Jailhouse Street Fight: Dijak VS Tony D’Angelo
The opening video package hyping up NXT Roadblock was done by Tiffany Stratton. This was done really well and Stratton reminded everyone that she wants to face the winner of tonight’s main event. The show then properly started with a Jailhouse Street Fight between Dijak and Tony D’Angelo and the only way to win was to lock your opponent inside the cell. I thought this was a pretty good match and definitely the match of the night. Dijak hit High Justice onto a steel chair early on and you bet that would’ve been the end of the match had pinfalls been in use. Dijak also hit an amazing elbow drop onto D’Angelo through the table and it just looked awesome. I did think the way you had to win was a bit silly, but the story told made up for it as at one point, The Don of NXT could’ve picked up the win, but that would’ve meant locking Stacks inside the cell with Dijak, something the newly turned “babyface” didn’t want to do. It then looked like Dijak was going to get the win, but as he went to slam the cell door shut, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo jumped in between the door and god that must have really hurt. He also tossed a crowbar to D’Angelo and after Dijak was finished with Stacks, Tony D KO’d his opponent with the crowbar before he locked Dijak in the cell to get the win. I enjoyed this a lot, both men put on a hell of a performance and the story between the Don and the Underboss is really intriguing.
Grade: B
Gallus and Pretty Deadly come “face-to-face”, Bron Breakker and the Creed Brothers VS Jinder Mahal and Indus Sher
Roxanne Perez was being interviewed in the locker room area and she said this is the biggest match in her entire career and a win tonight would feel just as special as when she won the belt. Josh Briggs then arrived at Kiana James’ office and Briggs made it clear to Kiana that he needs her to sort out whatever’s going on between her and Brooks Jensen. She said she would call him later to try and sort it out, but the interesting part of this was the roses on her desk. Briggs guessed they were from Jensen, but she quickly made sure that JB couldn’t see what was on the note. Gallus were then in the ring and they quickly called out Pretty Deadly after what had happened two weeks ago. Elton Prince and Kit Wilson then appeared on the podium area before they talked about how Gallus stole their opportunity to take back the NXT Tag Team Championships. The best part about Pretty Deadly is they are very funny, but they can turn serious with just a flick of a switch. They then came down to the ring and Gallus beat them up. This match is happening next week which has really surprised me as I thought that was definitely going to take place at Stand and Deliver.
Grade: C+
Lyra Valkyria cut one of her cool-looking promos were she also put her name in the hat for an NXT Championship match after tonight. There are now three or four very credible/exciting challengers that could face the NXT Women’s Champion at Stand and Deliver (Ladder Match?). Ilja Dragunov then cut a promo about how he’s going to finish JD McDonagh once and for all when the two next get in a ring together. Dragunov is so good at promo’s. They then showed Dragon Lee in the crowd which was cool as that’s what NXT used to do and this gives me hope that this guy is pretty good. The NXT Champion Bron Breakker then arrived as he was about to team up with the Creed Brothers to take on Jinder Mahal and Indus Sher. I thought this match was alright, it wasn’t the most exciting on paper, but everyone involved brought something to the table (some more than others). I definitely think Indus Sher have a bright future ahead of themselves if given the proper push and the Creed Brothers are excellent. In actually quite a nice surprise, Brutus Creed got the victory for his team after delivering the Brutus Bomb onto Veer. This was a solid way to break up the more important parts of the show and feature the NXT Champion.
Grade: B-
The Grayson Waller Effect, Jacy Jayne VS Gigi Dolin
We got a video package showcasing the history of Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin in Toxic Attraction. This was a really cool video, but it’s just a shame that they had to completely ignore Mandy Rose. I then turned super happy as it was time for my favourite talk show, the Grayson Waller Effect. Waller’s guest was the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels and like every edition of the Grayson Waller Effect, I go over the best comments. Those included “Grayson Waller is the real Heartbreak Kid” and “Grayson Waller is a future King of the Ring”. However, what was better than the comments was the interaction between the Arrogant Aussie and HBK. Waller called Shawn Michaels “Vince McMahon” for holding him down and he even said that the only reason Shawn is in charge of NXT is because his best friend Hunter (Triple H) had a heart attack! Shawn then told Grayson that he’s been around way bigger stars than Waller before he mentioned a few names including the Undisputed Era! Grayson then got out of his chair and he talked crap about NXT, saying only Bron, Melo and Zoey are good enough to go to the main roster and “each week, it’s the same people that sit in the same seats, wearing the same clothes because no one’s got enough money to buy anything good which is why they come here!” Shawn Michaels had had enough of this and when Grayson Waller challenged him to a match at NXT Stand and Deliver, Michaels said no because he’d found someone that “bleeds NXT” more than him. That man, is Johnny Gargano! The crowd went absolutely bonkers when the Rebel Heart’s music hit and Waller looked very much like he’d seen a ghost. Gargano went to hit a Superkick on the Arrogant Aussie, but Waller just about escaped. This was as close to perfection as you’re going to see! Grayson Waller is just the best heel around right now (in NXT) and Johnny Gargano coming back is so clever as the last time we saw Johnny in NXT 15 months ago, it was him being whacked in the back with a chair by an Australian who was only just finding his footing in WWE. Have there been better segments/matches in WWE before? Of course there has. But in my 7 years of watching wrestling, I don’t think I’ve smiled much more than at the end of this segment.
Grade: A+
Moving on, it was time for a match with a lot of history behind it as Jacy Jayne took on Gigi Dolin. I feel quite sorry for these two women as I feel like they were put in a really tough spot given how good the previous segment was. They did their best, but you could still tell that the crowd (and I) hadn’t gotten over Gargano’s return and you could also tell that both Jayne and Dolin still have a lot to improve on. However, they told a decent story with Gigi getting the “surprise” victory with her new finisher before Jacy attacked her after the match and thankfully for Dolin, officials ran down to stop Jayne stomping on her former tag team partner’s head whilst wrapped inside a steel chair. I hope they get to have another match at Stand and Deliver where they get the proper focus on them as they’ve been two of the top stars in NXT for the past 18 months.
Grade: C
Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes finally come face-to-face, Andre Chase VS Joe Gacy
Brooks Jensen and Fallon Henley both apologised to each other before Jensen pulled a strange face after Josh Briggs complimented him on the flowers “he’d” given to Kiana James. Brooks then left as he was on a call with Kiana, but it seems like both Fallon Henley and Josh Briggs are going to work together to find out who the roses were from. Bron Breakker then came down to the ring and he said “it’s finally time” before he asked Carmelo Hayes to come down to the ring. Melo did just that and both men showed a ton of respect to one another and they even brought up the meeting that they had in August 2021 before NXT rebranded to NXT 2.0 where they were told that they were going to be the two faces of the new era. The segment ended with the two men shaking hands and agreeing to see who the best man really is at NXT Stand and Deliver. This was really cool as it shows that NXT has always had a plan to keep them apart so they would finally wrestle on the biggest night of the year. Fair play to NXT and this was doubly good as it was the most likeable Bron Breakker’s been in a very long time.
Grade: B
Thea Hail was meditating with Tyler Bate backstage and this was all to help Thea Hail overcome her fears of Ava and the Schism. Mr. Chase seemed to love this, but Duke Hudson was not so convinced. This then led into the match between Andre Chase and Joe Gacy. Both men have massively improved since they first stepped into NXT and that showed in this match as it was pretty solid. However, the main point of this match was Thea Hail all of a sudden just ran straight at Ava and stood face-to-face with the person that’s been terrifying her for weeks. Andre Chase was clearly delighted at this, but this distracted the professor and allowed Joe Gacy to pick up the victory. I’m a fan of everyone involved so this was totally fine.
Grade: C+
Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn made it clear that they were coming to take what's theirs next week. I didn’t really understand what they were going on about, but it sounded pretty cool. Chase U were then walking in the back and even though Andre Chase seemed pretty happy given how Thea Hail had done, Duke Hudson wasn’t forgetting the fact that they’d just lost. Duke even went as far as saying that “this isn’t a university, it’s a joke”. Wes Lee then announced backstage that he would be holding another NXT North American Championship open challenge next week before Axiom came up to him and said he will gladly accept the challenge. Interestingly, Wes said that he’s “happy to fight him if he gets to the ring first” which makes me think someone’s going to get there before him.
NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez VS Meiko Satomura
The main event of NXT Roadblock saw 21-year-old Roxanne Perez defend her NXT Women’s Championship against a women in Meiko Satomura that’s been in the business longer than 25 years. I thought there were a few sloppy moments in this contest, particularly on the champions' side, but they were able to make up for it as they got a lot of time. I tell ya, some of the moves Meiko Satomura hits are absolutely ridiculous. I even thought the former NXT UK Women’s Champion was going to get the victory after she delivered the Scorpio Rising. However, Roxanne was able to show how much heart she has to pick up the victory and retain her title (just how Meiko taught her). This win was six months in the making for the Prodigy, but the most intriguing part came after the match. As Satomura gave Perez the belt, Roxanne just completely collapsed, forcing referees, officials and medical personnel to come down and check on her. This was then made even better as both Shawn Michaels and Booker T got in the ring before Roxy was put onto a stretcher and the show went off the air with Perez being wheeled into an ambulance. This has really intrigued me as this could go so many different ways. Is Roxanne going to be fine in a week's time? Is Perez going to have to vacate the belt and that is why we’ve got so many women calling their shot at the gold? Or, is Meiko Satomura considering retiring and this was a good way to make her (in storyline) want to quit after seeing the damage she has done to the young champion? Either way, this made the main event feel a whole lot more significant.
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