As Vice settles inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, Baron Corbin approaches Cody Rhodes for a match at Halloween Havoc. He says if he wins a triple-threat between himself, Dijak and the winner of Carmelo Hayes vs. Bron Breakker on next week’s show.

We shoot to the backstage area where we see Axiom, Brooks Jensen, Josh Briggs and Nathan Frazer making fun of Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley, as they walk by with Dom icing his neck. Back inside the ring, Dani Palmer is wrapping up her ring entrance, in progress.

The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with first round action in the 2023 NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament. Elektra Lopez is in the corner of Vice at ringside. We see Lola and Dani trading offensive leads as fans chant “Lola’s gonna kill you!” in the crowd. Lola Vice slaps a triangle on Dani but Dani rolls her into a pin attempt so Lola lets go. Lola hits a big kick and scores the win.

Winner and ADVANCING in the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament: Lola Vice

Chase University With Thea Hail & Jacy Jane

We shoot to a Chase University segment. Thea Hail comes in and says Jacy Jane suggested she go back to class. Andre Chase says that’s good. Thea says as long as Jane can attend, too. She walks in and the two take a seat.

The guys are checking them out as Chase rambles about the history of NXT Halloween Havoc. Chase yells “what the f*ck is going on that screen?” He says “don’t you ever get on your motha f*ckin’ phone in my class again,” and smashes it. Jane informs Chase and Duke Hudson that they’ll be in the Bada Bing, Bada Boom Battle Royal next week.

Backstage With Bron Breakker & Paul Heyman

We shoot to the locker room of Bron Breakker. He stretches and warms up as Paul Heyman walks up behind him and talks about how he’s worked with Bron’s father Rick Steiner and Uncle Scott Steiner. He says he has the best that they both had to offer and then some.

He says he’s not The Wise Man because he knows the past. He’s a Wise Man because he can see the future, and the future for Bron Breakker is the main event of WrestleMania. He says the only thing standing in his way is Carmelo Hayes. He then says “Call Roman Reigns” into his phone as Breakker walks off saying he doesn’t care who he has to go through to get there.

Carmelo Hayes (w/ John Cena) vs. Bron Breakker (w/ Paul Heyman)

It’s main event time!

Now we return inside the CWC where we hear the familiar sounds of John Cena’s theme. He comes out and stops at the top of the stage. His music dies down. Carmelo Hayes’ theme hits. Cena points to Hayes as he emerges from the back.

As Hayes and Cena head to the squared circle for our final match of the evening, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, we see a vignette promoting the NXT debut of Brian Pillman Jr. He points out he doesn’t like his late father and says he’s taking the name of the man who raised him, King. So, I guess it’s Brian King?

From there, we shoot backstage where we see Kiana James and Asuka. Kiana walks off. Up comes Blair Davenport and she tries saying something in Japanese to Asuka. Up comes Tiffany Stratton and says Asuka knew that already. She tells Asuka to let her know if she needs anything.

Kiana James asks if daddy didn’t teach her manners. Tiffany says no and walks off. Vic Joseph and Booker T run down the lineup for next week’s show, which includes Lyra Valkyria vs. Tegan Nox, the Bada-Bing, Bada-Boom Battle Royal to determine the challengers to The Family for the NXT Tag-Team Championships, as well as Dijak vs. Baron Corbin vs. the winner of tonight’s main event in a triple-threat NXT Championship Eliminator to determine Ilja Dragunov’s next challenger.

Now we shoot back inside the CWC where we hear, “Ladies and gentlemen …” Paul Heyman comes out and does his usual introduction and then introduces Bron Breakker, who he again calls a future WrestleMania main event star. Breakker’s theme hits and out comes the former NXT World Champion for our final match of the evening. Breakker starts off strong.

Hayes quickly starts to take over. He sends Breakker to re-group on the floor at ringside. He poses on the ropes as the fans chant his name. Heyman is shown shouting instructions to Breakker on the floor as we head into a mid-match commercial break as our main event continues. When we return from the break, we see Breakker knock Hayes off the top-rope, where ‘Melo lands on his face.

Breakker is shown close-up on camera with a giant grin on his face, which the commentators point out on the broadcast. Back in the ring, Breakker beats Hayes down some more and goes for the cover, but Hayes kicks out at the count of two to keep this one alive.

Bron runs over Hayes and then connects with a vicious gut-buster for another close near fall. Cena is shown trying to help lead the fans in rallying Hayes back into competitive form. Paul Heyman is shown at ringside liking what he is seeing. Hayes hits a super kick out of nowhere that stuns Breakker — and Heyman.

Hayes starts to fire up on offense now, hitting a big splash on Breakker in the corner. He counters a Bron suplex attempt into a cool cutter for a close near fall attempt. Both head to the top-rope, where Bron hits a face-buster to Hayes in an insane spot. He goes for the cover but Hayes kicks out. Bron stalks Hayes looking for a spear but Hayes avoids it.

Breakker ends up spearing the ring post. Hayes looks to capitalize but Breakker counters with a death drop for a close near fall attempt. Bron heads out and grabs the steel steps but Cena stops him. He hits him and then grabs the steps himself. Solo Sikoa of The Bloodline run out but Cena slugs it out with him to the back. Hayes connects with a code-breaker on Breakker on the floor.

Back in the ring, Hayes heads to the top-rope to shoot his shot. He gets nothing but net as always, because when he shoots, he don’t miss. He goes for the cover and gets the pin fall victory. With the win, Hayes moves on to join Dijak and Baron Corbin in a triple-threat match to determine the next challenger to Ilja Dragunov’s NXT World Championship.

Winner and ADVANCING to NXT Championship Eliminator Match: Carmelo Hayes

“The American Bad Ass” Undertaker Confronts Bron Breakker

Bron Breakker hits a big Spear on Hayes after the match to lay him out. He gets on the mic and says there’s only one bad ass in all of WWE. The lights in the building go out. We hear the gong.

Kid Rock’s song plays and out comes The American Bad Ass himself, The Undertaker, on his trademark motorcycle. He rides it down to the ringside area as the crowd goes ballistic.

Undertaker gets off the bike and heads into the ring as the fans chant “Holy sh*t!” He gets in Bron’s face and the two stare each other down. Bron tells the “old man” to listen to him. He says there’s only one bad ass around here.

“The American Bad Ass” responds by saying he’s been watching Bron for a long time and one of these times he’s gonna be the bad ass around here. “There’s just one thing … it ain’t today.” With that said, ‘Taker drills Breakker and then hoists him up for a chokeslam and a big pop.

We hear the fans chant “Holy sh*t!” again. We see a close-up of Hayes smiling in the corner of the ring. Undertaker leans down to an unconscious Breakker and tells the young fella that there’s always a younger, bigger bad ass waiting around the corner.

He tells him he just met the baddest of them all. His theme plays again and the crowd roars. He helps Hayes back to his feet and the two pose together. That’s how this week’s super-eventful episode of NXT goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!