NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Preview - Predictions, Analysis and more
With the March 31 edition of NXT behind us, we have passed all the build for the upcoming NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. There are no more weekly NXTs left, no more matches, no more promos, nothing. All that is left is Wednesday and Thursday, TakeOver, and I have to say, never in my life have I seen a show as stacked as this. Title matches, blood feuds, there is SO MUCH to talk about, and I don't want to waste any more of your precious time, so let's just dive into what I think will be the two best nights of wrestling all fucking year.
Night 1
Pete Dunne vs. Kushida
Oh, man, this match. So for weeks now, Pete Dunne has been walking around calling himself the Best Technical Wrestler in the World, a title for which he is certainly a top contender. Pete Dunne is the motherfucking best. I have never seen a match of his that wasn't, in the very least, very good, and has put ome absolute classics against various opponents. But last week, on the March 24 edition of NXT , Kushida called himself the Best Technical Wrestler in the World, a title for which he is also a contender (though I would choose Dunne over him, personally). So Pete Dunne taunted him this week before the Gauntlet Elimminator qualifying Battle Royal (and we'll get to that), asserting his superiority in technical wrestling. In the battle royal, they ended up eliminating each other, with Kushida locking in the Hoverboard lock and Dunne throwing him over the top rope, but Kushida hanging on to the hold, thus ending with both men hitting the floor with both feet.
And what can I really say about this match? These are two of the best wrestlers on the planet, and they will have a classic we will talk about for years to come. I genuinely can't wait, and while it's hard, I'm pretty confident in my choice for Dunne to win and get some mommentum.
MSK (Wes Lee and Nash Carter) vs. Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) vs. Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde) - Triple Threat Tag Team Match for the vacant NXT Tag Team Championship
This match came about due to the unfortunate injury of Danny Burch, forcing he and Oney Lorcan to vacate the NXT Tag belts. While I'm obviously sorry for Burch and Lorcan, their title reign hasn't been spectacular, and has ended a streak of weak reigns for a bad time for tag team wrestling in NXT. Hopefully, this match can revive the division back to its past glory.
This match should be fast-pace, exciting and very good. It's what you expect of these teams, and I think we'll see some great tag team action here. As for the winners, while I can see the GYV winning here, I gotta go with MSK simply because of the huge momentum they've been having since debuting for NXT. Love the Grizzled Young Vets, but Lee and Carter are winning here.
Leon Ruff vs. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott vs. Bronson Reed vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis vs. LA Knight - No. 1 Contender's Match for an NXT North American Championship Match on Night 2
This is the Gauntlet Eliminator match, for which these six guys qualified by being the last six competitors in the battle royal this week on NXT. The order of entry, which was determined by the order of elimination in the battle royal, is as written above.
I think NXT made a really smart choice here, not putting Dunne and Kushida here, letting them have their own thing and putting more spotlight on the other guys. I think this could be a really good match (get used to hearing that phrase!), and I'm very intrigued as to who will win. And who will it be?
Well, my heart moves towards Grimes, 'cause he's pretty much my favorite act right now on NXT, but on the other hand Bronson Reed is riding a huge wave of momentum at the moment. Then again, maybe LA Knight wins here and Reed costs him the match against Johnny on Night 2. But then again, maybe it's the other way around and Reed does win, losing the match on Night 2 due to Knight? I'm lost here. I'm going with my heart and choosing Grimes, though I may come to regret it.
WALTER (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa - NXT United Kingdom Championship Match
This match doesn't have a lot of build, but it should still be great. Tommasso Ciampa as an underdog babyface against the monster WALTER will be... interesting, to say the least. But then again, so will Rampage Brown.
WALTER has held the NXT UK Championship for 727 days, which makes him the longest reigning world champion in not just WWE's modern era, but all of wrestling's modern era, beating Kazuchika Okada's 4th IWGP Heavyweight title reign just last week. And with all that time, I really don't see him losing the belt to a 3 week feud in Ciampa. Or to Brown at NXT UK: Prelude! WALTER for the win here, 100%.
Io Shirai (c) vs. Raquel González (with Dakota Kai) - NXT Women's Championship Match
And we come to the main event of Night 1, Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez. I cannot tell you just how much I am PUMPED for this match. Io Shirai has been having the best title reign in all of NXT US for almost a damn year, incredible title defense after amazing title defense, elevating herself, elevating her opponents and elevating the entire division. Her match against Rhea Ripley on the November 18 edition of NXT is a particular highlight.
Meanwhile, you've got this giant in Raquel Gonzalez, who, for the same past year, has been building herself up, getting enormously better in the ring, racking up wins and staying dominant, to the point where she even pinned Io at WarGames this past year to win for her team. Io Shirai, always wanting to face the best and put herself up for a challenge, saw this, and challenged Gonzlez, not the other way around, to a match at TakeOver, and this is confirmed to be the main event of Night 1. And to be honest, I wouldn't object for a second if this was the main event of the whole show. I am just as excited for this one as for the actual main event of Night 2, which we'll get to.
This is going to be such a good match. Io Shirai is a frickin' deity in the ring. Everything she does is so slick, so smooth and so brilliantly executed. Couple that with Raquel's powerhouse dominance, and you have a recipe for success. I can't wait!
And as for predictions, it's Raquel Gonzalez all the way, baby. As much as I love Io, and believe me, it's a LOT, it's Raquel's time. She's been grinding since she debuted at TakeOver: Portland, and she didn't pin Io at WarGames for no reason. She's winning this one and becoming the new NXT Women's Champion.
--
Night 2
Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart (c) vs. The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell) - NXT Women's Tag Team Championship Match
This match was added to the card just this Wednesday, and with good reason. You can't debut the belts so close to TakeOver and not have them featured on the show! And as much as I'm conflicted about these belts even existing, this should be a good match. The NXT women's division is the best in North America, and I'm all for the ladies to make a splash here and show what they're capable of.
As for winners, it's pretty obvious, Ember and Shotzi are winning here. You did the quick title change once, and yes, it was hugely exciting, but you can't do it again so soon. The champs are gonna retain.
Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly - Unsanctioned Match
Jesus fucking Christ. There is so much to this match. So much history, spanning multiple decades in multiple promotions.
So the Undisputed Era debuted in NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, and have been a force to be reckoned with on the Black & Gold brand ever since, winning tons of championships along the way. But as Kyle started to break out as a singles star with his phenomenal matches against Finn Balor and Pete Dunne, Adam Cole's jealousy started to creep out, rearing its cocky, ugly head. And Adam Cole, fueled by this jealousy, betrayed Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong, splitting up the Undisputed Era after 3 and a half years of brotherhood. And the promo work they've been doing since the breakup has been the best we've seen since Johnny Gargano and Tommasso Ciampa's infamous, long feud. The Prime Target they aired this week on NXT has been a particular highlight, and it was just sublime.
This feud will continue the one they had in ROH and New Japan, and with the Unsactioned stipulation I seriously can't wait. These guys will just knock it out the fucking park and we will see a superb brawl here.
As for the winner, it's tough, because this feud obviously isn't over, but I think I'm gonna go with Kyle O'Reilly getting the first win here, and Adam Cole getting his back only later in the feud.
Johnny Gargano (c) vs. Gauntlet Eliminator winner - NXT North American Championship Match
Well... this is tough. I don't even know for sure who Gargano's gonna face! I mean, yeah, I went with Grimes, but like I said, that was a hard choice! But regardless, I'm going with Johnny here. He's so brilliantly funny in this role I don't think NXT will take the title off him quite yet. We'll see what happens, though.
Jordan Devlin (NXT Cruiserweight Champion) vs. Santos Escobar (Interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion) (with Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde) - Unification Ladder Match to determine the Undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion
I am so damn excited for this one. Two incredible cruiserweights in a ladder match for the Cruiserweight title? Sign me up! This one will have so many amazing spots we will not believe what we're seeing.
As for the story, here's what basically happened: so at Worlds Collide, Jordan Devlin won a Fatal 4-Way Match to become the new NXT Cruiserweight Champion, pinning Isaiah "Swerve" Scott for the win despite Angel Garza being the defending champion. However, as COVID-19 struck, Devlin was locked in Britain, unable to come over to the US to defend his title. So a tournament was announced to crown an Interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion, a tournament Santos Escobar won in the end. Ever since then, Escobar has defended his title on NXT US while Devlin has defended his on NXT UK, and now we have this unification match to determine the undisputed champion. Last week, Shawn Michaels came over to make the match a ladder match, and I'm so thankful to him, because it's gonna be insane.
So who wins? Devlin. Definitely Devlin. This match is happening on an NXT US TakeOver, and since Escobar is the one who has dominated over the divison in the US, I think it's only logical that Devlin freshens up the scene and wins here to become the first ever Undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion.
Finn Bálor (c) vs. Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) - NXT Championship Match
So here it is, the main event of Night 2, closing out TakeOver. I am very much looking forward to this one, because the build was there before this match was even announced.
After months and months of vingets and teasing, Karrion Kross made his debut on the May 6 edition of NXT, making an unforgettable entrance and squashing Leon Ruff into oblivion. He quickly gained insane amounts of momentum, eventually facing and defeating Keith Lee for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: XXX, just 3 months after debuting. However, he sadly seperated his shoulder and had to relinquish his title immediately after on the August 26 edition of NXT. A 4-Way 60-Minute Iron Man Match for the vacant NXT Championship was made for NXT SuperTuesday I, where Finn Balor and Adam Cole drew, both with 2 points. These two would fight the next week on SuperTuesday II, with Balor winning and becoming the new NXT Champion.
Ever since then, Balor has reigned supreme as the NXT Champion, putting phenomenal match after phenomenal match, against guys like Kyle O'Reilly, Pete Dunne and Adam Cole. On the December 9 edition of NXT, Kross would return, attacking Damian Priest. In the lead up to NXT New Year's Evil, Balor told Kross's manager Scarlett to: "tell your boy that when he's ready, Finn's ready". After defeating Priest at New Year's Evil and later Santos Escobar on the February 24 edition of NXT, Kross confronted Balor after the latter successfully defended his championship against Adam Cole on the March 10 edition of NXT, to which Balor replied: "what took you so long?".
On the March 17 edition of NXT, Scarlett manipulated Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan into agreeing to defend their tag titles against Balor and Kross. However, during the match, when Balor dropkicked Lorcan, he accidently caused a collision in which Scarlett got hit. Kross became incensed at this, visiously assaulting Balor and costing them the match, with Balor being pinned by Lorcan for the win. The following week, Balor proclaimed that in doing this, Kross showed that his weaknesss in that he lets his emotions control him, and that's why he will beat Kross and retain his title at TakeOver.
Wow. Just... wow. What a great, natural, classic build. Kross is fighting for the title he never lost, and Balor is defending his belt against the monster Karrion, who has never been pinned or submitted in NXT. This match will be so fucking great, I can't wait, and as for a winner, you better know I'm choosing my boy Karrion to win this match and the title and continue his streak of dominance over the brand. Woohoo!
--
In Conclusion
NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver looks to be the two best nights of wrestling all year. You know there's gonna be at least one Match of the Year contender here, and probably more. There's so much to look forward to, I just can't believe it's happening. And in less than a week! Jesus. Can't wait.