Reviews

The John Report: WWE NXT Stand & Deliver 2025 Review

By John Canton • Published 19th April 2025
WWE NXT Stand Deliver Review 2025

This is WWE NXT Stand & Deliver featuring an Oba Femi-Trick Williams-Je’Von Evans triple threat match and Stephanie Vaquer’s NXT Women’s Title defense against Jordynne Grace, Jaida Parker & Giulia on a card with five title matches.

It’s NXT Stand & Deliver as the second NXT PLE of the year and fifth year in a row that WWE is doing a Stand & Deliver show. They have seven matches scheduled for the show included the pre-show and a lot of multi-person matches to get more people on the card.

There could be some NXT wrestlers leaving the brand soon and going to the main roster because we always see that right after WrestleMania. Some of them may be gone from the brand if there’s a WWE Draft in May too. The cool thing about NXT is they are always developing new people for us to watch and we’ll see a lot of them on today’s show

Stand & Deliver has an early start time at 10 a.m. in Las Vegas and 1 p.m. ET for me. It should done about three hours before WrestleMania 41 begins tonight, so it’s a lot of wrestling to consume (and write about) in a day, but I don’t mind it.

They had a pre-show women’s tag team match on the pre-show. I had it on, but I didn’t write a review. I’m going to review many matches in the coming days.

* Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match was won by Tatum Paxley & Gigi Dolin. The other teams were Meta-Four (Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson), Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley & Jacy Jayne) and Roxanne Perez & Cora Jade. The 1st fall was Perez pinning Legend, the 2nd fall saw Dollin & Paxley pin Jade at the same time while Perez walked out on the match and 3rd fall was Dolin & Paxley hitting Cemetery Drive on Jayne for the win.

The win by Dolin & Paxley means they will get a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles this Tuesday on NXT. Let’s get to the main show.

NXT Stand & Deliver
From T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday, April 19, 2025

There was a video package to start the show. Good job as always.

The commentary team was Vic Joseph, Corey Graves and Booker T doing his usual random phrase shouting to welcome us to the show. This is the same venue where SmackDown was last night and Raw will be on Monday.

Ricky Saints was up first as the NXT North American Champion and his rival Ethan Page was up next. It’s the only singles match on the show.

NXT North American Championship: Ricky Saints vs. Ethan Page

The champion Ricky was in control early on with a rope walking move. When Ricky tried a DDT, Page countered it and knocked down Ricky on the turnbuckle. Page gave Ricky a powerslam on the apron and they both bumped to the floor. They were back in the ring where Page delivered a kick followed by some forearms to the back. Page hit a suplex for two. Page hit a sidewalk slam for a two count. Ricky countered a move with a DDT, but Page rolled out of the ring to avoid a pin attempt. Page went for a springboard attack, Page avoided it and Ricky went crashing ribs-first onto the top of the commentary table. Graves said that Ricky was holding onto his left knee, which hit the commentary table. Page put Ricky back into the ring and applied a Boston Crab submission, but Ricky managed to get out of it. Ricky hit Page with forearms to the head, Page sent Ricky into the turnbuckle and Page suplexed Ricky back first onto the top rope, so Ricky bumped on the floor. That was a unique looking bump. Back in the ring, Ricky countered Page with a springboard Tornado DDT. Ricky hit a spinebuster and a Michinoku Driver for two. Some fans were chanting “Tony Fumbled” in reference to both men working for AEW’s Tony Khan in the past.

Page took control again with a kick, along with a lift up into the air and Page hit a powerslam for two. It looked like Ricky was bleeding from the mouth a bit. Ricky did a move where he jumped around Page and hit a reverse DDT. Ricky went up top, Page went after him there and Ricky managed to hit a Powerbomb for two. Ricky ran the ropes going for a spear, but Page got a jumping knee attack to block it. Page hit the Ego’s Edge for a two count. That used to be his finisher, but he changed it a few months ago. Page went for Twisted Grin, Ricky got out of it and Ricky hit the ropes leading to a Spear or maybe a shoulder tackle. Ricky hit the Roshambo reverse powerslam for the pinfall win at 12:43.

Winner by pinfall: Ricky Saints

Analysis: ***1/4 A pretty good match between two talented veteran wrestlers. They had some unique spots in the match and Ricky in particular took some big bumps. After Page got a two count with his former finishing move, Ricky came back with two moves including his Roshambo finisher for the win. It was a decisive ending and it’s the result I expected. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ethan Page debuts on the main roster as soon as Raw or SmackDown this week, but maybe WWE will save it until the draft in May if that’s when it happens.

There were commercials promoting WrestleMania 41 and WWE live events this summer.

A video aired promoting the CM Punk-Roman Reigns-Seth Rollins match at WrestleMania 41. The song is called “Sail Into The Black” by Machine Head and it’s a great video package. They showed it on SmackDown too.

There were clips shown of NXT Champion Oba Femi, Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans walking around earlier in the day.

NXT Tag Team Championships: Fraxiom – Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs. Hank & Talk – Hank Walker & Tank Ledger

I say all the time that Fraxiom is the best team in WWE and I stand by that even though there are many other good teams in the company. Hank & Tank earned the title shot by winning a Gauntlet Match.

Axiom hit Hank with a dropkick, Frazer tagged in and he hit a running kick. Frazer used his speed to roll up Hank for two. Tank made a blind tag, Tank sent Frazer into the turnbuckle, Hank hit a splash/bulldog combo and Tank hit a senton splash for two. Tank headbutted Frazer in the ribs. Hank was back in for his team as Frazer hit a kick to the head. Frazer and Axiom each hit running kicks to clear Tank from the ring. Axiom worked over Hank with forearms along with a running dropkick against the turnbuckle for two. Axiom worked over Hank with slaps to the face, Frazer got the tag and Hank clotheslined Axiom. Frazer ran the ropes quickly leading to a running forearm on Hank and a standing SSP for two. Axiom tagged in with a sleeper on Hank, Axiom turned it into a triangle choke attempt and Hank managed to get out of it. Hank spun around Axiom leading to a slam on the mat. Tank tagged in with a clothesline on Frazer. Tank hit an overhead suplex on Frazer. Tank clotheslined Axiom and a hit a splash on him. Tank hit a springboard cross body block on both opponents. Tank hit a spinebuster variation on Frazer for a two count. Axiom went into the ring and hit a Golden Ratio on Tank while Hank was legal. Hank kicked Axiom off the apron. Frazer superkicked Hank while on the apron. Axiom got the tag and Axiom hit an assisted hurricanrana on Hank, who went crashing onto Tank on the floor. That led to a “Holy Shit” chant from the crowd. Axiom hit a splash off the top and Frazer was legal with a 450 Splash on Hank for two. Frazer went for a spinning kick, Hank avoided it and Hank hit a sitout slam for two because Axiom broke it up with a kick. Tank tossed Axiom out of the ring. Hank went up top and hit atop rope clothesline on Frazer. Tank lifted up Hank for a splash onto Frazer for two while Tank had Axiom trapped in a Crossface to prevent a save. Tank sent Axiom out of the ring. The fans chanted “This is awesome” for them.

Hank knocked Frazer off the apron into the commentary table. Tank tagged in as Hank ran the ropes and Hank went for a suicide dive, but Frazer move. Hank went crashing onto the commentary table. The fans were stunned by it. Axiom superkicked Tank. Axiom got the tag and Fraxiom hit a missile dropkick/sweep kick combo leading to Axiom covering Tank for two. The fans were coming alive for Hank & Tank. Tank went to the turnbuckle, Axiom kicked Tank on the top rope and Axiom hit a Spanish Fly off the top. Frazer was legal and he hit a Phoenix Splash off the top for one…two…no because Hank got back in the ring for the save. The fans were going crazy. Axiom superkicked Hank. Tank clotheslined Axiom. Frazer hit a Slingblade on Tank. Frazer went for a top rope splash, but Tank avoided it. Hank hit a Bossman Slam on Frazer. Tank hit a suicide dive on Axiom on the floor. The fans were going crazy for them and they all shouted “Honk Honk” for the challengers. Hank & Tank hit the running splash combo followed by the powerslam/cross body block combo and Tank covered Frazer for the one…two…and three! It went 13:55.

Winners by pinfall AND NEW NXT Tag Team Champions: Hank & Tank

Analysis: ****1/4 It was an excellent match and one of the best WWE matches of the year. These guys worked so well together. The crowd wasn’t into it early on with support for Hank & Tank, but they got into it as the match went on. Those nearfalls in the final five minutes were so good. That spot where Hank went for a dive, it didn’t work and he went crashing onto the table worked so well because it looked like he was done, but he found a way to get back into it with a pin breakup. I predicted the title change because Fraxiom have held the titles for over six months and it felt like the right time to crown new champions. It was the biggest stage that Hank & Tank have been on and they delivered. Obviously, Frazer & Axiom deserve a lot of credit, but Hank & Tank were impressive as well.

After the match, Hank & Tank celebrated with the titles. Axiom & Frazer hugged the new champions to congratulate them on the win.

Analysis: I will write this a lot during this show, but I think the Axiom & Frazer are good candidates to go to the main roster very soon. They have done it all in NXT, so let’s see them against some new opponents.

A commercial aired about Cardi B hosting SummerSlam 2025 over two nights at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. It’s on August 2nd & 3rd. There was also a commercial about WWE 2K25.

There was a WrestleMania 41 video package about the WWE Women’s Championship match between champion Tiffany Stratton and challenger Charlotte Flair.

There were clips shown of Giulia and Jordynne Grace getting ready for their match later.

Penn from the famous Penn & Teller group was interviewed by Sarah Schreiber. Penn said they have been in Las Vegas for a long time and people love their magic show. Lexis King walked in with this NXT Heritage Cup claiming he doesn’t believe in magic. Penn put the Heritage Cup on a stool in a cage. Penn shit the curtain on the other side. When the cover raised, Penn’s magic partner Teller was there and he was Yeeting in a Jey Uso shirt.

Analysis: I don’t mind Penn & Teller’s act. They have been doing it for a long time and have had a lot of success. That skit wasn’t that great, but that’s okay.

The NXT Women’s North American Title Ladder Match was next. The title was vacant. The order of entrants was Thea Hail up first, Lola Vice, Izzi Dame, Kelani Jordan, Zaria and Sol Ruca.

NXT Women’s North American Title Ladder Match: Sol Ruca vs. Zaria vs. Thea Hail vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Izzi Dame vs. Lola Vice

The title is above the ring. To win the match, somebody must set up a ladder under the title and grab the title to become the champion.

There was a ladder set up in the ring early in the match with Hail, Vice and Jordan fighting over it. Hail hit a Powerbomb on Jordan. Zaria hit a double Spear. Ruca tried a climb, Dame knocked her down and Zari hit a Spear on Dame. Zaria used the ladder as a weapon to knock down three women, but Dame kicked Zaria to knock her down. Dame gave Zaria back body drop onto a ladder that was on the mat. Ouch. Jordan hit a spinning heel kick on Dame. Jordan hit an impressive leg drop on Vice’s back to knock her out of the ring. Jordan hit a springboard moonsault onto Hail and Ruca on the floor. Jordan countered Dame doing a move and Jordan dig a leg drop on Dame onto a ladder. Jordan hit a split-legged moonsault on Zaria onto a ladder that was in the ring. Jordan set up a big ladder and got her hand on the title, but Vice went up the other side and knocked Jordan down. Ruca went after Vice, so Vice hit a spin kick and a running butt splash against the turnbuckle. Vice worked over Hail with kicks and another running butt splash. Vice hit a butt splash on Dame too. Vice hit a spin kick on Jordan. Vice went for a back fist, Ruca avoided it and Vice hit the ladder. Dame kicked Vice out of the ring. Dame kicked Zaria out of the ring and Dame hit a Chokeslam on Jordan. Dame hit an impressive spinebuster off the ladder. Hail shoved the ladder while Dame tried a climb. Hail headbutted Dame and Hail slammed Vice on a ladder. Hail hit a senton back splash on Vice on a ladder. Hail gave Jordan an overhead suplex onto a ladder. Hail climbed the big ladder, she reached the title with her hand and Dame pulled the ladder away. Hail applied a Kimura Lock on the left arm of Dame. The Culling’s Shawn Spears, Brooks Jensen & Niko Vance went down to ringside. Zaria pushed the ladder so Hail bumped from the top of the ladder onto the four members of The Culling on the floor. They brought the three guys out there to bump on the floor. Jordan tripped up Zaria by the ladder. Jordan set up a ladder bridge against the ropes. Zaria was climbing a ladder as Jordan and Ruca fought on a ladder bridge, but Vice knocked them both down. Vice jumped on Zaria’s back on the ladder and Vice applied a sleeper. Zaria fell back first onto the ladder bridge with Vice on her back. Jordan jumped off the top with a Frog Splash on Vice on the ladder bridge.

Jordan was climbing a ladder and Ruca did a springboard leap onto the other side of the ladder. Zaria pulled Jordan down and Zaria press slammed Jordan over the top onto The Culling and the other women on the floor. The Culling dudes had to take another bump. The friends Zaria and Ruca reached the top of the ladder, so they got into a slugfest. Zaria headbutted Ruca. Ruca hit an impressive pull up and she kicked Zaria down. Ruca reached for the title while on the ladder, but Dame was back in the ring and Sol hit a Soul Snatcher on Dame. Sol hit a double Soul Snatcher on Hail and Vice. Ruca climbed up the ladder quickly and reached up to grab the NXT Women’s North American Title. The match went 14:40.

Winner AND NEW NXT Women’s North American Champion: Sol Ruca

Analysis: ***1/2 It was an entertaining ladder match with a hot finish. Ruca hitting those Soul Snatchers the way she did really popped the crowd and it was smart to go to the finish after that. They did some painful bumps in the match, but nothing too crazy. They used the guys in The Culling to take bumps after some of the women took moves of the ladder and onto the floor. My pick was Thea Hail, but I considered Ruca or Zaria as the winner because either one of them would have made sense. Ruca has been part of NXT for a few years, she came back from an injury and she’s popular, so I like the choice of her as the champion.

Sol Ruca celebrated on the ladder as the new NXT Women’s North American Champion.

A commercial aired for WWE Backlash in St. Louis on May 10th. They also showed a commercial for the WrestleMania 9 documentary on Peacock.

They showed Jaida Parker and the NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer getting ready for their match.

A replay was shown of Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley winning the pre-show match.

Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley (with Shotzi) were interviewed by Sarah Schreiber. Paxley was very excited about winning with her best friends. Dolin said that they are ready to bring those Women’s Tag Team Titles back to where they belong. Paxley thought about her past with Lyra Valkyria. Dolin said it didn’t matter if it was Raquel & Liv or Bayley & Lyra. They left happily.

A video package aired about The D’Angelo Family’s rivalry with Darkstate.

They showed the Cody Rhodes-John Cena video package for their WrestleMania 41 match.

Darkstate – Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin & Saquon Shugars (w/Cutler James) vs. The D’Angelo Family – Tony D’Angelo Family, Luca Crusifino & Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo (w/Adrianna Rizzo)

I missed the opening minutes of the match. Griffin knocked Luca off the apron to the floor as Darkstate took control. Dion sent Luca into the steel under the ring. The powerhouse Griffin hit a fallaway slam across the ring. Lennox launched Luca into the air for a slam. Luca managed to hit a sitout slam to break free. Stacks tagged in with a forearm on Shugars and forearm on Dion. Tony D was frustrated because he was dealing with Cutler on the floor and Stacks tagged in instead of Tony. Stacks hit a cannonball on Dion. Shugars left the ring, so Stacks hit a cannonball off the apron onto Shugars on the floors. Griffin tossed Stacks over the barricade at ringside. Griffin tackled Stacks into the side of the ring apron. Griffin sent Stacks hard into the turnbuckle. Dion hit a spinebuster on Stacks. Dion was very aggressive and hyper. Shugars tagged in with a hard knee to the ribs. Shugars applied a body scissors around the ribs while Tony D had a serious look on his face to show he was frustrated. Stacks hit an enziguri kick to knock Shugars down. Stacks hit a running knee on Shugars. Stacks crawled over to his corner, Tony stuck his hand out and made the tag. Tony unleashed with punches, belly to belly slams and Tony hit a spinebuster on Griffin. Shugars went up top, so Tony launched Shugars across the ring onto Griffin for two because Dion made the save. Luca dropkicked Dion out of the ring. Shugars and Luca did a suplex spot over the top to the floor. Griffin jumped over Tony, who went running into the turnbuckle. Dion tagged in with a Jackhammer slam on Tony for two. Darkstate hit a three-man assisted Powerbomb for two on Tony because Luca and Stacks made the save.

The six guys were all in the ring and they got into a brawl. James pulled Luca out of the ring and James ran Luca into the ring post. Rizzo jumped off the top wit ha cross body block on James on the floor! That drew a bump. Tony and Stacks hit a double team spinebuster-style slam for two. Stacks said he had an idea, so he brought a crowbar into the ring. The referee said you can’t use those. Tony threw the crowbars out of the ring. Shugars hit Stacks with a knee to knock Tony out of the ring. Shugars tagged in, but Tony was back in with a Spear on Shugars. Tony sent Dion out of the ring and Tony punched Griffin out of the ring. Tony launched Stacks over the top onto Darkstate on the floor. Stacks clotheslined James out of the ring even though James wasn’t in the match. Stacks went into the ring and hit Shugars in the head with the crowbard while the referee was on the floor. Tony hit a spinenbuster on James. Tony and Stacks hugged in the ring, but when Tony turned his back, Stacks handed the crowbar to the referee…and then Stacks kicked Tony in the groin. That drew huge boos from the crowd. Stacks told Tony that Tony never trusted Stacks. The fans were booing. Darkstate hit a triple team Powerbomb on Tony and Dion covered Tony for the pinfall win. It went 13:15.

Winners by pinfall: Darkstate – Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin & Saquon Shugars

Analysis: *** There’s the heel turn from Stacks that I predicted in the preview and mentioned that there were signs of it coming several weeks earlier. Tony has been the boss, so Stacks has felt like he doesn’t matter and here’s Stacks doing the brutal heel turn with the kick to the groin. It didn’t shock me, but I am glad that it got a reaction from the crowd because they knew it was a big deal due to how long Tony & Stacks have been aligned. Meanwhile, it’s another win for Darkstate, which is obvious because they are being booked strongly as a new faction in NXT. I thought maybe Stacks would be aligned with Darkstate, but it doesn’t appear to be the case for now.

There was a commercial for WrestleMania 41 and more events in Las Vegas this weekend.

The new NXT Tag Team Champions Hank & Tank were interviewed by Sarah Schreiber. Hank said that there’s no one else he would rather do this with. Tank said that when you join WWE you join for moments like this. Tank said he knew he’d put in the work to get there. Tank said he’s proud to have this moment with his brother (not really brothers, but close friends) and he loves having this moment with Hank. They left happily.

A video package aired for the NXT Women’s Title match that was coming up next.

The NXT Women’s Title match was up with Giulia up first followed by Jaida Parker, Jordynne Grace and the NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer. The ring announcer Mike Rome did the in-ring championship introductions. It was two hours into the show at this point.

NXT Women’s Championship: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Jaida Parker vs. Giulia

The first pinfall or submission wins the match. There are no countouts and no disqualifications.

Grace hit a gutwrench suplex on Giulia while Parker and Vaquer were knocked out of the ring. Parker tried a double reverse DDT on two women, but Vaquer countered it into a reverse DDT and Vaquer kicked Parker. Vaquer rolled up Giulia for two as those two women had a staredown. Vaquer and Giulia kicked Grace at the same time. Giulia and Vaquer faced off as Giulia sent Vaquer into the ropes. Grace tripped up Paker on the apron. Vaquer clotheslined Grace, who no sold that. Vaquer and Grace had a sweet exchange leading to Vaquer rolling up Grace for two. Vaquer got a rollup on Grace for two. Vaquer gave Grace a belly-to-back suplex. Parker was back in the ring, but Giulia was in there to kick Parker down. Grace was knocked out of the ring. Giulia hit a running kick on Parker for two. Parker sent Giulia out of the ring, so Vaquer hit a dropkick on Parker. There were some hard slaps by Parker to Vaquer. Parker knocked down Vaquer with shoulder tackles. Parker set up for a move on the turnbuckle, but Vaquer broke free. Grace had Vaquer & Giulia on her shoulders, so Parker jumped off the top with a double Blockbuster on Vaquer & Giulia. That was a great spot with Grace showing off her power. It’s more creative than a typical Tower of Doom spot. Grace got three two counts after that. Vaquer tried for her knee smash move, but Grace blocked it and the fans booed because they like that spot. Grace hit a slam off the shoulders on Vaquer. Grace hit a Jackhammer slam on Giulia. Grace and Parker did a German Suplex/Northern Lights combo on Giulia. There was a running knee from Giulia on Vaquer and a headscissors by Giulia on Parker. Giulia headbutted Parker. Giulia hit a missile dropkick on Grace to knock her out of the ring. Giulia and Vaquer faced off in the ring leading to multiple headbutts into the hands. Vaquer hit a knee to the ribs and Vaquer went for her knee smash, but Giulia countered it and that led to boos along with disappointment from Booker. Giulia stomped on Vaquer’s back into the mat for two. Parker was back in with a Blockbuster on Grace and a Samoan Drop on Giulia. Parker stacked Giulia onto Grace against the turnbuckle. Parker put Vaquer onto Giulia and Grae as well. The three women had to hold onto the ropes as Parker hit her hip drop followed by the high step celebration. I don’t mind the spot, but the bad part is they have to wait there holding the ropes. Parker hit a Falcon Arrow on Vaquer for two.

Parker tried to submit Grace, but then Vaquer and Giulia were there to apply submission moves as well. Vaquer hit a jawbreaker and a superkick. Vaquer hit Eat Defeat on Giulia and two running knee attacks. Giulia hit a boot on Vaquer, but Vaquer hit a dragon screw leg whip for two. Vaquer finally connected with her knee smashing on Giulia and Booker was going crazy for it. Grave said it was called the Devil’s Kiss, so Vaquer did the Devil’s Kiss knee smash on Parker too. Parker did the Devil’s Kiss knee smashing to Grace ten times. Parker slapped her hand on the mat a lot while the others did not. The fans chanted “Booker T” because they know Booker loves that spot. Vaquer went for SVB, Giulia countered it into a backslide pin for two. Giulia hit a knee smash. Grace was back in with a back fist and a Beast Mode slam for two but Parker was in the ring with Hipnotic on Grace. Giulia rolled up Parker for two. That was close. Parker hit a front suplex and Hipnotic on Giulia, but Vaquer hit a Spiral Tap splash not Parker to break up the pin. Vaquer hit the SVB backbreaker on Parker for the pinfall win. It wasn’t a great SVB, but it was enough to win. It went 16:29.

Winner by pinfall: Stephanie Vaquer

Analysis: ***3/4 That was a fast paced match full of action. All four women are very talented and they showed what they could do in a match that had a lot of nearfalls. The fans absolutely loved Vaquer’s Devil’s Kiss knee smash because it got the biggest reaction out of anything in the match. The three challengers all had moments where they came close to winning the title, but I didn’t expect a title change to happen since Vaquer won the title last month. It was a very good match, but not like a classic or anything. I think it’s tough to have so many multi-person matches on the show and it had a lot of similar spots as other matches.

Stephanie Vaquer celebrated with her title that she successfully retained.

Lexis King was shown backstage looking for the NXT Heritage Cup. He did not find it.

Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo was shown leaving in a car. Sarah Schreiber tried to talk to him. Luca Crusifino went up to Stacks wondering why he did what he did and Stacks said he’ll contact him soon. Stacks said he’ll see him on Tuesday on NXT.

This Tuesday on NXT:

* Women’s Tag Team Championships: Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez or Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs. Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley.

The video package aired for the Oba Femi-Trick Williams-Je’Von Evans main event match.

There was a video about the AJ Styles-Logan Paul WrestleMania 41 match. I’m not sure why when they just showed a video package for the main event.

Trick Williams made his entrance for the main event with the crowd chanting “Whoop That Trick” for him while Booker did his adlibs for the entrance. The “Young OG” Je’Von Evans was the next man up and he got a good ovation. The NXT Champion Oba Femi was also cheered in this match between three babyfaces. Ring announcer Mike Rome did the championship introductions.

NXT Championship: Oba Femi vs. Trick Williams vs. Je’Von Evans

The first pinfall or submission wins. There are no disqualifications and no countouts in a triple threat match.

The champion Femi hit running clotheslines on both opponents. Evans dropkicked Femi out of the ring to the floor. Evans and Trick both did backflips onto their feet and that drew a big reaction. Evans ducked a side kick by Trick and Evans did a backslide pin for two. Trick and Evans each kicked eachother at the same time. Femi was back in the ring with a double Samoan Drop and that drew a big pop. Femi used Evans to run over Trick and Femi gave Evans a shoulderbreaker. Femi did a press slam on Trick into the double knees for a gutbuster for two. Trick hit Femi with clotheslines, but Femi came back with a clothesline of his own. Evans hit a springboard cross body block on Femi. Trick decked Evans with a punch and Trick hit a sitout slam off the shoulders for two. Trick hit jumping side kicks on both guys and Trick picked up Evans for a flatliner for two. Femi nailed Trick with a hard chop to the chest. Evans punched Femi in the jaw and Trick hit a neckbreaker on Femi. Trick jumped off of Femi’s back and Trick hit a jumping knee on Evans, who was going for a springboard attack. Evans got back up to dump Femi off the ropes and sent Femi to the floor. Evans hit a jumping kick on Trick, who was on the top rope. Evans gave Femi a hurricanrana into the apron. Trick went up top and hit a cross body block on both men on the floor. Evans hit an amazing leap to the bottom rope and hit a moonsault onto Trick on the floor. That was so good! Evans hit a springboard hurricanrana on Trick and a double stomp on Trick. Femi and Trick exchanged punches, so Evans hit a twisting splash off the top onto both guys for a two count. Trick gave Femi a body slam. Trick set up Evans on the top rope, Evans had Trick on his shoulders and Trick suplexed Evans while on Femi’s shoulders! That was a crazy stacked superplex. The fans cheered and chanted “fight forever” for them.

Evans hit a popup punch on Trick, then Trick kicked Femi and Trick punched Evans. Superkick by Evans on Femi and Trick suplexed Femi, but Femi popped back up leading to a spinebuster on both guys. Femi hit two running uppercuts on Femi, but Trick came back with a spin kick for two. Evans pinned Trick for two. Evans hit a bouncy kick off the ropes on Trick to send Trick out of the ring. Evans jumped off the top with a Frog Splash, but Femi caught him with a hand on the throat. Femi lifted up Evans for a slam and Evans hit a Cutter for two. Evans went for a springboard attack, Femi caught him and Evans hit Sliced Bread for two. Evans jumped off the top and Femi nailed him with an uppercut for two because Trick pulled Femi out of the ring. Femi gave Trick a spinebuster on the apron. Evans tried to lift Femi and he did connect with the body slam. Evans jumped off the top with a Cutter for a two count because Femi got his left shoulder up. Trick tripped up the referee and pulled him out of the ring because there are no DQ’s in this match. Evans hit a suicide dive on Trick on the floor. Evans did a hurricanrana to Femi to send Femi out of the ring. Femi slammed Evans into the barricade. Femi threw Evans hard into the barricade to knock the barricade down. Trick gave Femi a Rock Bottom (or Book End) through the commentary table. Back in the ring, Trick hit the Trick Shot knee on Evans and Evans did a flipping bump. The referee tried to get into the ring, but Femi grabbed the referee and referee Dallas Irvin did the count for two because Femi broke up the pin. The fans were going crazy for this match with NXT chants.

Femi and Trick exchanged punches and Evans jumped off the top with a double Cutter! Evans went up top and hit a twisting splash on Femi. Trick was back in with a Trick Shot knee on Evans. Femi got back up with a Fall From Grace on Trick onto Evans, so Trick rolled out of the ring. Femi hit a sitout Fall From Grace (Powerbomb) on Evans for the one…two…three. Femi retains the title. It went 16:58.

Winner by pinfall: Oba Femi

Analysis: ****1/2 It was an outstanding match. These guys aren’t that experienced as pro wrestlers, but they put on an incredible performance and gave us an exciting main event match. There were believable nearfalls for all three guys with Evans hitting those impressive moves off the top rope while Trick hit the Trick Shot knee, but Femi grabbed the referee to prevent a count. Those final few minutes were chaos with all three guys coming close to winning again. They did that spot with Evans hitting the top rope splash, Femi got up quickly and hit the Fall From Grace, so I would have liked Femi to sell the move a bit longer. That’s not a major gripe, though. I thought Femi would win and he did. He’s a great champion while Trick is probably going to the main roster and Evans is a future champion for sure.

Oba Femi celebrated with his NXT Title. That was the end of the show.

This event had a runtime of 2 hours, 55 minutes on Netflix for me in Canada.

===

Five Stars of the Show

  1. Fraxiom and Hank & Tank
  2. Oba Femi
  3. Je’Von Evans and Trick Williams
  4. Sol Ruca
  5. Stephanie Vaquer

===

Final Thoughts

I’m going with an 8.5 out of 10.

It was a very entertaining show. I thought the Tag Team Title match with Hank & Tank beating Fraxiom was the best match. I also rated the Femi-Williams-Evans main event math the same because that was outstanding too. Some of these guys haven’t even been wrestling for that many years and they are putting on incredible performances in huge matches. We are so spoiled in this era of wrestling with so many incredible performers.

If you read my preview I called Hank & Tank winning the titles and also the heel turns from Stacks. I didn’t pick Ruca to win, but I got the rest of my predictions right.

As I mentioned, I liked the show a lot, but there were so many multi-person matches. There were so many spots in those matches where somebody was about to win, but then somebody that was on the floor goes back in the ring to stop it. That kind of thing gets repetitive when you see it in nearly every match. I understand why there were so many multi-person matches to get more people on the show. I’m just saying after watching it all, those kinds of matches lead to repetitive spots in matches.

The NXT roster should be proud of this show. They put on a great showing.

Here are my NXT PLE rankings for this year:

Stand & Deliver (April 19) – 8.5 (out of 10)

Vengeance Day (February 15) – 7.75

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John Canton

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