting with being teammates during the Men’s 2021 WarGames Match, which has slowly spiraled with both men resenting one another for the opportunities they have received. The go-home episode of NXT before Halloween Havoc saw Waller leading D’Angelo on a goose hunt before both men brawled out in the performance center’s parking lot. Can ‘The Don of NXT’ become a two-time NXT Champion, or will it be ‘The Aussie Icon’ who continues to lead NXT through its next chapter?
Waller shocked NXT back at Heatwave when he won the NXT Championship in a Fatal Four-Way against D’Angelo, Zilla Fatu, and Cruz Montana. ‘The Aussie Icon’ was supposed to face Mason Rook for the championship, but due to Rook being out indefinitely, EK Prosper got an opportunity but lost. To determine who would face Waller at Halloween Havoc, a match between D’Angelo and Myles Borne was put together. Borne was distracted by his former best friend, Tavion Heights, which allowed D’Angelo to pick up the win. Both Borne and Heights will have a Weapons Wild Match at Halloween Havoc.
On the October 20th edition of NXT, both challenger and champion got a lot off their chest. Waller admitted that his hatred for D’Angelo stems back to their early days in NXT. He deeply resented ‘The Don of NXT’ because D’Angelo was fast-tracked, debuted on TV first, and was "chosen" to stand on teams like WarGames despite Waller being the more established indie talent at the time. D'Angelo stated that ‘The Aussie Icon’ has always been an insecure troll obsessed with viral moments instead of titles. Waller then claimed ‘The Don of NXT’ has gotten soft, hid behind his "mob boss" gimmick, and lacks an actual personality without his old fedora hat.
This past episode of NXT saw Waller film a video outside D’Angelo’s house. A pissed-off ‘Don of NXT’ furiously rushed home to find ‘The Aussie Icon’ not there. Waller continued the games, sending D'Angelo to his old family restaurant hangout. A note was left for the former NXT Champion stating, “Meet me where it all began”, meaning the WWE Performance Center. ‘The Aussie Icon’ was in the ring, saying he won the mind game battle against ‘The Don of NXT’ months ago. He noticed D’Angelo pull up to the performance center, left the ring, and the two men started throwing punches at one another.
The match at Halloween Havoc should be an aggressive one, with both men spilling out their hatred for one another. Waller came back to NXT to hold the NXT Men’s Division accountable for not being as great as the women. He has no respect for D’Angelo, so ‘The Don of NXT’ must show Waller why NXT was fine before ‘The Aussie Icon’ showed up and beat some respect into him. It may be a brawl with both men looking to prove the other wrong.
As much as I’d like to see ‘The Don of NXT’ become a two-time NXT Champion, I don’t see that happening. I believe Waller will be dethroned by a young talent who can steer NXT into the new wave, considering all the young talent that has joined the brand over the past 10 months. ‘The Aussie Icon’ will continue to berate the men’s locker room until someone finally shuts him up. Waller will retain in a great match where he caps it off with his finisher the Rolling Thunder Stunner to continue his reign as NXT Champion.
