New champion crowned at WWE NXT Halloween Havoc
A new North American Champion was crowned at NXT Halloween Havoc tonight.
With the help of an unidentified person wearing a Scream costume, Johnny Gargano defeated Damian Priest in a Devil’s Playground match at Halloween Havoc to win the NXT North American Championship. The stipulation of the match was determined by Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal. It was a no disqualification, no countout, falls count anywhere match.
Priest was going for The Reckoning on a platform when the person in the Scream costume appeared and hit Priest with a steel pipe. Gargano then gave Priest a DDT. The person in the Scream costume handed Gargano a cement tombstone, with Gargano using it as a weapon and knocking Priest off the platform. Gargano then pinned Priest to win the North American Championship.
The person in the Scream costume appeared again during tonight’s Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae NXT Women’s Championship match, but Shotzi Blackheart laid them out and Shirai retained her title. LeRae recently became aligned with Indi Hartwell.
Priest had been North American Champion since winning the then-vacant title in a five-way ladder match at NXT TakeOver XXX this August.
This is Gargano’s second reign with the North American Championship. He’s the first wrestler to hold the title twice.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.