WWE is no stranger to a good heel turn, and a few have been bubbling up recently across all three of WWE’s shows. It’s not just cut and dried heel turns happening though, as sometimes things are a bit more complicated regarding drastic actions, especially when it involves a Championship. That certainly seems to describe what happened tonight, as a bungled backstabbing turned what was likely going to be a heartbreaking betrayal into a roaring victory, ending in a WWE Championship win.
WWE NXT had a number of Championships up for grabs at Halloween Havoc, but one of the most compelling battles was for the WWE NXT Women’s Championship. Fatal Influence’s Jacy Jayne looked to defend her Title against The Culling’s Tatum Paxley, and the match was fantastic, with a host of near falls and big moments. It all came down to a moment when Izzi Dame ran in with the Championship and seemed to be setting up to hit Paxley, only she hit Jayne instead, clearing the way for Paxley to win and become the new WWE NXT Women’s Champion in the process.
Jayne took control early in the match, pinning Paxley down with a lock on her wrist and a shoulder tackle, and then Jayne countered a telegraphed move from Paxley with a senton. Jayne got some taunts in and then got knocked down by the challenger, almost getting pinned in the process.
Jayne kept the momentum going for a bit, but Paxley was able to take control with a lengthy submission on the Champion that did some significant damage to her back, and then Paxley clocked Jayne with a step-up enziguri from the floor. Jayne tried to trap Paxley in the ring apron, but she fought out of it and disappeared, only to surface behind them and try for an ambush. Unfortunately, that backfired, as Jayne then slammed Paxley’s face right into the metal bearings underneath the ring.
It looked painful, and in the ring, Jayne went for a quick pin, but Paxley kicked out. Then on the other side of the ring, Fatal Influence attacked Paxley while the referee was distracted, and Jayne tried for a quick cover, but Paxley kicked out again. Paxley got back on track in the ring but had to kick out of another pin. Paxley countered a move and hit a belly to back suplex on Jayne, giving her some room to breathe and regroup.
Jayne managed to catch Paxley on the top rope, hitting Paxley with a neckbreaker. That might have been it, but Shawn Spears put Paxley’s foot on the bottom rope to break the count. A battle between Fatal Influence and The Culling broke out at ringside, and then all of them were thrown out by the referee.
It was finally one-on-one in the ring, and both superstars exchanged near falls. Paxley got knocked to the corner turnbuckle, but she dodged a cannonball and hit a rolling encore on Jayne. Paxley went up top and hit the 450 into a pin, but Jayne kicked out of the cover. Jayne went for a big kick, but Paxley almost rolled her up, and then they exchanged strikes in the center of the ring.
That’s when The Culling came back out, and Dame seemed to possibly be betraying Paxley as she grabbed the Championship from its podium. Dame ran into the ring with the Title but then got hit with a kick from Jayne, and that set up Paxley to knock out Jayne and become the new WWE NXT Women’s Champion. The crowd absolutely lost it, and when the camera finally found Dame, she was less than enthused. Despite the betrayal attempt, this feels like a truly grand moment for one of NXT’s true fan favorites, and it will be interesting to see when Dame tries to betray Paxley once again.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Source link
