The 2020 NXT: Halloween Havoc was a professional wrestling television special produced by WWE, held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. It was WWE's inaugural Halloween Havoc for NXT, and the 13th Halloween Havoc overall, and aired as a special episode of the weekly series NXT on the USA Network. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event took place on October 28, 2020, at the Capitol Wrestling Center, a bio-secure bubble that was hosted at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The show was hosted by NXT wrestler Shotzi Blackheart.
Halloween Havoc was previously held as an annual pay-per-view event by the former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1989 to 2000. This 2020 event was the first Halloween Havoc held since the 2000 event, which was the last edition produced by WCW, as the company was acquired by WWE, then known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), in 2001; the WWF was renamed to WWE in 2002. With the scheduling of the 2021 event, Halloween Havoc became an annual event for WWE's NXT brand.
Five matches were contested during the event. In the main event, Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae in a Tables, Ladders, and Scares match to retain the NXT Women's Championship. In other prominent matches, Dexter Lumis defeated Cameron Grimes in a Haunted House of Terror match, and in the opening bout, Johnny Gargano defeated Damian Priest to win the NXT North American Championship in a Devil's Playground Match.
Production + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:CommentatorsVic JosephWade BarrettBeth PhoenixSpanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodríguezRing announcerAlicia TaylorRefereesDarryl SharmaDallas IrvinDaphne LashaunnDerek SandersBlair BaldwinFelix FernandezPre-show panelSam RobertsMcKenzie MitchellDenise Salcedo Background
Halloween Havoc was previously an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1989 to 2000. It was held in October as part of the month's Halloween festivities. The 2000 event was the final Halloween Havoc produced by WCW as WWE—at that time known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF)—purchased WCW in 2001; WWF was renamed to WWE in 2002.
After 19 years since the acquisition of WCW, WWE announced that it would be reviving Halloween Havoc to be held as a television special for the company's NXT brand division. The event took place on October 28, 2020, and aired as a special episode of NXT on the USA Network. It was the 13th Halloween Havoc overall and NXT wrestler Shotzi Blackheart served as the host for the event.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE's NXT events had to be presented from a behind closed doors set at NXT's home venue at the time, Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, since mid-March; WWE's programming for Raw and SmackDown were also done in this manner but at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, before moving to Orlando's Amway Center in August in a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome. In October 2020, it was announced that beginning with TakeOver 31, NXT would be moving their events to the Performance Center, which would feature a bio-secure bubble called the Capitol Wrestling Center. Like the ThunderDome for Raw and SmackDown, LED boards were placed around the Performance Center so that fans could attend virtually, while additionally and unlike the ThunderDome, friends and family members of the wrestlers were in attendance, along with a limited number of actual live fans, divided from each other by plexiglass walls.
Storylines NXT: Halloween Havoc featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on the weekly television program, NXT.
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