Pantoja’s NXT Stand & Deliver 2023 Review

NXT Stand & Deliver

April 1^st, 2023 | Crypto.com in Los Angeles, California

I am pressed for time this weekend so I will just say that the pre-show tag was good, solid fun (***) and let us move onto the main card.

NXT Women’s Championship Ladder Match: Roxanne Perez [c] vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Indi Hartwell vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Zoey Stark

Shawn Michaels really just booked a bunch of multi-person matches. For a lot of this match, it followed the tropes you’d expect from this kind of match. Everyone going after the ladder, getting in their offense, and doing some high spots. The camera work had some issues like missing a notable part of a multi-person spot because they only focused on one section. As is often the case, some moments worked out better than others. For example, Stratton struggled on a spot bringing someone down from the ladder and soon after, Stark landed awkwardly on a slingshot dive onto Hartwell. I loved Perez dangling from the ladder while preventing Zoey from winning. I like that kind of desperation to win. The big storyline moment came late as Gigi had it won but Jacy Jayne showed up to stop her and knock her off the ladder. Stratton took a ROUGH bump from the top of a ladder to the floor as nobody really caught her. Indi was the only one left but couldn’t really get up the ladder. Dexter Lumis showed up, gave her a thumbs up and helped her to the top where she retrieved the title in 17:02. That was good though it had some issues that held it back. Still, I’m way happy for Indi. [***¼]

NXT Tag Team Championship: Gallus [c] vs. The Creed Brothers vs. The Family

I don’t get the obsession with Gallus and I never have. That was true in NXT UK and remains the case now. I also don’t understand why they took the titles off of the Creed Brothers in the first place. Anyway, I don’t have much to say about this match other than it was kind of a train wreck. They were a lot of botches throughout to the point where even the commentary team had some mishaps. I can’t even really recall the highlights because all I remember are the slip-ups. It all culminated with the return of Joe Coffey, who has mostly been gone since being named in the Speaking Out movement. He helped his boys retain and I just want to forget this. [*½]

NXT North American Championship: Wes Lee [c] vs. Axiom vs. Dragon Lee vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh  

Dragon Lee rules and I’m stoked to have him around. Everyone played their roles at the start from Axiom and both Lees bringing the athleticism to Dragunov being the hard hitting guy to the McDonagh/Dragunov rivalry being showcased. Dragunov felt like the star here, making the most of any opportunity whether it was just chopping someone relentlessly, getting busted open, or even busting out a senton. Axiom and Dragon Lee were given ample opportunities to hit some aerial offense though I felt like Wes Lee came across as an afterthought at times. The Dragon Lee hanging double stomp was a welcome sight though. The spot where Wes Lee did a backflip into an Axiom kick was one of the best of the night. My biggest gripe with this match was the finish. Wes Lee and Dragunov seemed to hit their finishers at the same time and then Lee pinned Dragunov at the 19:18 mark. However, I don’t think Dragunov should’ve eaten the pin here. That’s the only man to beat Gunther and he was the high point of the show so far.  Also, it looked like both moves hit Dragon Lee and not Dragunov, so it’s like Dragunov got beaten by nothing. [***¾]

Unsanctioned Match: Grayson Waller vs. Johnny Gargano

I’ve never liked calling something Unsanctioned when it’s done like this. There was a referee, it was on in the middle of the card, etc. This is just No DQ. I do appreciate that this was kind of a war from the start. Grayson was quick on the offensive, we got trash cans involved, and they were going for some notable spots in the first few minutes. Gargano getting a table and earning “Johnny Table” chants was pretty fun. I liked Waller teasing Sweet Chin Music as it fits the storyline. Waller’s powerbomb through a table felt kind of weak though and I can’t get into the “must pin inside” thing if it’s Unsanctioned. This was solid but picked up when Grayson chose to beat up Johnny in front of Candice and baby Quill. I am here for heel shit like that. Johnny turned it around and gave Candice the kendo stick to wail on Grayson herself to a pop. I didn’t like One Final Beat only being a near fall. I don’t love finisher kickouts, especially in midcard matches like this. Waller’s back looked ROUGH after the kendo stick shots. Johnny’s table bomb worked better as this neared the ending. Johnny had to get extra violent late before winning with the Gargano Escape in 18:19. That wasn’t on the level of Johnny’s best TakeOver matches but it was a really good hardcore match with some added emotion to boot. [***½]

Post-match, the Garganos got to celebrate with their daughter Indi, her new title, and their son-in-law Dexter Lumis.

NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship: Fallon Henley and Kiana James [c] vs. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn

Henley and James have been the latest incarnation of teammates who don’t get along but won gold. WWE loves that shit. Alba and Isla used to not get alone either. The two teams began by brawling on the outside and the challengers took over once Alba tripped up Henley. That heat segment didn’t last too long before James came in to clean house. The teams kind of traded stuff from there without really falling into tag formula. Things broke down as the match progressed with some fighting outside and close calls by both teams. Down the stretch, James had Brooks Jensen at ringside retrieve her purse. Briggs declined which opened the door for Dawn and Fyre to best the champs with a Backstabber/Swanton combo in 8:42. That was pretty good and the title change was needed. [**¾]

NXT Championship: Bron Breakker [c] vs. Carmelo Hayes

Speaking of title switches the brand needs to make, Hayes is HIM and that’s not related to the gimmick. It’s just true. Melo’s entrance with the Lakers stuff was pretty sick. Bron’s power was way too much for Melo from the jump and he had no chance to match him there. Even when he tried to use his speed, he had a springboard move easily tossed aside. Hayes finally got a springboard clothesline to work and it helped him gain some momentum that included utilizing a Fujiwara armbar. Trick Williams got ejected after some interference, so Bron took both he and Hayes out with a dive. I don’t see that often from him so that was cool. Hayes retaliated with a sweet looking springboard suplex. Seriously, it was dope. After they traded the Steiner Recliner and Crossface, a ref bump brought Trick back out. He hit Bron with the title for two and then Hayes countered a press slam into a Codebreaker followed by Nothing But Net to win the title at the 16:15 mark. While I wouldn’t call this great, it was a very good back and forth main event with the right result. [***¾]

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a good show which is kind of the norm for NXT specials now. You get something entertaining but not great and they mostly got the booking right here.