It’s 9am, my time, and I’m getting ready to watch a professional wrestling pay-per-view. No matter how many times things like this happen, it continues to feel weird.
Approximately 12 hours after I posted my review of RoH Supercard Of Honor, let’s keep things rolling with NXT’s biggest show of the year, Stand & Deliver.
Bron Breakker & Baron Corbin vs Axiom & Nathan Frazer – NXT Tag Team Title Match
It’s still weird to see live crowds cheering for anything that Baron Corbin does. NXT really stumbled into something cool with this Wolf Dogs pairing.
Only a few minutes in, and this looks like a really fun clash of styles. The champions have already had the chance to showcase their power and size advantage, but the challengers have had plenty of chances to use their speed and athleticism to their advantage.
Well, hot damn, that was fun. Axiom and Frazer pushed the pace from the start, and to their credit, Bron and Corbin seemed to have no problem working a faster match themselves. The teams really packed a lot of action into just under 11:30 of match time. The only problem you could have here was that the outcome was pretty clear. I don’t think anybody really thought Axiom and Frazer had a chance. They still looked really good in defeat, though. 3.75 Stars
Oba Femi vs Josh Briggs vs Dijak – Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Title
Meat. Plain and simple.
Oba Femi is an absolute freak of nature. He’s standing at ringside and catches Dijak in mid-air from an apron dive, and then, while still holding Dijak, uses the man as a weapon to knock Briggs down.
Then, mere moments later, Oba is seated in a chair at ringside and he gets completely wiped out by Dijak, who was standing on the top rope and was thrown off by Briggs. These three are cooking with gas.
Oba just had Dijak up in an Electric Chair position. Not so crazy, right? Well, I forgot to mention that Dijak had Briggs in a Fireman’s Carry position at the moment, meaning that Oba was carrying 540 pounds on his shoulders, and he WALKED with them up there before dumping them to the mat.
Like the opening match, this match was nonstop big spot after big spot, and like the opening match, it was a ton of fun. It had several moments that are going to be featured on highlight reels, video packages, and YouTube compilations for years to come. 4.25 Stars
Thea Hail, Fallon Henley & Kelani Jordan vs Jacy Jayne, Kiana James & Izzy Dame – Six Woman Tag Match
If this match can continue the show’s hot streak, I will be VERY pleasantly surprised.
Funny moment alert. Kelani Jordan was in the middle of an offensive flurry when she got into position to kip up off the mat. Instead of actually doing it, it’s like she realized it wasn’t the scripted spot for it, because she just got up normally, then hit another move, and THEN kipped up.
You know what? Consider me pleasantly surprised. I wouldn’t say the match was quite on the level as the previous two, but it was still fun. Every match on this show has featured an insane pace, and this was no different. All six women busted their asses. Kelani Jordan has the potential to be a huge force in the future. She showcased some fantastic athleticism and an exciting moveset. There were a couple clunky moments that seemed due to her rushing from spot to spot and not getting her timing right, but nothing too crazy.
3.25 Stars. Off the top of my head, this was probably the best match any of the women have been involved in. That’s pretty cool.
Lyra Valkyria vs Roxanne Perez – NXT Women’s Title Match
Before the match, NXT General Manager Ava reveals that the brand will be getting a Women’s North American Title soon. There are a lot of women in NXT that are receiving steady television time, so it makes sense to make a move like that, whether you agree with it or not.
Also happening before the match? The return of an old NXT staple… showing a new signing sitting in the front row for the crowd to pop for. This time, it was for Giulia, who is coming to NXT from Japan, where she has been a huge star for Stardom in recent years. She got a nice reaction from the live crowd.
The longer this match goes, the more the crowd is getting behind the challenger. We haven’t quite reached the levels of a double turn or anything. As I’ve mentioned in my columns before, Lyra Valkyria hasn’t really given the NXT crowds a reason to truly care for her as a top performer. Roxanne, on the other hand, has done that several times over.
Sure enough, the crowd popped huge when the champion tapped out. The match was good. I’m not sure if it’s a lack of chemistry between the two, or if Roxanne is still trying to figure out her new heel character in the ring, but I don’t think the match was as entertaining as it could’ve, and should’ve, been. Again, it was good. It just didn’t seem to reach the gear that many expected it to. 3.25 Stars
Ilja Dragunov vs Tony D’Angelo – NXT Title Match
It’s almost as if Shawn Michaels gave a speech to the roster before the show and told them to let loose today. Every match has featured a rapid pace, tons of action, and impressive work from all involved. We know that Dragunov is one of the best workers alive today, but Tony D has stepped up in a big match situation once again.
We have seen five matches on the main card so far, and we’ve now seen five really fun contests. As I said, Tony D has gotten really good at stepping up in big matches. This was a solid performance from him, albeit in the losing effort that just about everyone predicted. Ilja continues to add to the ninth-longest NXT Title reign of all-time, primed to pass Bobby Roode for eighth in a couple weeks.
3.5 Stars. I think D’Angelo may very well be the NXT Champion in the future, but it simply wasn’t his day here.
Trick Williams vs Carmelo Hayes
Here we go. They’re hyping this as the biggest match in NXT history. While that isn’t true in the slightest, it is still a highly anticipated clash between two former best friends, and it presents the incredible rise to superstardom that Trick Willy is on right now.
Earlier in the show, Ava declared that there must be a winner in this match, telling the Ref that he needed to do what it takes to make that happen. It took all of a couple minutes for the match to spill into the crowd, and sure enough, we’re getting a ton of leeway. It wasn’t announced with any real stipulation, but we’re clearly getting something more than just a regular singles match here.
Well… that Ref might not be involved in the end of the match, after all. He just got squished in the corner by a Trick Williams Stinger Splash after Melo stepped out of the way.
Alright, so maybe he will be involved, as the Ref is back up. He did remove a steel chair from Trick’s hands, though, which led to a low blow from Melo.
Okay, so maybe he won’t be involved, as the Ref has been kneed in the head by Melo after Trick moved out of the way. This Ref is having all kinds of problems.
The end of the match seemed to come out of nowhere. Trick picks up the win, but it seemed like the match was just starting to truly warm up when it ended. With the rumors that Carmelo Hayes is about to be an official member of the main roster, it wasn’t exactly a surprise that Trick got the win here. Entertaining stuff here. Melo was able to lead, and Trick more than held up his end of the bargain. Time to start the countdown until Trick is the new NXT Champion, folks. 3.5 Stars
Every match on the show was good. It wasn’t an NXT Takeover show, where it seemed like every match was a Match Of The Year candidate, but it was a great performance from the NXT roster on their biggest show of the year.
Next up, WrestleMania 40, starting in just over four hours from now. I’ll be back with my review of that, as well. For now, it’s time for some rest.