Countdown Show: Joe Gacy VS Shawn Spears
On the “Countdown to NXT Stand and Deliver” Show, we got a one-on-one match between Shawn Spears and Joe Gacy. However, before the match even started, Ridge Holland attacked Joe with a steel chair to the back which makes you question why NXT haven’t fired Ridge yet! Anyway, in terms of the match, this was your bog-standard Kickoff Show match. There’s nothing amazing about it and I wouldn’t call it a must-watch, but it wasn’t bad either and it was cool to see Gacy (especially) appear at NXT’s biggest show of the year. In terms of the result, it was actually Joe Gacy who scored the victory following the Upside Down, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect this!
Grade: C
NXT Tag Team Championships: Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker VS Axiom and Nathan Frazer
After Meta-Four officially kicked off NXT Stand and Deliver, the show properly started with Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker putting their NXT Tag Team Championships on the line against Axiom and Nathan Frazer. This match was great! Both teams brought it with a ridiculous amount of offense, and the high-speed nature of both Bron Breakker and Nathan Frazer made it so much fun to watch. Axiom is also of course a great talent whilst Baron Corbin is thriving right now. I’m not even kidding, but Corbin did a dive at one point! We also got a couple of good near-falls, including a very good one where Breakker just about managed to break up Frazer pinning Corbin after Nathan delivered a wonderful Phoenix Splash, and ultimately, a devastating Spear by Bron onto Frazer (behind the referee’s back) was enough for Baron to cover his opponent for a 3 count meaning The Wolf Dogs are still the NXT Tag Team Champions! Fair play to Baron and Bron because they’re killing it right now!
Grade: B+
NXT North American Championship: Oba Femi VS Josh Briggs VS Dijak
After Knuckles (that’s right, KNUCKLES!) appeared in the crowd, it was time for a beast of an NXT North American Championship match as Oba Femi put his Gold on the line against both Josh Briggs and Dijak. In terms of action, this was the match of the night in my opinion. We know that Dijak is a gem of a pro wrestler, but this was a proper coming-out party for both Femi and Briggs. Some of the moves here were ridiculous, from Canadian Destroyers to heavy strikes, to even Josh Briggs throwing Dijak into Oba Femi who was sitting on a chair! Towards the end of the match, Dijak dropped Femi with not 1, but 2 Feast Your Eyes, only for Briggs to pull the referee out of the ring at the last possible second. Things then got even crazier when Josh sent Oba flying through the barricade before Dijak delivered not 1, but 2 Feast Your Eyes onto Mr. Briggs. It then looked like Mr. Cool finally had the match won, but Oba Femi brilliantly powered Dijak up and delivered a devastating Powerbomb on top of Josh Briggs to secure the victory and retain his NXT North American Title! Just fair play to all three of these guys, this was so much fun!
Grade: A-
Thea Hail, Fallon Henley, and Kelani Jordan VS Jacy Jayne, Kiana James, and Izzi Dame
We then got our first women’s match of the night as Thea Hail, Fallon Henley, and Kelani Jordan teamed up to take on Jacy Jayne, Kiana James, and Izzi Dame in a six-woman Tag Team match. Whilst this wasn’t nearly as good as the first two matches, it wasn’t meant to be. This was just meant to be a fun little contest that got plenty of women on the show. Did NXT achieve this, yes, yes they did! And what makes it even better is the fact that Kelani Jordan looked particularly good whilst Thea Hail was able to get her big moment by making Dame tap out in the Kimura. Nice and simple is sometimes the right way to go!
Grade: C+
NXT Women’s Championship: Lyra Valkyria VS Roxanne Perez
After a fantastic announcement from Ava that a new “NXT Women’s North American Championship” will be coming soon, the NXT Women’s Championship was on the as Lyra Valkyria looked to retain her Title against Roxanne Perez. Whilst Lyra and Roxanne worked at a pretty slow and steady pace for the most part, the story that was being told was good as Perez continued to work on the injured arm/shoulder of Valkyria. The match then started to pick up towards the end, especially after Tatum Paxley arrived and accidentally banged heads with her “so-called friend”. Both women then went back and forth before The Prodigy was able to drop The Morgen with a second Pop Rox before she locked in the Cross Face. Whilst Lyra did her best to fight this for a good 20 to 30 seconds, in the end, Valkyria was forced to tap out meaning Roxanne Perez is your brand-new NXT Women’s Champion! Roxanne’s been great in 2024, so I’m really excited to see her Title run going forward.
Grade: B-
NXT Championship: Ilja Dragunov VS Tony D’Angelo
After a really good video package, all eyes were on the NXT Championship as Ilja Dragunov clashed with Tony D’Angelo. The story of this match was simple, Ilja was in pain, but he wouldn’t go down. The only true way for Tony D to beat Dragunov was to cheat, but D’Angelo refused to despite multiple times where it looked like Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo would get involved. Ilja was eventually able to fight through the pain and deliver one H-Bomb on the outside, a second through the announce table, a Torpedo Moscow to the back of the head, before a super H-Bomb to retain his NXT Championship. Whilst this feud hasn’t been great and I haven’t really enjoyed it, I’m glad to say I can’t say the same about this match. This was a lot of fun and was really, really hard-hitting. Credit to Tony D’Angelo for stepping up in the biggest match of his career to date, but the praise has to go to Ilja Dragunov who continues to prove why he’s one of the best wrestlers in the world, no arguments! Well done to both The Czar and The Don!
Grade: B+
Carmelo Hayes VS Trick Williams
And in the Main Event, the 2-and-a-half-year-plus story between Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams finally came to an end (for now at least) in the biggest match in Stand and Deliver history! Straight away, the entrances ruled! Carmelo Hayes came out dressed as Black Panther whilst Trick Williams just got the biggest and best pop! This was also a true Main Event in the sense that it felt big time, the crowd were well into it, and there were ref bumps! Also, at one point, Melo just knocked Uncle James’ hat off his head which was genuinely quite funny! After a couple of close calls, Hayes delivered Nothin’ but Net onto Trick Willy, only for Williams to kick out which is awesome because no one’s done that before! Trick then got back up, and floored Melo with the Trick Shot (aka the Trick Knee) to score the victory and send the NXT Universe into raptures! This match was actually surprisingly shorter than I thought it would be and action-wise, there were definitely better matches on this show. However, as a showpiece, this ruled! Carmelo Hayes is without a doubt for me a Mount Rushmore NXT Superstar, just look at what that man has done on this brand. If Melo goes up to the Main Roster starting next week, he will thrive. As for his opponent, Trick Williams is an absolute star and that’s all of his and the crowds’ making! Whether this is Trick’s last appearance on NXT or not is unclear, but whatever happens, I’m sure the crowd will be firmly chanting “Whoop That Trick!”
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