wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s WWE NXT Stand and Deliver 2022 Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver 2022
April 2nd, 2022 | American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas
It feels good to see NXT traveling again. Apparently, there was a Kickoff match. I had no idea Dakota’s match was going to be there so I missed her winning the Tag Titles. Bad start to the weekend.
I’ll note this with each review this weekend but these won’t be the most detailed or expansive reports. I’m watching these shows with friends so take that with a grain of salt.
NXT North American Championship Ladder Match: Carmelo Hayes [c] vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Grayson Waller vs. Santos Escobar vs. Solo Sikoa
The proper way to start a show since Carmelo Hayes is indeed the A Champion. He’s so good. A lot of this was what you’d expect from a multi-man ladder match. Each guy got a chance to showcase their skills and we got plenty of big spots with the ladder being used as a weapon. That included some big dives. Sikoa had a sweet moment where he did the Umaga ass attack into Santos, Hayes, and Waller with ladders in between them in different ways for more damage. Sikoa also nearly died on a sunset flip bomb off a ladder. The folks at ringside got involved from Legado del Fantasma to Trick Williams to Elektra Lopez, who dove onto Waller in a cool spot. The guys involved just kept building and building to bigger spots. They did it in a way that didn’t just feel like spots for the sake of it though, which is always a tough balancing act. Waller tried his between the legs elbow off a ladder but Hayes and Grimes moved, sending him crashing through a ladder. He looked like he broke something in his arm or dislocated it badly. Shortly after that, Grimes took out Escobar and climbed up to retrieve the title in 21:02. An absolutely wild match featuring a bunch of guys who were out to steal the show. [****¼]
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Tony D’Angelo
Ciampa cut a serious promo in the back before we cut to Tony D’Angelo arriving with Netflix’s AJ Galante. It was a wild switch. I will admit that I couldn’t pay full attention to this match. I had some stuff to take care of around the house so I missed a bit of it. Ciampa did the HHH water spit and the HBK pose in the ring during his entrance. A lot of this match, from what I saw, was rather basic which is understandable. Tony is still developing so he wasn’t about to wow us and Ciampa is a guy who typically has had a lot of good but not great matches in recent years. Tony held serve for a bit before Ciampa made the babyface comeback. An attempt to use the crowbar was cut off by the referee but Tony hit a low blow anyway. He still got hit with Willow’s Bell and Fairytale Ending but survived both and a crossface. Surprised at that. I appreciated that the finish involved the exposed concrete outside because that’s an old spot that I love. Tony hit a DDT out there and then a kick to the head inside to win in 13:10. From what I could gather, this was solid pro wrestling with the right guy going over. [***]
Post-match, Ciampa said goodbye to the fans when Triple H’s music surprisingly hit. He came out for the first time since his heart attack and hugged Ciampa, who was overcome with emotion. That was a pretty cool moment.
NXT Tag Team Championship: Imperium [c] vs. The Creed Brothers vs. MSK
They changed Imperium’s music so I hate this company. This tag division needs work for sure but I actually like all three teams here. They showed why pretty quickly, delivering an action-packed match without a lot of slow moments. That’s something I always want from these multi-man/multi-team bouts. There are so many people involved that you should never really have a dull moment. The Creed Brothers are known for mat work but Brutus surprised everyone with a cannonball off the top onto a big pile outside. There were a lot of moving parts here and I think it all worked out really well. I was surprised to see MSK regain the titles after a sitout powerbomb at the 13:07 mark. This was a good match that never made me bored in the slightest. Each team is really good and different. [***¼]
NXT Women’s Championship: Mandy Rose [c] vs. Cora Jade vs. Io Shirai vs. Kay Lee Ray
Cora Jade had other skateboarders out with her. She didn’t really ride it to the ring though as Darby Allin would point out but then he’d get COOKED by Cora on Twitter so I doubt he’d say that again. Mandy had a special entrance descending down with a graphic of wings behind her. All three faces went after Mandy early before fighting amongst themselves. I liked how Mandy showed off impressive power, while everyone else took to the skies, capped by an Io moonsault to the outside. The dueling submissions from KLR and Io also came off really well. Cora busted out a Canadian Destroyer on the apron which was big for her. Io came close with an avalanche Spanish Fly but Cora broke up the pin with a senton. In the end, Io hit a moonsault on Cora only for Mandy to lay her out with the >Kenny Omega V-Trigger to score the pin in 13:29. Another quality match where they kept things moving and let everyone shine. I still think the move is for Cora to win the title but they can do that in a singles match down the line. [***½]
Gunther vs. LA Knight
It looks weird to me that Gunther is so much skinnier. Good for him, though I’m just not used to it. Or him being called Gunther. Anyway, this was a battle of one of the best wrestlers in the world and a guy with a lot of charisma. They played into that well enough here with some good bits where Gunther dominated and Knight could find hope spots that the crowd got invested in. I thought it was interesting that Knight never really gained control here. They booked this to show that Gunther was superior but Knight could find an opening here or there to possibly come away with the win. In the end, Gunther put him down with a powerbomb after 10:24 and this was yet another fine match that capped out at just being good. [***]
NXT Championship: Dolph Ziggler [c] vs. Bron Breakker
Bron had a goofy, overproduced entrance where he used a chainsaw to cut an NXT logo in half. They should’ve just had him run through it or rip it apart with his hands as that is much more impressive. Ziggler is someone I just cannot get invested in. It has been that way since 2015 and he hasn’t changed. Of course, he can still often be counted on to give you a *** match from time to time. After flubbing an early spot, this was mostly crisp throughout. Ziggler was the cunning heel willing to take shortcuts while Bron could overwhelm him with his sheer power. He hit a handful of spears that Ziggler bumped impressively for. He also busted out a Frankensteiner, which was fitting given his dad and uncle going into the Hall of Fame this weekend. He also showcased a sweet dive to the outside which I don’t think I’ve seen from him in the past. He was pulling out all of the stops. Robert Roode saved Ziggler at ringside more than once as well. Ziggler used a thumb to the eye to escape Bron’s grasp and sent him into an exposed turnbuckle before retaining with the superkick at the 16:13 mark. AS expected between these two, they delivered a strong main event though not quite anything to write home about. [***¼]
