WWE NXT Stand and Deliver 4/1/2023

WWE NXT Stand and Deliver 4/1/2023

Mixed 8-Person Tag - Schism vs Chase U

This got relegated to the pre-show and I forgot to watch it. This is the debut of Ava Raine, who is The Rock's daughter. Chase flips out of a Rip armlock early and hiptosses him. Bate 2nd rope euro's Jagger then Bate and Duke argue. Thea tags hersel in and is in new attire that looks nice. Ava teases coming in but tags out.

Gacy spinning uranage's Chase then does his own CHASE U stomps, but is cut off midway through. Gacy gets slammed off a double team then takes a running ssp + fist drop combo. Ava gets in and brings Thea down off the lock up. Ava knees and clubs her then suplexes her. Ava picks up Thea by the hair and steps on her. Thea hits knees and a back elbow on her then suplexes her. Thea flips on her then back sentons her of the bottom rope.

Bate and Jagger go at it then Bate takes a double stun gun. Bate deadlift suplexes Rip and Chase gets the hot tag in. Chase top rope crossbodies Gacy and Duke complains about not being tagged in. Gacy takes a suplex + rebound lariat combo from Bate and Chase. Bate is thrown over the top and Duke refuses to get in but finally does. Duke running clotheslines Rip and Jagger then does his punch combo on Jagger. Ava slaps Duke then Thea jumps on Ava and throws horrible punches.

Jadder pulls off Thea then Thea steps on Jagger's foot and does a moonsault into a tornado ddt. Duke accidentally kicks Bate in the face then Gacy hits his handspring into a lariat on Bate for 2. Chase takes a powerbomb into a double knee then Ava slams down Thea. Duke tries to protect his partners as he is facing a 1v4. Gacy gets in Duke's face, says something and they give Duke a Schism t-shirt. Duke takes off his Chase U shirt and puts on Schism's shirt. Schism hugs Duke then Duke rips off the Schism shirt and helps Chase U. Chase U hits punches and C-H-A-S-E-U stomps at the same time. Bate tope con hilos Schism while Thea does a reverse tope then Chase U wins with the fratliner.

They did a good job teasing the Duke turn here. I hated that nothing was done about the intergender violence since it's against the rules of the match. I was disappointed Schism didn't win since there was a ton of potential for skits with them running Chase U's school and would have built an easy feud out of it.

NXT Women's Title - Ladder Match - Tiffany Stratton vs Zoey Stark vs Indi Hartwell vs Gigi Dolin vs Lyra Valkyria vs Roxanne Perez

They wasted no time here in going at it and Indi crashed ladders with Lyra outside. The two then laraited each other on the floor then RP headscissored Zoey into Tiff. RP pounded on Lyra then dove on Indi. Gigi superkicks Zoey and high kicks Tiffany. Tiff hurricanrana's Zoey but she catches herself and they forearm each other at the same time. Indi then clears off both and nails two people with a ladder before Lyra dropkicks the ladder into her.

Lyra running facekicked RP then hit a kick combo on Gigi before suplexing her on a ladder. Tiff catapults Indi into a ladder but Zoey blockbusters her from the apron when she does it. Lyria is put into the ladder then Lyra and Tiff climb a ladder and hit each other. Zoey dropkicks Lyra off of it then Indi face kicks Zoey off the apron.

Indi pushes RP and Tiff off the ladder into the ropes. Gigi starts spinning a ladder around and hits all the dummies who run into her then back body drops Lyra on a ladder. Zoey then splashes Lyra on the ladder. RP climbs the ladder and Tiff follows then both fall off of it. Indi spinebusters Tiff on a ladder and nearly bangs her head off another ladder.

Zoey does a corkscrew springboard off the 2nd inside rope on Indi on a ladder then flips her into a knee. RP code red's Zoey then hurricanrana's Tiff over the top. Rp goes up the ladder and tries to hurricanrana Gigi but is swung into the ladder. Gigi then crucifixes her.

Lyra shotgun dropkicks Zoey off the apron into Indi on a ladder outside. Lyra hangs from a ladder then gets up and fights with Gigi on the ladder. Lyra is thrown off the ladder then Jacy Jayne appears and knocks Gigi off the ladder. Tiff climbs the ladder, Indi pushes it over and 3 different girls fail to catch Tiff on her landing as she takes a back bump on the floor. Indi goes to climb up the ladder and Dexter Lumis appears under her and pushes her up the ladder. Indi then grabs the title and wins it.

Look, there is somewhat of a feel good moment of Indi finally winning, but this call sucked. Tiff, Roxanne and Gigi all could have used the title more. Indi's not good and her winning it is going to be a giant step backwards unless she's just a transition champ for Jacy. The match was a lot like women's basketball - it's basketball but not as good as mens basketball. They didn't have that many screw-ups but it also was not half as athletically impressive as a typical men's ladder match is.

NXT Tag Titles - Gallus (c) vs Tony D'Angelo and Stacks vs The Creed Brothers

Tony had some gangsters with him for his entrance. We saw Gallus at the bar thinking of drinking, then they said let's go defend the title instead.

They started fast and Julius hit a nice dropkick. Stacks got a shot in on Brutus then Julius took stacks down. Mark too a double back elbow then Julius dead lift slammed Stacks. Tony suplexed Brutus while Stacks hit a nice dropkick on Julius. Tony then did a nice corkscrew release on a suplex on Julius then Julius took a back drop + neckbreaker combo. The Creed's did moonsaults off the apron onto opponents then Wolf took a double team Creed move on the floor. Daniel Cormier of UFC was at ringside and the Creed's posed with him. Brutus hit a suplex on Tony then Wolf 2nd rope senton'd Brutus. Brutus then took an interesting double uranage type of slam.

Julius belly to belly suplexed Wolf, Tony and Mark then did it again. Stacks did a springboard shot on Julius and double stomped + senton'd Gallus. Stacks sent Buruts into the steps and top rope crossbodied Julius. Julius had both Stacks and Mark on his shoulders outside then Brutus came off the top and did a flying slap to both. Tony did a fisherman's buster to Julius then Stacks top rope splashed Julius. Tony hit a backdrop into a uranage on Mark then Stacks took Tony and Stacks' reverse flapjack move. Joe Coffey came down to stop Stacks from getting the win then hit Tony with a spinning forearm. Stacks then took a flying kick into a samoan drop esque move for the Gallus win.

I had been wondering where Mark Coffey was, but Gallus winning wasn't the right call here. The match was pretty hectic with non-stop action. It was not great or that special, but there were a few highlights.

Pretty Deadly talk about some of the results so far. They are in front of Bron Breakker's locker room but opt not to bug him.

NXT North American Championship Open Challenge - Wes Lee (c) vs Ilja Dragunov vs Dragon Lee vs JD McDonagh vs Axiom

It was a slow speed spotfest in front of a dead crowd who probably doesn't watch the show regularly. They had 2-3 people in at all times with everyone else being outside and waiting. Nobody cared about or knew Dragon Lee. These matches usually do not translate well to big stadiums like this and this was no different. It also came of a lot slower compared to a lot of the other shows we saw this week.

Wes ended up winning this one which wasn't a real great outcome as it makes Dragon Lee lose on his debut and it makes Ilja lose again, when he really doesn't need to.

Pretty Deadly were at Carmelo Hayes' door waiting for an interview. Trick Williams came out and said today is the day for the wolrd to learn why Carmelo Hayes is him.

Unsanctioned Match - Grayson Waller vs Johnny Gargano

Johnny hits Waller as he enters then topes him outside and throws him over the desk. He knocks Booker T over off his chair. Johnny then jumped over the desk on Waller and Johnn hit him with something. They got out 2 rows of chairs and Johnny suplexed Waller off the apron onto them and mostly hit them himself. Johnny did a slingshot into Waller's knee for some reason then they traded enzugiri's.

Waller slid out and took a chair to the hand then Johnny did a handspring into the bottom ropes and did something like a spinning canadian destroyer on the floor. Waller did a cool roll over a table into a cutter outside then powerbombed him through the table. Waller side slammed Johnny onto a chair then hit him with a kendo stick.

Waller started taunting Johnny's wife and baby. Johnny got control of the stick and gave it to his wife, who then beat up Waller with it. Waller grabbed the stick then Johnny then hit him from behind and did a 630 for 2. Waller then did his over the back unprettier. Waller put a trash can over Johnny's head then did a coast to coast dropkick for 2.

Waller went up top and had  a chair thrown at him then Johnny powerbombed him through a table. Both guy recovered and Waller rolled in for a cutter. Johnny hit Waller with a bunch of chair shots then chaired a chair that was around his neck. Gargano then won with the Gargano Escape.

I thought it was a good match with them doing a nice job bringing Johnny's family into it and turning it into a spot and kickout fest when you know Johnny was dying to. Indi Hartwell then came out to celebrate with them.

Tony D told Stacks he didn't let anyone down in the locker room then Pretty Deadly walked in. Tony said it wasn't their night but they aren't quitters. Tony told him to stop saying he let them down and said they are a team. PD then made a remark about Gallus and Tony and stacks got mad. They started shoving each other and arguing until a ref and someone else broke it up.

NXT Women's Tag Titles - Fallon Henley and Kiana James vs Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn

Kiana shoves Fallon out of the way and catches an Alba Fyre dive. The heels take over on Fallon early then Fallon somehow punches Alba and falls over with her. Kiana got the not so hot tag in and beat up on Isla then threw out Isla and Alba. Kiana moonsaulted on both from the apron. Fallon backdrops Alba for 2 then hits a spinebuster for 2. Fallon does a swinging facebuster then Isla grabbed Fallon's hair and took control back. Isla was thrown into the ropes while Alba was climbing then Fallon blockbustered her.

Alba was put on Hallon's shoulders and got powerbombed + dropkicked. Alba then hit a flapjack and all four girls were down. Brooks Jensen then came down with Kiana James' bag. Briggs and Kiana told Jensen not to open the bag as they were worried about getting DQ'd. The problem is, if they got DQ'd, they would have retained the titles. Alba then top rope swanton'd Kiana as she was on Isla's knees and the heels picked up the win.

It was good that they tied the Jensen storyline into this, but the logic was faulty as a DQ finish would have kept the titles with Fallon/Kiana. The crowd wasn't real into it and it did have some of the usual women's sloppiness, but I didn't mind it.

NXT Title - Bron Breakker (c) vs Carmelo Hayes

They lock up and Bron throws him. Bron leapfrogs and hits a big shoulder early. Melo tries to springboard off the ropes but slips then does a springboard into a clothesline, but Bron doesn't budge. Bron then mocks his taunt. Bron hurricanrana's him then rolls him into a suplex. Bron then standing moonsaults Melo for 2. Bron guillotine rolls him then suplexes him from the guillotine. Melo springboard twisting lariats him again.

Melo fujiwara armbars him then hits a hiptoss. They do something that ends up looking like a bad Melo bulldog. Bron racks him and Trick gets on the apron to pull Melo to safety. The ref kicks Trick out then Bron tope con hilo's both. Bron then jumps off the top and bulldogs him on the way down. Melo does a satellite into a bulldog and cutters him for 2.

Melo pump kicks Bron then hangs off the 2nd rope and suplexes him for 2. Melo goes up top and takes a top rope hurricanrana. They trade punches then Bron backbreakers him, but Melo turns it into a crossface. Bron spears Melo and the ref does down with him. Bron taps him out with the steiner recliner but the ref is out. Trick comes in the ring and hits Bron with the belt and Melo gets a close 2.

Melo springboards and is caught but then turns it into a codebreaker. Melo then leg drops him from the top on his neck as he is bent over and Melo wins the title.

It wasn't a classic but it was a good match. The crowd was not mic'd well ( and not that loud anyway) and NXT trying to get Bron booed for some reason over the last few months paid off as people booed Bron here. This really would have been a lot better in front of the usual NXT crowd. 

Bron gave Melo the belt after and raised his hand. That was weird since Melo cheated.

Overall thoughts: The show would have been better in front of the usual NXT crowd. This crowd didn't know or care about a lot of the people on it. As for the show, the men's 5 way would have been better if it were a ladder match and while the women didn't have an awful ladder match, it wasn't a classic. Waller/Gargano was good and the women's tag title match wasn't much as expected. The main was okay but not a great or super memorable match. On paper, this didn't look like a great card and it wasn't. The show was also hampered by endless video packages. The packages just went on forever and were not fun to sit through.