Dijak VS Shawn Spears
NXT kicked off this week with in-ring action as Dijak took on Shawn Spears. This was a pretty competitive bout with neither man managing to gain the upper hand for too long. You also knew this was an important match heading into NXT Stand and Deliver, and the turning point came when Joe Gacy, who was once again hiding under the ring, pulled Spears’ chair under the ring with him. This hurt Spears later on, and despite amazingly managing to kick out of High Justice, a Feast Your Eyes just moments later was enough for Dijak to score the victory before Joe Gacy danced on the announce table with Shawn Spears’ prized possession.
Grade: B-
Jazmyn Nyx VS Thea Hail, Lola Vice Issues an Open Challenge, Ilja Dragunov VS Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo
Roxanne Perez cut a great video promo on why she is her own hero now. We got some flashbacks to the Roxy of old, but Perez made it clear that she will do whatever it takes to recapture her Title at Stand and Deliver. This is worth a watch. We then saw a bunch of people preparing to audition for the role of Hosting NXT Stand and Deliver, but it became clear pretty quickly that it was going to be between Andre Chase and Meta-Four. Speaking of Chase U, Thea Hail was then out in the ring as she was ready to get some revenge on Jazmyn Nyx. This was Nyx’s first-ever televised match which actually put a lot of pressure on Hail’s shoulders. In my opinion, both women delivered here as Thea looked good once again whilst I was actually really impressed by some of Jazmyn’s offense. Towards the end of the contest, Jacy Jayne managed to get the rest of Chase University thrown out at ringside before Jayne jumped on the apron and slapped Thea Hail right in the face. However, this backfired on The Rockstar as Hail used this as motivation to lock in the Kimura Lock and make Jazmyn Nyx tap out for the submission victory. After the match, Kiana James and Izzi Dame as well as Fallon Henley and Kelani Jordan arrived to start a brawl which is seemingly going to come to somewhat of an end at NXT Stand and Deliver.
Grade: B-
We got the first of three parts for Prime Target: Carmelo Hayes VS Trick Williams, and it was so well done! Not only did it tell you the story of their careers so far, but we also got the likes of Booker T, Randy Orton, and even CM Punk adding in their own insights. We will certainly get back to this later! Before then, we had Alpha Academy training backstage before Lola Vice arrived to issue an Open Challenge. Amazingly, that challenge was answered by Natalya which led into a match that was okay. It was a bit scrappy at times, but I thought Lola looked good overall. However, the ending was a bit odd as after Karmen Petrovic made her presence known at ringside, Natalya was able to score the win on Vice courtesy of a roll-up. Just let Natalya win with her finisher maybe?!
Grade: C
Shawn Spears was leaving the NXT Performance Center before Joe Gacy threw his steel chair off the roof! Not only was this mad, but he nearly hit Oba Femi, so expect Gacy to get wrecked sooner rather than later! We then got a good video promo for Sol Ruca who challenged Blair Davenport to a match which Blair happily accepted for next week. I’m honestly a little bit disappointed that these two aren’t on Stand and Deliver because I think that would’ve been cool. Anyway, Ilja Dragunov then headed down to the ring as the NXT Champion was set for a match with Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo. To my surprise, Stacks actually got plenty of offense in here, and I’m not fully sure as to whether Ilja might have legitimately broken his finger. If he didn’t, Dragunov pulled off some mad and quite brilliant selling! In the end, The Mad Dragon was able to fight back and score the victory with Torpedo Moscow before Tony D’Angelo told Luca Crusifino in the back to invite Dragunov to dinner (but not at the restaurant).
Grade: C+
Ridge Holland Promo, Duke Hudson VS Josh Briggs, Prime Target: Carmelo Hayes VS Trick Williams
We got Part 2 of 3 of Prime Target: Carmelo Hayes VS Trick Williams, and I think this was my favourite one as it focused on Trick Williams’ history in Philadelphia. We also got to see Trick running around Lincoln Financial Field which is cool for multiple reasons (especially as Johnny Gargano did this at Cleveland in 2019) before Part 2 ended with Williams climbing up the Rocky steps because he is just that damn cool! Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker were then joking about their tans before Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson walked in to make it clear to the NXT Tag Team Champions that they have to beat Alpha Academy tonight. Ridge Holland was then in the ring as the former Brawling Brute had some things to say. Ridge started off by thanking people who have had his back from the beginning before he talked about doing right by his Family. That is why from now on, Holland is going to be stepping back from in-ring competition. This was short, but I thought Ridge did a good job here. How long he lasts out of the squared circle is another thing though!
Grade: C+
It was then Lyra Valkyria’s turn to have a video promo, where she talked about there being two paths in every story before she referenced Anakin and Obi-Wan which is always a positive in my book. Lyra then made it clear that the NXT Women’s Championship deserves so much more than Roxanne Perez, and once again, I thought this was another good video package. Dijak was then back as he joined commentary for a one-on-one match between Josh Briggs and Duke Hudson. The match here was decent, both guys are big and talented, but I actually enjoyed Dijak on commentary here the most. In the end, it was Briggs who was able to score a good victory before Oba Femi arrived on the podium/platform area to announce that at NXT Stand and Deliver, it’s going to be Femi-Briggs-Dijak in a Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Championship. Realistically, that should be a lot of fun!
We then got the final part of Prime Target: Carmelo Hayes VS Trick Williams, and this part very much focused on the fact that Carmelo Hayes is a star. However, the consensus was Trick Williams may well be on the same level, if not a little bit higher as Cody Rhodes backed Trick to score the victory whilst Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa also shared their thoughts which I thought was a quite genius and brilliant move! Hands down, this might be the best video package I’ve ever seen (if you combine all three parts). It was just superb and highlighted why Trick-Melo is the match I’m most looking forward to on WrestleMania weekend. Just fabulous, and well worth a watch!
Grade: A
Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker VS Alpha Academy
After Meta-Four announced that they would be hosting this year’s NXT Stand and Deliver, Arianna Grace picked out a dress for Gigi Dolin, and Luca Crusifino handed out an invitation to Ilja Dragunov, it was Main Event time as Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker took on Alpha Academy’s Otis and Akira Tozawa. The important thing to note here is if Alpha Academy were victorious, they would be added to the NXT Tag Team Championships Match at Stand and Deliver. In terms of this match overall, I thought it was decently fun, Otis is a joy to watch, and I think there’s a strong argument that The Wolf Dogs are the Best Tag Team in WWE right now! In the end, Baron and Bron were able to send Otise crashing through the announce table with a double Powerbomb before Breakker wrecked Tozawa with a Spear to earn the victory. After the match, The LWO, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and Axiom and Nathan Frazer all arrived to end the show with a big brawl! I really hope Axiom and Frazer win next week, but I know they won’t.
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