By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT Stand & Deliver
Streamed live April 6, 2024 on Peacock
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Wells Fargo Center
Kickoff Show Results
Sam Roberts, Megan Morant, and NXT Wrestler Ariana Grace checked in stageside as the kickoff show hosts. Grace did her usual over the top beauty queen thing. Separate camera shots of Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams arriving to the venue earlier today were shown. The panel then ran through the advertised Stand and Deliver card…
The panel sent the show to a Lyra Valkyrie vs. Roxanne Perez hype package. The video also focused on Perez’s year long development towards becoming a vindictive heel. Separate shots of Lyra Valkyria and Roxanne Perez arriving to the venue were shown. The panel then gave their thoughts and predictions on the Lyra vs. Roxanne title match. Grace, rather than talk about the match, thanked the crowd for awarding her “Miss Stand and Deliver”. Roberts snuck in the line that Roxanne Perez has lost her smile…
Grace then argued that part of Perez’s turn included Roxanne punching her in the face. The panel then discussed the Wolf Dogs vs. Axiom and Frazer tag title match. The panel then moved on to the North American Championship title match. Grace kept talking about herself. A tale of the tape aired to focus on the three men being very huge…
Shawn Spears was shown taping up his wrists. The show then cut to Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin at a Philadelphia Cheesesteak restaurant. Corbin and Breakker then jokingly argued over what the best cheeseteak in Philly is. Corbin walked off due to the disagreement. Breakker called Corbin an idiot for leaving his sandwich.[c]
John’s Thoughts: These kickoff shows don’t have to be an hour. Content wise, it’s the same amount of filler discussions. My guess is they just made it an hour to make more Peacock ad money (since the only thing they really “added” by stretching to hour is long ad breaks).
Megan Morant thanked the band The Wonder Years for providing the song “Year of the Vulture” as the theme song of NXT Stand and Deliver 2024. Megan then plugged the WWE wrestlemania weekend popup show. The show cut to NXT GM Ava advising the referee of the Trick vs. Melo match to be flexible because there needs to be a definitive winner….
The panel sent the show to the Ilja Dragunov vs. Tony D’Angelo hype package. The video was in the style of a sports documentary. The video also had artificial film grain and a narrator that sounds like the movie trailer narrator guy. The show then cut to Tony D’Angelo cutting a promo on the streets of Philly. He talked about Philly reminding of home. The camera panned back to show the rest of the D’Angelo family with him. Tony D was cutting his promo next to the Rocky Balboa statue.
They swapped out Grace and added Ridge Holland to the panel. Holland thanked Ava for the opportunity to host. Morant wondered if Holland feels emotional watching WrestleMania from the sidelines. He said it is emotional but he had to do what was best for his health and his family. The panel then gave their thoughts and predictions for the Ilja vs. Tony D match…
The panel moved on to talking about the six women tag team match. The show then cut to that “I thought you were my sister” promo a month ago on NXT by Thea Hail. The camera showed Joe Gacy gearing up backstage.[c]
John’s Thoughts: Again the discussions are rinse and repeat but I continue to complement how Ridge Holland during his recent NXT run has proved he’s a great talker (I really like to see it when things “finally click”). While the thick accent may hold him back, he might have a future in color commentary if he wants to go that route once his in-ring career is truly done.
The panel sent the show to the three man announce booth, with Vic Joseph, Booker T, and Wade Barrett. Entrances for the kickoff match took place. Spears made his “chairman” entrance. The kickoff crew can be heard holding Ridge Holland back due to Holland’s feud with Spears.
Joe Gacy had his motion sickness inducing upside down camera for his entrance. While halfway down the ramp, Ridge Holland hit Gacy in the back and walked off…
1. Shawn Spears vs. Joe Gacy. Gacy agreed to wrestle. Gacy dumped Spears to ringside and hit him with a suicide dive. Spears pounced on the top rope to hit Gacy with a German Superplex. Spears then whipped Gacy into the ringpost. Vic noted that Spears was focising on Gacy’s back. Gacy and Spears traded strong style chops. Spears flipped Gacy over into a Boston Crab. Gacy got to the bottom rope for the break.
There was actually dueling chants for both men. Gacy punched Spears off the top rope. Spears reversed a crossbody into a two count. Gacy came back with a suplex. Gacy rallied with right hands and running forearms. Gacy folded Spears with a Saito Suplex. Gacy dominated for a stretch. Gacy hit Spears with a Lionsault for a nearfall. Spears used his forearms to block a Suicide Dive. Spears put Gacy in a tree of woe in the center of the ropes.
Spears hit Gacy and then body slammed him on the apron. Spears draped Gacy on the top rope and hit him with a Hangman DDT for a two count. Both men traded multiple counters with Gacy getting a rollup for a two count. Gacy hit Spears with a Uranage for a really close nearfall. Gacy kicked Spears on the apron and followed up with a running Senton. Spears avoided a swanton and hit Gacy with the Pedigree (somewhere Hunter is like, what?)
Spears kicked out at two. Spears blocked a handstand lariat. Gacy escaped a DVD attempt and hit Spears with the handstand lariat for the clean win.
Joe Gacy defeated Shawn Spears via pinfall in 9:04.
Morant and Roberts sent the show to the Trick vs. Melo hype package to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: That was a bit surprising. They did the chairshot angle to start the match, yet they put Gacy not only over, but over strong. Can’t say I would have given Gacy the win given his current cringeworthy crazy man gimmick. While Spears has been a bit over melodramatic on the mic, I’m higher on him given his potential (yes he’s older, but he is very talented, while Gacy needs another reboot).
Main Show Review
The show opened up with the Meta Four making their entrance. The show then cut to a cinematic with the Meta Four where Noam Dar, Jakara Jackson, Lash Legend, and Oro Mensah were eating dinner at an Italian Restaurant to preview the Ilja vs. Tony D match. The next skit was Meta Four dressed up as Meta Four with lash cursing like Andre Chase to preview the six person women’s tag.
They then dressed up as paramedics to preview Perez vs. Lyra. The skit then went to Dijak’s interrogation room where the Meta Four previewed the NA Title Triple Threat while all dressed up as Dijak. The Meta Four previewed Trick vs. Melo while at Melo’s barbershop…
Cut back to the arena, Noam Dar welcomed the crowd to Stand and Deliver. Vic Joseph, Booker T, and Wade Barrett were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer. Vic noted that this was the biggest Stand and Deliver ever. It looks like they are using the smaller WWE stage set to allow for more fans to be in the arena…
Entrances for the Tag Team Title match aired. Frazer and Axiom jumped Breakker and Corbin during their entrance wit..
1. “The Wolf Dogs” Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin vs. Axiom and Nathan Frazer for the NXT Tag Team Championships. Axiom got a two count after a flip. Corbin tagged in. Frazer tagged in and tossed Axiom at Corbin. Frazer hit Corbin with a Tornado DDT for a two count. Frazer ran circles around Corbin and dropkicked Corbin’s calf. Corbin recovered and slammed Frazer. Frazer hit Corbin with an enzuigiri.
Axiom tagged in. Axiom and Frazer hit Corbin with stereo superkicks. Axiom took Breakker out with a gamengiri. Corbin hit Axiom with two brainbusters for a two count. Corbin and Breakker cut the ring in half on Axiom. Breakker sped up using the ropes and turned Axiom inside out with a clothesline. The Wolf Dogs went back to using tags and methodical offense to cut the ring in half on Axiom.
Axiom got a window of opportunity by hitting Breakker with a Standing Spanish Fly. Corbin and Frazer tagged in. Frazer hit Breakker with a baseball slide. Frazer escaped End of Days and then did a flip into a reverse DDT. Frazer hit Corbin with a standing Shooting Star for a nearfall. Corbin avoided a Phoenix Splash. Corbin hit Frazer with Deep Six.
Corbin power bombed Axiom. Axiom quickly recovered and hit Breakker with his finisher Golden Ratio kick for a nearfall on Breakker. Breakker crotched Axiom on the top rope. Breakker hit Axiom with a tiger knee, but slipped. Breakker tagged in Corbin. Breakker Frankenstiner’d Axiom, which tripped up Corbin. Frazer broke up Corbin’s pin. All four men took turns trading signature moves with Breakker standing tall.
Axiom caught Bron with a Gamengiri to stagger him on the top rope. Axiom hit Breakker with a Super Spanish Fly. Frazer hit Breakker with a 450 to get a nearfall. Breakker crotched Frazer on the top rope. Corbin hit Axiom with a Deep Six. Breakker hit Frazer with a super version of his tilt a whirl suplex. Corbin went to the top rope and hit an ugly but effective splash for a two count. Frazer pulled Axiom away to send Breakker shoulder first into the steel steps.
Coribin tossed Axiom and Frazer into the announcers. Axiom and Frazer came back with rapid strikes. Axiom hit Corbin with a Golden Ratio. Frazer hit Corbin with a Phoenix Splash for a good nearfall. Corbin reversed Axiom into End of Days. Corbin set up Frazer which allowed Breakker to fly in with a Spear. Corbin picked up the pinfall.
The Wolf Dogs defeated Nathan Frazer and Axiom via pinfall in 11:22 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
John’s Thoughts: A good fast paced tag team opener that kept the crowd captivated with a lot of solid false finishes. Unfortunately for Breakker, that top right turnbuckle wasn’t agreeing with him when he went for some creative spots. We all have our bad days, and this wasn’t too bad given the rest of the match was really good. I had thought they were going to get the belts off Breakker and Corbin due to Breakker being called up, but it looks like the Wolf Dogs will continue for a little bit longer (which is cool because they were such an accidental success story). They have been building up Gallows and Anderson to go against the Wolf Dogs, so I wonder if that’s the next program?
The Meta Four were outside of Oba Femi’s locker room. Noam said they need to do an interview to get paid. They forced Oro to play the role of interviewer because they were all scared.
Vic Joseph, Booker T, and Wade Barrett checked in on commentary. Vic introduced this creeping looking Knuckles mascot (from the Sonic The Hedgehog series). Ah, apparently the Triple Threat Match is sponsored by the Knuckles series…
Entrances for the North American Championship match took place. flags to advertise the sponsoring tv series were plastered all around ringside. Vic noted that Briggs is 6’8 while Dijak is 6’7, making them taller than Oba…
2. Oba Femi vs. Dijak vs. Josh Briggs for the NXT North American Championship. Oba flipped over Dijak and Briggs when they both went after him. Dijak and Briggs came back with stereo big boots. Briggs and Dijak then swarmed Oba with shoulder tackles, but couldn’t get him off his feet. “Meat” chants ensued. They dumped Oba to ringside. Oba caught Dijak and battering rammed him into Briggs. Oba press slammed Dijak on Briggs. Dijak recovered and put Oba on a office chair.
Dijak gave Oba a Superkick. Briggs stopped Dijak from diving. Briggs gave Dijak a Super Chokeslam to ringside on Dijak on top of Oba. “Holy Shit” chants ensued. Oba swatted Briggs out of the air with a clubbing blow. Oba escaped a choke. Dijak came in for assistance. Dijak and Briggs gave Oba a double team chokeslam. Oba kicked out of a pin by both men. Oba came back with a double chokeslam of his own.
Briggs hit Oba with a sidewalk slam on Oba. Briggs then hit Dijak out of the air with a big boot for a two count. Oba punched Briggs on the top rope. Dijak superkicked Oba off the top rope. Dijak and Briggs brawled on the top rope. Briggs turned Dijak inside out on the top rope with a Super Clothesline from Hell (Vic is really laying it thick with mentioning JBL giving Briggs advise that one time).
All three men traded strikes on their knees. All three men got to their feet. Dijak hit both opponents with alternating chops. Briggs did the same wit forearms. All three men traded kicks with Briggs standing tall. Briggs dumped Oba to ringside. Dijak hiht Briggs with a Mafia Kick for a nearfall. Dijak kept Briggs in the mat with slaps. Briggs got to his feet and came back with lariats. Briggs hit Dijak with rapid slaps to the chest in the corner.
Dijak hit Briggs with a delayed South of Heaven. Briggs kicked out at one. Dijak revered Briggs into a Canadian Destroyer for a good nearfall. DIjak slowly dragged Briggs to the top rope in Fireman Carry. Oba put Dijak and Briggs in an Electric Chair and hit them with a modified Tower of Doom. Dijak kicked out at two. The crowd gave the big men a standing ovation. Dijak escaped a power bomb. Dijak came back with a few Yakuza Kicks.
Dijak hit Oba with a discus boot but couldn’t get Oba off his feet. Dijak lifted Oba and hit him with Feast Your Eyes. Dijak broke up his own pin to dodge Briggs’s moonsault. Dijak dumped Brigs to ringside. Dijak hit Oba with another Feast Your Eyes. Dijak had the visual pinfall victory, but Briggs pulled the ref to ringside to immese boos and “bull shit” chants. Dijak jumped over the ref to hit Briggs with a flip dive.
Oba tried to go at Dijak, but Briggs tackled him to the timekeeper area. Dijak hit Briggs with Feast Your Eyes at ringside. Dijak called for his finish. Dijak hit Briggs with Feast Your Eyes. Oba broke up the pin with a deadlift choke. Oba yelled something that sounded like “You stupid man!”. Oba power bombed Dijak onto Briggs. Oba pinned Briggs for the victory.
Oba Femi defeated Josh Briggs and Dijak via pinfall in 15:00 to retain the NXT North American Championship.
The show cut to a commercial for the sponsoring movie (even on the ad-free version I think)…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Awesome match! I said this match had the potential to steal the show and they delivered on that hope I had in these guys. All three men were great with Dijak and Briggs playing the role of also making Oba look good by “providing movement” with their high flying moves. Dijak has great matches on PLEs, but this might have been one of his best matches in WWE ever. They might be considering turning him babyface with him getting the crowd to their feet, and Briggs costing him the visual pinfall. I was also interested to see how Oba Femi would do in his first PLE match and he looked great in the big arena. This guy has only wrestled less then ten televised matches right? Man is legit the next big WWE star with main eventer potential. They also try to have him be heel, but the crowd just finds him too cool to boo.
The D’Angelo Family were psyching up Tony D backstage…
The show then cut to Meta Four interviewing the babyface team in the upcoming tag team match. Noam asked Thea if she thought Jacy Jayne was still her friend. Thea Hail then put Noam in a Kimura and started randomly yelling as she usually does…
Entrances for the upcoming six person women’s tag team match aired. The heels jumped the babyfaces before the bell…
3. Jacy Jayne (w/Jasmyn Nyx), Kiana James, and Izzi Dame vs. Thea Hail, Kelani Jordan, and Fallon Henley (w/Duke Hudson, Riley Osborne, Andre Chase). Dame and Henley started the match with Dame hitting Henley with a backbreaker. James tagged in and kept Henley on the mat with strikes. Jordan helped Henley escape to tag in Hail who hit Dame with a diving crossbody. Jordan hit James with a nice corkscrew plancha. Hail then accidentally hit Osborne with a trust fall after Jayne pulled him in the way.
The heels used quick tags to cut the ring in half on Hail. Hail used a judo roll to get Jordan in the match. Jordan swarmed her opponents with quick strikes. Jordan hit Jayne with a flatliner. Dame managed to gain control. The heels cut the ring in half on Jordan for a few minutes. Barrett noted that a handful of women in the match are in their early developmental stage in terms of their training. Jordan managed to dive and bring in Henley for a hot tag.
Henley rallied with hand strikes on Dame. Henley hit Jayne with a tornado flatliner. Henley hit Dame with a jump kick. Henley dragged James into a suplex for a two count. James and Henley brawled to the top rope. James hit Henley with a Super Spanish Fly for the nearfall. Dame hit Henley with a Flapjack. James hit Henley with the 401k. Jayne hit Henley with a running knee. Hail broke up the pin. Hail slammed James to the mat.
Dame caught Hail and dumped her to ringside, but Duke was there for the catch. Jordan hit the heels at ringside with a Triangle Moonsault. Nya hit Jordan with a jump kick. Hail tagged in and told Jayne to suck it. Jayne couldn’t tag out due to Jordan taking them out with a moonsault. Hail and Jordan traded hands. Jayne hit Hail with a Yakuza kick. Hail came back with a Thesz Press. Hail hit Jayne with an Exploder Suplex.
Jayne slammed Hail into the buckle for a nearfall. Jayne dumped Hail to the apron to block a Kimura. James tripped up Hail. Dame tagged in. Hail avoided a big boot. Dame blocked Hail’s DDT. Hail put Dame in a Kimura for the submission win.
Thea Hail, Kelani Jordan, and Fallon Henley defeated Izzi Dame, Kiana James, and Jacy Jayne via submission in 11:41.
John’s Thoughts: Despite the rushed build, this match exceeded expectations. They were also put in the unenviable spot of having to follow that really hot three way match for the North American Title. Kudos to the women for winning over the crowd by the end. They did a good job building up to the Thea Hail hot tag. More praise to some of the developmental women here. It wasn’t anything too epic, but the women didn’t look bad in front of the big crowd. I really hope that NXT gets women’s tag team titles or even a midcard women’s title because their women’s division is too deep (when’s that Women’s Dusty happening?). They even have a ton of talented wrestlers in their developmental pipeline.
Speak of the devil, they are giving the women’s division a mid-card title. NXT GM Ava announced that they will soon crown a NXT Women’s North American Champion…
John’s Thoughts: Ask and you shall receive. NXT does have the deepest women’s division in North America, and that’s tough to argue against. They really should have kept the kinda-Money in the Bank on Lola Vice if they had this in the works.
The hype package aired for the Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez match aired…
Former Stardom main eventer, Giulia, was shown sitting next to William Regal in the front row…
John’s Thoughts: Wowzers! We knew she was most likely headed to WWE, and now it’s confirmed. While I don’t regularly watch Stardom much these days, I did go out of my way to check out some of Giulia’s work. The Japanese-Italian star is special. Can’t wait to see what she brings to NXT/WWE.
Roxanne Perez came out to her heel theme. Lyra Valyria made her entrance wearing giant wings. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring introductions. This match was also sponsored by another streaming series…
4. Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women’s Championship. Both women started the match with chain wrestling with Lyra dominating early on. Perez went to focus on stretching Lyra’s injured arm. Lyra dumped Perez to ringside while also selling the injured arm. Lyra hit Perez with a wrecking ball dropkick. Perez recovered and hit Lyra’s draped arm with a hip drop. Perez hit Lyra with a Russian Legsweep for a two count. Perez worked on Lyra for a few minutes, focusing on the injured arm.
Lyra reversed an elbow stomp with a rollup. Perez hit Lyra with a Sacrifice Armbreaker. Perez hit Lyra with a Hammerlock Suplex for a two count. Perez went back to torturing Lyra’s arm. Vic noted that the match has been one-sided about 8 minutes in. Lyra rolled up Perez for a two count. Lyra hit Perez with a crossbody, but Perez rolled through and missed a knee drop to the injured arm. Lyra backdropped Perez for a moment of respite.
Perez and Lyra took each other out with stereo crossbodies. Lyra got a few nearfalls off a few Northern Lights suplexes. Lyra’s injured arm gave out on her during a suplex attempt. Lyra hit Perez with a facebuster and then hit a Fisherman Suplex for a two count. Lyra and Perez traded slaps on the top rope. Perez blocked a Sunset Flip by holding onto the top rope. Perez released the ropes and Lyra hit her with a running Sitout Power Bomb for the two count.
Perez blocked a dive with a right hand. Perez hit Lyra with a Suicide Dive into a Tornado DDT. Perez hit Lyra with Pop Rocks for the nearfall. Perez went right at Lyra’s injured arm again, tossing her into the ringposts. The referee separated Perez from Lyra. Perez exposed the bottom joint of the turnbuckle. Tatum Paxley ran to the apron and was punched off by Perez. Lyra avoided a stomp on the injured arm to the buckle joint.
Lyra then worked on Perez at ringside with a bunch of kicks. Perez tossed Lyra into Paxley. Perez then tossed Lyra into the ringpost. Perez slammed Lyra’s injured arm into the post. Perez hit Lyra with a La Mistica into a crossface. Lyra broke it with a rollup. Lyra hit Perez with a Crescent Kick for a nearfall. Lyra crash and burned on a splash.
Perez out Lyra in a crossface, which Lyra broke with another pin attempt. Lyra reversed Pop Rocks into a jackknife pin. Both women traded nearfalls. Lyra hit Perez with a snap German Suplex. Perez hit Lyra with a Poisonrana and Pop Rocks. Lyra tried to escape, but Perez rolled Lyra to the center of the ring.
Roxanne Perez defeated Lyra Valkyria via submission in 16:19 to become the new NXT Women’s Champion.
The camera cut to Giulia, William Regal, and former promotor of Stardom Rossy Ogawa watching the match at ringside. Booker gave Perez a standing ovation…
John’s Thoughts: Well worked match, as you would expect with two very talented pros. Lyra still hasn’t connected with the fans from a character standpoint yet. Here’s hoping Perez dropping the “moral compass” line on last week’s NXT means we’re in for a dark turn for Lyra, which I don’t think would hurt. Speaking of dark turns, Perez has exceeded expectations as the plucky heel. Both women did a good job selling Lyra’a injured arm and it helps Perez that the work she put in in recent months payed off…
Ilja was in the locker room doing pushups…
The trailer-style hype package aired for the Ilja Dragunov vs. Tony D match aired…
Tony D’Angelo made his entrance first to his new epic sounding theme. Ilja Dragunov was out next. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring introductions. Vic noted that like Lyra, Ilja is entering this match with an injury…
5. Ilja Dragunov vs. Tony D’Angelo (w/Channing Lorenzo, Adriana Rizzo, Luca Crucifino) for the NXT Championship. Tony D and Ilja started the match with that always scary looking tumbling suplex to ringside. Tony D and Ilja took each other out again to ringside when Tony D went for a body slam. Ilja and Tony D took each other out with stereo lariats. Tony D took advantage with stomps when Ilja’s injured wrist gave out on him. Ilja ralled with chops at ringside. Ilja accidentally chopped the ringpost to hurt his injued hand.
Tony D slammed Ilja into the steel post. Ilja recovered and hit Tony D with a Death Valley Driver at ringside. Ilja hit D’Angelo with chained German Suplexes. Ilja fended off Tony D with an enzuigiri. Ilja hit Tony D with a running knee for at two count. Ilja turned himself inside out after hitting Tony with a clothesline for a two count. Tony D tackled Ilja to the corner and dragged him to the top rope. Ilja hit Tony with a Sunset Flip Bomb.
Tony D used boots to block an H Bomb. Stacks handed Tony D some brass knuckles. Tony D refused it and decided to take the high road. Ilja stomped Stack’s hand. Stacks gave Tony D machine gun chops in the corner. Ilja reversed a spinebuster into a DDT for a nearfall. Ilja pummeled Tony D with forearm smashes to the back of the neck. Ilja also taunted Stacks and dared him to do something. Stacks got on the apron, but Tony D told him to stand down.
Ilja gave Tony a few kisses to the cheek. Ilja told Tony D it’s just business. Tony D rallied with a headbutt and a few Thesz Presses. Tony D hit Ilja with a Belly to Belly Suplex. Tony D fought through chops and hit Ilja with another Belly to Belly. Ilja got Tony to a knee, but Tony D caught him with a lariat . Tony D hit Ilja with a deadlift German for a nearfall. Ilja and Tony brawled to the top rope.
Tony D hit Ilja with a Belly to Belly Superplex. Ilja rolled to ringside to recover. Tony D and Ilja then both agreed to clear the Spanish announce table. Tony D and Ilja traded hands with Tony getting the advantage. Ilja escaped a power bomb with elbows. Ilja hit Tony D with a standing H Bomb. Ilja put Tony D on the Spanish announce table. Ilja hit Tony D with an H Bomb through the table. Ilja hit Tony with a diving senton for a nearfall.
Tony reversed a senton into a Power Bomb for a nearfall. Tony D gave Ilja a curb stomp and Uranage for a nearfall. Ilja peppered Tony with hands. Ilja used an inside cradle to get a two count. Ilja hit Tony with a headbutt. Ilja hit Tony D with Torpedo Moscow to the back of the neck. Ilja hit Tony D with a Super H Bomb for the win.
Ilja Dragunov defeated Tony D’Angelo via pinfall in 17:06 to retain the NXT Championship.
Tony D and Ilja shared a respectful handshake after the match…
John’s Thoughts: Despite another match with a limited build, both men put in hard work here to eventually win over the crowd by the end of it. Ilja is the perfect package of looking dominant, but also being great at selling for his opponents. Tony D looks good in defeat and him refusing the brass knuckles can play into whatever his next step in character development is. There might be a way to get Stacks usurping him if they are going to keep Tony D as the plucky brawler. What’s next for Ilja? Trick? We’ll see.
Tatum Paxley tried to apologize for not helping her win. Lyra snapped and said she can’t talk about this now…
An introductory vignette aired for Javon Evans…
The Meta Four were in the ring. Noam announced that they broke the NXT all time attendance record at 16,545…
The Trick vs. Melo hype package aired…
A graphic of a green Trick Williams jersey aired on the scoreboard. Carmelo Hayes made his entrance first wearing what looks like Erik Kilmonger Black Panther themed gear. Trick Williams then walked past the Gorilla Position wearing a boxing robe. Trick made his entrance to Whoop Dat Trick chants. Vic noted that like Booker T vs. The Rock in WWE, this was the first all black main event in the main event of a NXT PLE..
6. Carmelo Hayes vs. Trick Williams. Melo toyed with Trick early on. Melo then slapped Trick in the face. Trick rallied back with right hands. Melo dumped Trick to ringside. Trick tripped up Melo. Trick gave Melo snake eyes on the apron and barricade. Trick dumped Melo to the crowd. Vic noted that it’s up to the ref to see how far these men can bend the rules. Trick and Melo brawled up to the lower stands. Melo stood up and posed on a barricade.
Melo hit Trick with a dive. Melo slapped the hat off of one of Trick’s family members in the front row. Trick backdropped Melo back to ringside. Melo fended off Trick with kicks. Melo avoided a crescent kick and hit Trick with a springboard clothesline. Melo exposed the top buckle joint. Trick gained control. Melo held on to the top buckle to block a Superplex. Melo tripped up Trick to send him chest first into the exposed steel.
Melo tackled Trick into the apron. Melo hit Trick with a slingshot stomp. Melo gave Trick some disrespectful front kicks. Melo then hit Trick with methodical strikes in the corner. Melo hit Trick with a basement dropkick. Trick got to his feet. Melo blocked a pop up punch. Melo avoided another punch. Trick and Melo took each other out with stereo Shotgun Dropkicks. Both men traded Boo-Yay forearms.
Trick dared Melo to come at him. Both men struck fighting poses. Melo went for a low blow, but Trick blocked in and rallied with right hands, crescent kicks, and a flapjack. Melo dodged a kick and hit Trick with La Mistica. Both men traded counters. Trick hit Melo with a jumping neckbreaker. Trick turned Melo inside out with a Discus Boot for a two count. Melo dodged an axe kick and hit Trick with a throat punch.
Melo hit Trick with a diving clothesline right into the already broken Spanish Announce table. Melo caught Trick in the ring with a frog splash for the two count. The match hit the ten minute mark. Melo countered Trick with a Codebreaker for a nearfall. Melo took his time to wait until Trick got to his knees. Melo tried to use his wrist tape like fiber wire to choke Trick. Trick blocked it. Trick accidentally gave the referee a Stinger Splash. REF BUMP!!!
Melo hit Trick with a chop block. Trick stole a chair from melo and jabbed him in the gut. Trick then went to town in Melo’s back with the chair. The referee recovered and took away the chair. Melo hit Trick with a low blow for a nearfall. Trick gave Melo a right hand. Melo accidentally hit the referee with a knee strike. REF BUMP 2!!!
Melo hit Trick with Nothin’ But Net. A 2nd referee ran out and Trick kicked out at two. Melo went for a chair, but the referee took it away. Trick hit Melo with a Trick Knee for the victory.
Trick Williams defeated Carmelo Hayes via pinfall in 14:47.
Trick posed at the top ropes to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A well worked main event with Trick having the biggest match of his young career. The expectations of this match were lofty, due to the good hype packages and very long slow burn. The match was really good, but I feel like it could have been way better. Double ref bump? Feels like a shortcut for the finish. This match could have used 6 more minutes and Trick selling his knee more to get little more sympathy. Tony D in the prior match looked more plucky than Trick.
Again, I’m not saying this was a bad match, it just could have been better given the high expectations. Match of the night probably goes to the opener, but there were multiple good matches on this show. I kinda want them to run Trick v. Melo back soon, without the ref bumps and shortcut. Again, Trick is young, but we’ve seen him exceed expectations in the past. We’ll be back in a bit with a same day audio review for the Dot Net Members and Patreon Patrons.
Ariana Grace had a great future. I’m not 100% sold on her in ring skills yet but she is very comfortable
Dijak always brings it. I’ll never quite understand why he isn’t a bigger star
Booker T adding nothing as usual.
Aww yeah, man.
Book needs to switch to decaf in the afternoon
NXT has so many talented woman wrestlers but Roxanne and Lyra and both missing something important This match is not good
Roxanne is 1’7″ and nothing she does looks like it’s even intended to hurt her opponent. She’s all the worst parts of modern indie wrestling.
I concur. Best match was the tag match. The rest was fine but def not takeover level
I’m not convinced that Oba Femi is a mere mortal. That kid has several things you can’t teach and if he’s even an average promo he’s going to have the top title in the company in a few years.
I’ll take the triple threat over the tag match, but just barely.