EXCLUSIVE: Tony D'Angelo on Oba Femi "I Want To Hurt Him, To Be Quite Frank With You"

The NXT North American Champion spoke to The Takedown on SI about his match at NXT Halloween Havoc, his title win, and his next steps. as champion.

Tony D'Angelo / WWE.com

Tony D'Angelo is your new NXT North American Champion, and he couldn't be more proud of that fact.

“I think it was special to have my name etched in North American Championship history,” The Don of NXT told me during our conversation for The Takedown on SI.

D'Angelo faced immense challenges to defeat the odds-on favorite, former North American Champion Oba Femi, in a destructive match on the October 8th episode of NXT. Previously, D'Angelo had failed to capture the title from Femi at NXT No Mercy on September 1st. With this victory, D'Angelo became the first NXT Superstar to win the NXT Tag Team Championship, the NXT North American Championship, and the Heritage Cup.

“[It's] really cool to join the list of names that have held this title before. When I got it, it felt great. It was a special moment for me and my family. It felt like I got over a hurdle in my career. It was only a matter of time before I got my first singles Championship, and I'm excited that it was this one. So hopefully this opens the door to new opportunities. It was just a special moment.”

D’Angelo, who has been with the company since 2021, joins NXT Champion Trick Williams, NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez, and NXT Women’s North American Champion Kelani Jordan as the new faces of NXT, ushering in a new era for the brand. NXT began airing on The CW on October 1st, and D’Angelo says he feels fortunate to be in this position as the new era begins.

“I'm very fortunate and grateful to be a representative of the brand and the company, especially with this big merger with CW. They've been nothing but great to us, opening up new doors and opportunities for not just me, but the rest of the roster.”

In alignment with the new NXT Era, WWE announced the November 6th episode of NXT will be broadcast live from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, synonymously known to wrestling fans as the ECW Arena. With this announcement, some fans of the Attitude Era are hopeful to see some involvement from ECW Originals. One potential return that could work in D'Angelo's favor is an appearance by the ECW and WWE stable Full Blooded Italians. The FBI was led by Nunzio, known in ECW as Little Guido, and included Tony Mamaluke, and Sal E. Graziano in its ECW incarnation, as well as Johnny Stamboli, Chuck Palumbo, and Vito joining Nunzio in the WWE incarnation.

Full Blooded Italians [L to R] Johnny Stamboli, Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo / WWE.com

D’Angelo isn’t aware of anything happening just yet with the FBI but says he’s hopeful it comes to fruition.

“I'm unable to speak on the company's behalf as far as that goes, but do I selfishly want that to happen? Absolutely. I think that would be very cool, especially with all the history that FBI has in that building. I think it would be great for the D'Angelo Family to work with the FBI. We'll see what Nunzio is doing. Maybe I'll give him a call. I know a few guys that he works with, so maybe we can put something together.”

D'Angelo is highly focused on defeating Femi again at Halloween Havoc, but he is also looking ahead to the future with both NXT and the main roster. I asked him which Superstars he could see having strong programs with, both as a singles competitor and as part of The Family.

Photo dump from the big night
🤌🏽🇮🇹🦅 pic.twitter.com/5kS7OlUVpE

— Tony D’Angelo (@TonyDangeloWWE) October 9, 2024

“As a faction, I think American Made. I think we could do some magic with those guys. I think [Adriana] Rizzo could have a good match with Ivy Nile. Individually, I think Bron Breakker. I think we could mix it and have some good wars in the squared circle. He's got the speed, he's got the strength, which I also have. We're both collegiate athletes. I also have my Family, and he's a psychopath, which matches up. Maybe somewhere down the future, he wants to do some business with the D'Angelo family. We'll see.”

I asked D’Angelo how he was planning to prepare after he specifically requested this stipulation from NXT General Manager, Ava.

“Well, listen, if it was a normal TLC, and I ran up the ladder and grabbed the title, it just doesn't have that same dirt on the wound as pinning him. He took out my Family. He zip-tied me to the ring on Tuesday. He's talking a lot of trash, so I want to hurt him, to be quite frank with you.”

Tony D'Angelo vs. Oba Femi / WWE.com

D’Angelo is confident in his ability to defeat The Ruler, but tells me there’s some unfinished business he needs to attend to once this match is in the rearview mirror.

“I think first order of business when I'm done with Oba is figuring out who took out Rizzo. I think that needs to be handled next because that was uncalled for. Clearly, they did some deal with Oba, and that needs to be taken care of first and foremost. I'm not going to let that slide. I think you'll see in the future, somebody's going to have to catch a whooping for that.”

NXT Halloween Havoc takes place this Sunday, October 27th, from the Giant Center in Hershey, PA, with a start time of 7p ET/4pm PT, and will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.

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