Candice LeRae has earned another opportunity to win her first championship gold with NXT as she will face Io Shirai in two weeks at Halloween Havoc.
LeRae defeated Shotzi Blackheart in a number one contender match with an assist by Indi Hartwell. The Poison Pixie last faced Shirai at TakeOver 31 and came up just short of becoming champion. Some would say that Blackheart was screwed out of a title opportunity after Hartwell handed off brass knuckles to LeRae.
Hartwell has proven to show comradery to the Gargano clan as she gave them a gift of a new TV last week. From this gift, Johnny Gargano realized from re-watching the Battle Royal that took place several weeks ago that Hartwell was helping LeRae to win that match. LeRae never realized until then about how much Hartwell seemed to be an asset to her mission.
The referee was not aware that LeRae had the brass knuckles handed to her and that was enough for her to get the three count. She would then hand off the weapon back to Hartwell who was in the crowd as she celebrated on stage.
In an attempt to still become the first married couple to hold gold in NXT at the same time, Johnny Gargano will be facing Damien Priest in a rematch for the North American Title. It will take place also at Halloween Havoc. Priest defended his title against Dexter Lumis on this week’s NXT in the main event. After Priest retained his title, Gargano attacked him from behind with a steel chair.
General Manager William Regal would then let both LeRae and Gargano that it is official and they both have their title matches at Halloween Havoc. However, it will be up to the host, Shotzi Blackheart, and the spin of a wheel to determine what type of matches they will have.
The second women’s match for Halloween Havoc will finally be the long awaited one-on-one match between Raquel Gonzalez and Rhea Ripley.
The two powerhouses will get their hands on each other after Gonzalez was in a backstage segment calling out Ripley. She says that she is the biggest and baddest of the division and dares Ripley to show up at Halloween Havoc.
Ripley happened to be backstage as well as she came around the corner and the two would have to be held back. Gonzalez said she didn’t have to wait for two more weeks as the two were ready to battle it out right there. The match was officially announced by Regal later on in the night.
What are your thoughts on these two matches? Do you think LeRae may finally win the big one and what type of match do you think they are going to have? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!!
