By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Check out the NXT Stand & Deliver audio review co-hosted by Jason Powell and John Moore on the free Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast.
NXT Stand & Deliver Hits
Jacy Jayne vs. Lola Vice vs. Kendal Grey in a Triple Threat for the NXT Women’s Championship: A terrific three-way opener with a crowd-pleasing title change. As good as Grey is at this early stage of her career, there’s no rush. I like the idea of waiting until fans are fully invested in her character before having her win the championship. There’s no need to rush her peak early in NXT by having her win the title prematurely. Grey’s day will surely come. This is Vice’s time. She put in the work to improve in the ring and as a character. It will be interesting to see how she does as the brand’s champion. Hats off to Jayne. She went from being a sidekick to Mandy Rose to eventually winning the NXT Women’s Championship in what many of us assumed would be a brief transitional reign. Rather, she quickly grew into the role and went on to have two title reigns spanning 288 days. I don’t know if a main roster call-up is coming, and there’s no telling how she’d do on the big stage, but I think we’ve all learned not to bet against her.
Joe Hendry vs. Ricky Saints vs. Ethan Page vs. Tony D’Angelo in a four-way for the NXT Championship: The expected meltdown of the Saints and Page partnership was the most compelling thing going into the match. D’Angelo seemed like an afterthought to the live crowd based on the flat reaction they gave him during the ring introductions. Fortunately, he gave a strong performance that won over a lot of fans, who popped when he won and then chanted “you deserve it” afterward. But the work is just beginning. This didn’t feel like the type of satisfying payoff that one would expect for a wrestler finally winning the NXT Championship after a five-year run. Of course, a big reason for that is the abrupt shift from his mob boss character. It was a necessary change because they got everything they could out of the character in NXT, and it didn’t feel like it would be a good fit on the main roster. It remains to be seen whether the fans will fully embrace his darker persona.
Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes vs. Bravo and Rayo for the NXT Tag Team Titles: An enjoyable tag team match with good near falls that the live crowd was invested in. Baylor and Smokes gained some credibility despite not going over clean. Here’s hoping that they are just getting started in what should be a long title reign. The Los Americanos doesn’t do much for me, but it’s nice to see Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate having a good run, even if it took masks and a silly gimmick to make it happen.
Tatum Paxley vs. Blake Monroe for the NXT Women’s North American Championship: Monroe lost the match, but it was a winning performance in terms of her ring work. Monroe’s most memorable outings in AEW and NXT were hardcore-style matches. This was one of her best performances in a standard wrestling match. Of course, working with Paxley helps. As much as her oddball character has frustrated me at times, she gets enough credit for her in-ring work.
Sol Ruca vs. Zaria: A soft Hit for a good match with a disappointing finish. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as high as anyone on Ruca, but that’s why I wanted to see her lose the match. I was hoping that Zaria would go over in what would turn out to be Ruca’s NXT send-off match. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but Zaria could get her win back on television if Ruca is moving on after WrestleMania. Either way, they set the right tone for the match right out of the gate. The feud between the former friends is personal, so a standard lockup start would have been a mistake. I wasn’t a fan of Zaria kicking out of the Sol Snatcher. It’s such a great finishing move that I wish it had been protected until the right moment in a big main roster match. Obviously, the idea behind Zaria kicking out of the move was to make her look like a badass. That’s a start, but I’d really like to see her change her in-ring style to be more aggressive with power moves and leave her feet less. She may not be a monster in size like Nia Jax or Awesome Kong, but she has the look and presence that fans will buy into if she’s similarly pushed.
NXT Stand & Deliver Misses
Myles Borne vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT North American Championship: A minor Miss. The ring work was strong, and I’m sure it was a treat for Borne to work with Gargano. It was entertaining in the moment. The problem is that Borne has struggled to connect with the fans, and putting him in the ring with the popular Gargano in his latest NXT homecoming didn’t help in that regard. Dion Lennox’s attack on Borne after the match likely set him up as the next challenger. It felt like there was a missed opportunity to have Gargano return to the ring to run off Lennox and then put over Borne with a handshake.
Atmosphere: The host venue was fine, and they had a lively crowd, but moving the show from WrestleMania weekend worked against the idea that this is NXT’s premier event. I suspect it will be a standalone show again next year if WrestleMania 43 can be held in Saudi Arabia as planned. Hopefully, Stand & Deliver will return to WrestleMania weekend the following year.
Sexyy Red: Booker T was more excited about Red than the fans in her hometown seemed to be. The live crowd was supportive during her opening segment with Shawn Michaels, but they sat on their hands during her backstage segments.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
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