WWE’s takeover of Las Vegas for WrestleMania 41 weekend continues with Saturday’s NXT Stand & Deliver from the T-Mobile Arena.
Oba Femi defends his NXT title against Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans in a triple threat while NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends in a four-way against Giulia, Jordynne Grace and Jaida Parker.
NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints defends against Ethan Page while the vacant Women’s North American title will be decided in a six-way ladder match with Zaria, Kelani Jordan, Sol Ruca, Izzi Dame, Lola Vice, and Thea Hail.
Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) will look to extend their NXT Tag Team title run as they defend against Hank Walker & Tank Ledger.
In a trios bout, Tony D’Angelo’s Family will battle DarkState while Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade, Meta-Four (Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson), Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley & Jacy Jayne), and Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley will compete for a WWE Women’s Tag Team title shot.
**********
Kickoff Show
– Reporting live from Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena, our hosts were Sam Roberts and Megan Morant, who talked about the card for today’s show. We then got a hype package for the NXT Women’s Championship fatal four-way match, followed by our two hosts discussing the match.
– An interview with Jordynne Grace was shown where she talked about her journey to WWE, including a time where she was called in to WWE over a decade ago for a backstage segment where she got switched away from camera view. We then got footage of her time in TNA Wrestling as Grace explained what it meant to become “The Juggernaut”. Grace talked about her chances in the fatal four-way match and how she bet on herself to get to this opportunity.
– The Family was shown backstage strategizing ahead of their six-man tag match versus DarkState. Tony D’Angelo reassured Stacks Lorenzo that they’d take care of this as a family as the two shared an embrace.
– Je’von Evans was interviewed by Vic Joseph ahead of his NXT Championship Triple Threat match against Trick Williams and champion Oba Femi on today’s show.
– The ladder match for the NXT Women’s North American Championship was previewed next, with clips of Sol Ruca preparing for the match on her Instagram being shown.
– Hank and Tank were interviewed earlier this week about their NXT Tag Team Championship match against FrAxiom. Following this, our two esteemed hosts were joined by NXT GM Ava, who talked about the matches ahead of us tonight.
Fatal Four-Way Tag Match: Meta-Four (Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson) vs. Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne) vs. Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolin vs. Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade
The winner of this will be the No. 1 contenders for WWE Women’s Tag Champions Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez (or Lyra Valkyria and Bayley, pending the result of the WWE Women’s Tag Title match on WrestleMania 41 Sunday).
Legend and Perez got things going as the Meta-Four’s powerhouse looked to use her strength early on to her advantage. Jade grabbed Legend in the corner, which allowed her partner to briefly take advantage before Gigi Dolin was tagged in. Jakara Jackson entered the match and mixed it up with Dolin as Perez was then tagged in afterwards.
Things began to pen up as Paxley and Legend entered as the legal competitors in the match. Powerbomb attempt by Legend led to a tag by Jackson as the Meta-Four duo hit a nice assisted powerbomb. We then got all the teams entering the ring as they began to brawl to the wild cheers of everyone. Perez looked to leap, but Legend pulled her out. A series of dives from Paxley, Henley, and Dolin then made things quite exciting. Jade then had her turn with a dive onto a pile of humanity as Jackson leapt over the referee onto everyone at ringside.
As things cooled down, the Fatal Influence duo hit a double bulldog for the near fall. At ringside, Cora Jade planted Jakara Jackson with a DDT, as Perez hit an impressive counter of a chokeslam into a Pop Rox to score the first elimination.
Meta-Four has been eliminated
Jayne hit a neckbreaker on Jade to open things up as Perez decided to walk out on her partner, which left Jade alone. This made her open pickings for a nice double-team pin by Paxley and Dolin to eliminate Jade and Perez.
Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez have been eliminated
Fatal Influence used a ruthless double team attack to take advantage for a bit, but Henley found herself trapped into a unique double team submission by Paxley and Dolin, but Jayne broke it up with a superkick to Paxley. Jayne and Henley hit a double superplex on Dolin as Paxley wanted to get a tag. She got taken out. Jayne absolutely blasted Dolin with a running knee strike, but Paxley made the save at the very last second.
Fatal Influence looked to use the numbers game to get a cheap pin, but Dolin kicked out. The finish would then come with the Cemetary Drive finisher on Jayne, which gave Dolin and Paxley the victory.
Match Result: Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley def. Fatal Influence, Meta-Four, and Cora Jade & Roxanne Perez via pinfall
That was a good way to kick things off and get the crowd pumped for some early afternoon (or morning in Las Vegas time) wrestling. Roxanne walking out on her partner should lead to a match down the line.
**********
Stand & Deliver 2024
– Following the cold open, we were welcomed to the show proper by the commentary team of Vic Joseph, Booker T, and Corey Graves.
NXT North American Championship: Ricky Saints (c) vs. Ethan Page
Saints and Page kicked it off with some brawling outside the ring as neither man could get a clear advantage early on. Saints eventually took control he battered Page with turnbuckle smashes and a chop to the chest. He tightrope walked across the top rope as he then came down with a clothesline on Page. “All Ego” regained the advantage as he slammed Saints across the apron, which sent him crashing to the mat outside the ring.
Page pummeled Saints with punches to the face as he asserted command of the match by targeting the back of the North American Champion. Page dropped his champion foe with a suplex, which got a two count. Saints recovered but fell victim to a sidewalk slam by Page for another near-fall. A suplex attempt by Page was reversed into a swinging neckbreaker by Saints, which again brought the battle to the ringside area briefly.
Saints attempted to leap from the apron, but Page dodged it and instead sent Saints plummeting right into the announce table, knee-first. Page dragged Saints back into the ring and targeted the lower back with a Boston Crab submission hold. Saints’ fortitude and refusal to give up allowed him to make it to the bottom rope to break Page’s submisssion. Page threw Saints across the top rope with a back drop, which further hurt the champion’s back. Page’s momentum was then slowed down by a springboard tornado DDT by Saints.
Saints mounted a comeback with a powerful spinebuster followed by the Michinoku driver, but that couldn’t get the job done. Page slapped Saints in the corner and pulled him up for a popup Powerslam for a close two. Saints flattened Page with a reverse DDT as he then headed up to the top turnbuckle. Page woke up and stopped him and looked for a move of some sort. Saints wriggled out of the way and turned it into a powerbomb. 1, 2… Page kicked out.
Page countered Saints’ spear into a codebreaker, as he then connected with Ego’s Edge. Saints managed to kicked out at 2.9999999 to keep his title for the time being. Saints woke up and countered a Page clothesline with a spear, as he then put an end to this match with the Roshambo.
Match Result: Ricky Saints def. Ethan Page to retain the NXT North American Championship via pinfall
A nice clean win for Ricky Saints to establish his North American title reign early and this match was a great way to kick off the PPV proper. I enjoyed this a lot.
**********
NXT Tag Team Championship: FrAxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) vs. Hank & Tank (Hank Walker & Tank Ledger)
Axiom and Hank kicked it off for their respective teams, with neither man getting a clear advantage. Axiom eventually hit a dropkick on Hank, which allowed Frazer to tag into the match. FrAxiom connected with a nice double team kick on Hank. Frazer used his speed to control the match, but Tank entered the match as he and Hank got in their own tandem offense on Frazer.
The exuberant challengers couldn’t keep control of the match for long as a tag to Axiom by Frazer helped to quicken the pace to the NXT Tag Champions’ liking. Axiom worked over Hank in the corner as he then struck him with a running dropkick for the two. Axiom kept hitting Hank with cocky kicks, which only served to fire him up. Hank crushed Axiom with a lariat as Frazer ran into battle with a charging forearm, followed by a standing shooting star press for a near fall.
FrAxiom used submissions to keep Hank isolated briefly, but the big man managed to create separation, which allowed for Tank to get himself a hot tag. Tank Ledger made like his namesake and barreled through Frazer and Axiom in the hopes of turning this match around for his team. An attempt at a double team by Hank and Tank was stopped by a Golden Ratio kick to Tank by Axiom. Hank kicked out at two after Frazer rolled him up.
We got an amazing assisted hurricanrana spot from the apron as Frazer and Axiom teamed up on this to send Hank to the outside. FrAxiom flew with consecutive splashes onto Hank Walker, but the challenger refused to go down quietly. Hank caught Frazer with a wheelbarrow bomb, but Axiom broke up the count. On the top rope, diving clothesline by Hank was followed by a wonderful double team move from the challengers, but Frazer kicked out at 2.
Hank looked like he was about to dive onto FrAxiom outside the ring, but the NXT Tag Champions avoided chaos, which sent Hank crashing onto the announce table with nobody home. This left Tank isolated for a double team high and low kick from FrAxiom, but the challenger would not let this opportunity at gold slip by.
Axiom delivered the avalanche Spanish Fly, followed by Frazer’s Phoenix Splash on Tank. 1… 2… Hank Walker came back from the dead to break up the count to a huge ovation. With things now quickening, Hank hit a super Black Hole Slam on Frazer, as Tank took Axiom out of the equation with a dive to the outside. Hank and Tank now had Frazer dead to rights for the double belly crush, followed by their finishing spear/powerslam combo for the one, two, three and we have new NXT Tag Team Champions.
After the match, the new NXT Tag Champs and the former champs showed respect for a hell of a match.
Match Result: Hank & Tank def. FrAxiom to win the NXT Tag Team Championship via pinfall
That was one heck of a tag match. FrAxiom’s tag title defenses were always a highlight of covering these NXT PLEs, and this last one was as good as those aforementioned matches. It’s also especially nice to see a team like Hank and Tank to get a big moment like this on such a huge weekend.
**********
– Backstage, Sarah Schreiber interviewed Penn Jillette of the famed magic duo Penn & Teller. Lexis King interrupted the interview to brag about the NXT Heritage Cup as Penn got King to put his trophy inside a a cage. Once the curtain was pulled down, Teller appeared in place of the Heritage Cup. Teller was wearing a Jey Uso “YEET” shirt as he did the YEET taunt to end the segment.
NXT Women’s North American Championship Ladder Match: Zaria vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Sol Ruca vs. Izzi Dame vs. Lola Vice vs. Thea Hail
As the bell rang, all the competitors begna brawling with one another, with separate battles happening all around the ringside area. In trhe ring, Ruca and Jordan were mixing it up. Outside the ring, Dame sent Zaria crashing into the steel steps with a push of the ladder. Ruca set up another ladder in an attempt to climb up, but Hail stopped her at the pass. Vice stopped Hail from ascending the ladder, but Jordan met her.
Zaria re-entered the match with a double spear on Jordan and Hail, followed by another spear to Dame. Zaria proceed to use the ladder as a battering ram as she swung it to strike down everyone until Dame stopped her dead in her tracks. Powerbomb onto a ladder by Dame kept Zaria grounded. Guillotine leg drop by Jordan took Vice out of the match for the moment. Jordan then leapt from the apron to take down both Hail and Ruca at ringside.
Jordan was in full control as she dropped Dame onto the ladder with a leg drop, followed by the split-legged moonsault on Zaria right on the ladder. This left Jordan all alone to grab the Women’s North American Title, at least until Vice stopped her. Ruca then attempted to stop her, but couldn’t get any success on that try. Hail found herself equally unsuccessful in stemming Vice’s tide, as did Dame. Ruca eventually recovered as an attempted backfist caused Vice to make contact with the ladder instead after Ruca dodged it.
On the middle of the ladder, Dame took out Ruca with a sitdown powerbomb. Dame’s ascent was stopped by Hail, who then hit a slam on Vice right across the ladder. Hail then caught Jordan and hit an exploder suplex right on a ladder that was set up on the corner. Hail appeared to be close to getting the title, but Dame pulled the ladder away at the last second.
The Culling appeared at ringside as Zaria tipped over the ladder, which sent Hail flying right into Shawn Spears’ faction in a really cool spot. Now it was Zaria who found herself all by her lonesome, until Jordan rolled back in to stop her from getting anywhere far. Ruca saved her tag partner from getting crushed by Jordan’s ladder assault. A ladder tag of war between Ruca and Jordan led to a ladder bridge being made.
Vice stopped Zaria from climbing with a chokehold submission, which slowed the advance and sent both women lying flat on the ladder bridge. Jordan took off from the top rope and hit a splash on Vice. Her climb was intercepted by Ruca, who springboarded onto the ladder. Zaria took Jordan out of the equation as she threw her right onto the Culling and group
The tag partners were up on the top rope and faced each other as they came to a bit of an agreement before coming to blows, acknowledging the fact that they’d be facing off. Ruca used an impressive level of strength to get herself up the top. Izzi Dame attempted to stop her before she could get far.
Ruca then went wild with a leaping Sol Snatcher from the middle of the ladder on Dame, followed by a double Sol Snatcher on Hail and Vice. This now left her all alone to retrieve the Women’s North American Championship to win the vacant title.
Match Result: Sol Ruca wins the Women’s North American Championship in the Ladder Match
As great as a ladder match can be. Some really fun spots throughout and it’s always good seeing NXT’s women’s division show up and show out. The closing moments did its job in making Sol Ruca look like a million bucks and did it quite well. Kudos.
**********
– Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolin were interviewed about their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship matches on Tuesday’s show.
Six-Man Tag Match: The D’Angelo Family (Tony D’Angelo, Luca Cruisifino, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo) vs. DarkState (Dion Lennox, Cutler James, Saquon Shugars, and/or Osiris Griffin)
We didn’t have to wait long as the Family went after DarkState just as they entered for the mach. D’Angelo found himself surrounded by the DarkState group, but he refused to go down. Stacks and Cruisifino eventually entered to even the odds as the match officially started.
Cruisfino tried for a leap from the corner, but Griffin cut him off with an elbow that sent him falling to the outside. Lennox launched a rampage on Cruisifino outside with repeated strikes before the action returned to the ring with DarkState in clear control for the time being. Saquon Shugars entered the match and found himself dropped by a Cruisifino deadlift powerbomb which allowed for a tag to Stacks, much to Tony’s confusion as he was busy with dealing with Cutler James outside the ring.
Stacks had DarkState backed against the wall, until Griffin pounced him right into the timekeeper area. Griffin continued to dominate against Stacks as Lennox was tagged in. In the Family’s corner, Tony D’Angelo didn’t seem concerned as Stacks was getting isolated by DarkState. Stacks eventually created separation with a running knee as D’Angelo entered the match with the hot tag. D’Angelo cleared out the ring of DarkState as Cruisfino stepped in to even the odds.
Griffin and Lennox hit successive slams on D’Angelo as Shugars was tagged in and the DarkState trio hit their assisted triple powerbomb. That wasn’t enough as Stacks and Cruisifino broke up the count. We then got a standoff with the Family and DarkState, followed by the donnybrook. Cutler James pulled Cruisifino out and slammed him against the ringpost, but Adrianna Rizzo took him out with a dive to the top.
Stacks introduced crowbars to the match, but D’Angelo didn’t want to win it that way. Shugars sent Stacks onto D’Angelo as he and his DarkState peers looked to have this match won. A Spear by D’Angelo saved Stacks from certain calamity.
In the ring, Stacks almost struck D’Angelo with the crowbar as the referee was distracted, but he hit Shugars instead. The two Family members shared an embrace as Tony turned his back. Stacks gave the crowbar to the referee, but he then kicked D’Angelo in the groin from behind, which gave DarkState the opportunity to shut it down with their assisted powerbomb finisher.
Match Result: DarkState def. The Family via pinfall
A sleeper hit of a match with the drama of the Family’s trust issues on full display, helping drive the story of this match forward. DarkState as a group appears to have cleared the hurdles that previous WWE attempts at a “takeover” faction like The Nexus and Retribution were plagued with by being booked so strongly. Stacks’ betrayal of Tony D’Angelo should lead to an interesting feud moving forward.
**********
– Hank and Tank were interviewed regarding their NXT Tag Team Championship victory backstage.
Fatal Four-Way Match for NXT Women’s Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Jaida Parker vs. Giulia vs. Jordynne Grace
Giulia and Vaquer faced off, but were pulled aside by Parker and Grace. We eventually ended up with Giulia and Grace in the ring when the dust settled. Grace had control early before Vaquer and Parker entered the scuffle. Parker held Giulia and Vaquer with a double sleeper, but Vaquer and Giulia fought out and took down Parker with a brief display of teamwork.
Grace tried to step in, but got taken down by Giulia and Vaquer, who eventually got their chance for a scuffle. Parker pulled Giulia out of the ring, but Grace grounded her which led to “The Juggernaut” taking on Vaquer in the ring. Grace used her strength to block Vaquer’s springboarding attempts, as she followed that with an attempted slam. Vaquer responded with a belly-to-back suplex to Grace as Parker brought herself into. Giulia teed off on Parker against the ropes with repeated strikes and chops. Running knee by Giulia brought Parker down, but not enough for the three. Parker fought of a Giulia hold and threw her out of the ring as Vaquer began to fight Parker in the ring.
Parker used her strength to keep Vaquer on the backfoot as she tried for a move of some kind in the corner. Vaquer escaped and looked for a superplex. Giulia joined in, as Grace then entered for as we got a Doomsday Blockbuster courtesy of Parker and Grace on Giulia and Vaquer. With Grace’s head trapped between the legs, Vaquer wanted to hit her trademark headscissors pounding, but Grace used her strength to lift her up for a slam instead.
With the action heating up, Grace threw both Parker and Giulia for a German Suplex while Parker had Giulia in a Northern Lights suplex position. Giulia stunned Vaquer with the Arrivederci knee, as Parker tried to enter the madness. Grace went up top, but got sent down by Giulia, who then floored her with a dropkick. Once again, Vaquer faced off with Giulia and began to trade strikes with her rival. This eventually led to a headbutt duel that Giulia won out on. Giulia, however, found herself trapped in the headscissors pound spot, but she escaped and stomped Vaquer’s head in instead.
Parker rolled in and hit a Samoan Drop on Giulia as she then placed her and Grace across the middle rope. Parker lifted Vaquer and then stacked her onto Grace and Giulia, which led to a massive hip drop on the three prone competitors. Parker tried to lock Grace onto a submission, but Giulia caught her in the Octopus, while Vaquer had Grace locked into a submission of her own.
Vaquer caught Parker and Grace on opposite corners with running meteoras as she then hit the dragon screw on Giulia right across the top rope. This left Giulia open for the “Devil’s Kiss” (Vaquer’s headscissors pounding attack) from Vaquer. This led to Parker and Grace also falling victim to the Devil’s Kiss, much to the delight of the crowd.
Vaquer attempted the SVB, but Giulia countered that into a backslide pin. Grace snuck up on Giulia and hit Beast Mode, but she got taken out by Parker. Hipnotic by Parker onto Giulia, but Vaquer broke up the pin with a moonsault. Vaquer then brought an end to this match with the SVB on Parker as she retained her NXT Women’s Championship in a heck of a bout.
Match Result: Stephanie Vaquer (c) def. Jaida Parker, Giulia, and Jordynne Grace to retain the NXT Women’s Championship via pinfall
Incredible four-way match as we once again got sampling of how stacked NXT’s women’s division is with four very talented women getting their chance to shine. This one is certainly in the running for my match of the PLE.
**********
– Lexis King was backstage looking for his missing Heritage Cup. Elsewhere, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo was seen leaving the arena, as Luca Cruisifino asked him about his betrayal. Stacks said that he’d explain everything later and told Cruisifino that he’d see him on Tuesday.
Triple Threat Match for NXT Championship: Oba Femi (c) vs. Trick Williams vs. Je’von Evans
Evans looked to hit the double OG Cutter early, but got caught by Williams and Femi as we got underway here. The NXT Champion was taken out by a dropkick from Evans, which led to a faceoff between the 20 year-old Evans and Williams. Evans looked good as he outfoxed Williams at every turn with impressive dodges of Williams’ moves. Double down from Williams and Evans led to the two kipping right back up.
Femi stepped back in and lifted both Williams and Evans up for a double Samoan Drop with an impressive show of dominating strength. Femi lifted Evans up for a shoulderbreaker, followed by hitting a gutbuster on Williams for a two-count. Williams recovered and tried to knock Femi down, but couldn’t get it done. Evans leapt back into action with a springboard clothesline, as he then trashtalked Femi afterwards. In the corner, Williams teed up Femi for punches as Evans tried for a Doomsday Device, but Williams dodged at the last second and attemptted to roll up Femi to no avail.
Jumping neckbreaker by Williams managed to keep Femi down and out. We got a massive spot where Evans’ attempts at a dive was intercept by Williams, who threw himself onto Evans after he stepped over Femi. The three competitors brawled it out in the corner as Femi was sent outside by Evans. On the apron, Evans reversed an apron bomb to send Femi into the side of the apron. Williams soared high and took out both Femi and Evans with a dive. Evans launched himself from the bottom rope with a springboard moonsault by Evans.
In the ring, Evans continued to show some incredible agility against the former NXT Champion Trick Williams. As Femi stepped into the ring, Evans once again took to the skies with a dive onto both Femi and Williams. Femi got taken down with a bodyslam by Williams as we then got a standoff in the corner. Femi recovered and hoisted Williams up on his shoulders as Evans joined in on the tower of doom superplex.
With all three men back up, we got Williams, Femi, and Evans laying it in on one another before Femi dropped Williams and Evans with a double spinebuster. Williams stopped Femi’s advances with a jumping kick, as he was then blasted by Evans’ unique rebound Enzuigiri. Up the top rope, Evans leapt up and tried for the splash, but got caught by Femi, who tried for a chokeslam. Femi got countered into a cutter by Evans for the close 2.999999 count.
Femi intercepted Evans’ dive with a punch, as Williams pulled him out of the ring to stop the count. Evans hoisted Femi up for a slamp as he followed that with the OG Cutter. 1… 2… Femi just kicked out at 2! Outside the ring, Williams knocked out the referee, which led to Evans leaping outside to take him out. Fall From Grace countered by Evans,, as the action exploded to the outside. And speaking of exploded, Femi threw Evans rightinot the barricade to smash it apart. Seconds later, Femi was thrown through the announce table by Williams.
Inside the ring, Williams blasted Evans with the Trick Shot knee. Femi tried to stop the referee from breaking the count, but the ref kicked Femi aside to proceed with the count. Evans kicked out at two. As things broke down, Evans hit his OG double cutter on Williams and Femi. Seconds later, Evans was taken down by Williams’ Trick Shot Knee. Femi got back up and dropped Williams with a Fall From Grace powerbomb onto the downed Evans. Finally, Femi finished things off with a Fall From Grace on Evans. And that’s it, over. Oba Femi retained his NXT Championship in the Stand & Deliver Main Event.
Match Result: Oba Femi def. Je’von Evans & Trick Williams to retain the NXT Championship via pinfall
**********
Incredibly high-stakes main event to close out Stand & Deliver. All three competitors got their chance to shine, but the standout by far was Je’von Evans. Even in defeat, he looked fantastic as ever and I think we’re destined to see him become better and better as his career continues on.
All in all, another solid Stand & Deliver show that shows how great the action is on Tuesday nights. Everyone on the card was motivated to put on an entertaining event and we got that in spades. While the tag title match and the women’s fatal four-way matches were my overall favorites, there wasn’t a bad match on the evening and I was entertained from start to finish by NXT’s latest PLE event.
