The best episode of NXT's regular weekly show all year and - crucially - a sign that careful booking was actually back on the black-and-gold brand, Halloween Havoc was an aesthetic and creative masterclass in equal measure.
In-ring remains the easy bit for NXT, but expectations were still surpassed by a blistering main event between Io Shirai and Candice LeRae and a blinding hoss battle on the undercard between Rhea Ripley and Raquel Gonzalez. Elsewhere, Shotzi Blackheart was in her joyous element as the evening's emcee, and Johnny Gargano used a wheel to win his second North American title after weeks of hilariously decrying their usefulness.
Matches and promos can be engineered to the point of greatness, but great vibes cannot be manufactured. For an all too rare occasion in 2020, NXT fuelled an entire broadcast with amazing ones all night.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years.
As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast.
He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.
