TJRWrestling WWE NXT Stand & Deliver 2026 Preview
It’s WWE NXT Stand & Deliver with Joe Hendry facing Ricky Saints, Ethan Page & Tony D’Angelo, plus Jacy Jayne against Kendal Grey & Lola Vice, a Sol Ruca-Zaria grudge match, and more.
The WWE NXT Stand & Deliver PLE usually takes place during WrestleMania weekend, but WWE made a change this year. Instead of putting it on the same day as WrestleMania Saturday earlier in the day, they moved it up two weeks to the weekend when WrestleMania used to take place. I think they should have put it on Sunday instead of Saturday because Saturday will have the NCAA basketball Final Four games that will draw a big audience, and if they had done it on Sunday night, this show would have gotten more attention, even though it’s Easter Sunday for a lot of people. Anyway, I do think it was smart to move S&D off WrestleMania weekend.
There are plenty of big matches on this show with five title matches, plus the Zaria/Sol Ruca grudge match. The NXT Vengeance Day PLE last month was excellent and better than I thought it would be, so I have high expectations for this show. I feel bad for some wrestlers not being on the S&D card. They should have done an 8-woman tag team match to get more women on the show because so many of them deserve the spotlight. Anyway, it should be a good crowd in St. Louis.
You can watch NXT Stand & Deliver on Saturday, April 4, streaming live at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT exclusively on YouTube in the United States and on Netflix for many of us internationally, including me in Canada. These NXT PLE shows usually go 2.5 hours or sometimes up to 3 hours, and I think for Stand & Deliver, it will probably be around 3 hours.
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COUNTDOWN SHOW: Hank & Tank, Shiloh Hill, EK Prosper & Wren Sinclair vs. Birth Right – Charlie Dempsey, Lexis King, Uriah Connors, Stacks & Arianna Grace
This is on the Countdown Show before the main PLE starts. This match was added on NXT TV this past week to get some more people on the show, including the new Birth Right stable.
EK Prosper used to be Eli Knight until they changed his name this week after somebody realized the name is too similar to LA Knight. Prosper is a talented young athlete with a bright future. I have really enjoyed Shiloh Hill’s work since he started in NXT a few months ago, while Hank & Tank are a lot of fun as a babyface tag team. Birth Right winning would be fine for sure, but I think for a Countdown Show match, the babyface team of Hank & Tank, Hill, Prosper and Sinclair should win. I’ll go with Prosper getting the win on his team.
Winners: Hank & Tank, Shiloh Hill, EK Prosper & Wren Sinclair
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NXT Women’s North American Championship: Tatum Paxley (c) vs. Blake Monroe
The story is that Blake Monroe stole the NXT Women’s North American Title from Tatum Paxley, who recently won the title from Izzi Dame. Blake previously held the title, lost it in a match where she didn’t kick out in time, and is now claiming it should be hers. It’s not an amazing story, but it’s fine.
I think Paxley should have a decent title reign with the NXT Women’s NA Title since her title reign with the NXT Women’s Title was so short in the past. I also like Blake a lot, so if she wins, then that would be cool with me. I think long-term it makes more sense to have Blake win the NXT Women’s Title instead, so for this match, I believe Paxley will win.
Winner: Tatum Paxley
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NXT Tag Team Championships: The Vanity Project – Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes (c) vs. Los Americanos – Rayo & Bravo
The Los Americanos guys (Rayo & Bravo aka Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) have been heels on the main roster for most of their run, but in NXT they work as babyfaces and the fans absolutely love them. I like The Vanity Project guys as a young heel trio, and when Baylor & Smokes team up, they certainly know how to get heat as well. I think this should be a fun match that could be one of the better matches of the show if they get the time.
It’s still early in TVP’s title reign, and Los Americanos are on the main roster, so I don’t think Los Americanos should win the titles in this match. Each team could have an ally on the floor with Jackson Drake supporting TVP and El Grande Americano supporting Rayo & Bravo, which could lead to some chaos outside the ring. I think Baylor & Smokes will win by cheating.
Winners: The Vanity Project – Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes
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NXT North American Championship: Myles Borne (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
This is a babyface match between the young, newer champion Borne against the NXT legend Johnny Gargano, who lucked into the title match doing his sad gimmick. I assume we’ll get the best of Gargano since he said as much on NXT TV this past week. That means the match quality should be very good, even though there’s not much of a story.
If Johnny Gargano wins, it wouldn’t surprise me that much because I think he could have some great matches with a lot of different people in NXT. Also, Gargano wouldn’t need to have a long title reign. However, I think it makes more sense to have Gargano put over Borne, who is a star on the rise and a future main eventer on the NXT brand. This should be a Borne win with Gargano shaking his hand after the match to put over Borne as a future star.
Winner: Myles Borne
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Sol Ruca vs. Zaria
I think in terms of stories, this one is probably the best on this show since they have been allies for about two years, or nearly that long. After Zaria turned heel on Ruca recently, the fans in NXT actually supported Zaria more than Ruca during their promo exchange. Those reactions were very telling because Zaria was a good friend to Ruca, who got several more title opportunities, and Ruca supported Ruca the whole way, while Ruca didn’t seem as supportive. I’m not saying they should double turn them with Ruca as the heel, but I think fans sympathize with Zaria because she has been underused in some ways during her NXT run.
Zaria is going to be my pick in this match because I think out of everybody on the NXT brand right now, the one male or female wrestler that I think will be called up to the main roster after WrestleMania is Sol Ruca. There are other candidates to be called up too, but I think Sol going to the main roster post-WM makes a lot of sense. If that is the plan – and I think it is – then I believe Zaria should beat Ruca in this match. I think we’ll see Zaria as NXT Women’s or NXT NA Women’s Champion later this year. It should be pretty good and likely mean a lot to both women since they are legit good friends.
Winner: Zaria
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NXT Women’s Championship: Jacy Jayne (c) vs. Kendal Grey vs. Lola Vice
The Kendal Grey-Lola Vice match on NXT TV this past Tuesday was a great main event that ended in a draw after two referees saw different things. That was done to set up the triple threat match at S&D, which makes sense to me. I’m so impressed by Grey as somebody in her early 20s with only a couple of years of experience in WWE, and she’s so good already. A natural. Vice has improved so much in the last three years and can hold her own as well. Jacy Jayne does an excellent job in her role as a 2-time NXT Women’s Champion who knows how to get heat.
I expect this to be a great match, possibly one of the better ones on the show. It wouldn’t bother me if it were the main event, though story-wise I can see why it’s not. If they had a few weeks of promos to build it up, then it would have helped. That doesn’t matter that much, though, because I think they’re going to deliver a memorable match here.
A title change seems very likely here. The question is, do you go with Vice, who is more of a veteran in NXT and has never won a singles title, or do you go with Grey, who is younger and more of a phenom? I’m going with Kendal Grey to get the win. That’s nothing against Lola Vice. It’s just my belief that Kendal Grey is the future, and I would put her over in this match right here. I think Grey should have a long title reign this year, too. Could Jayne retain? Sure, I guess so, but I think it makes sense to do a title change, and I think it will happen.
Winner AND NEW NXT Women’s Champion: Kendal Grey
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NXT Championship: Joe Hendry (c) vs. Ethan Page vs. Ricky Saints vs. Tony D’Angelo
It was obvious they were going to do a 4-way match here, going back a few weeks ago, when there were so many guys doing promos about wanting Joe Hendry’s NXT Title. Saints and Page are former champions, while Tony D has been in NXT for over four years. Tony has held the North American Title, and now Tony is going after the NXT Title for the first time in his career.
A 4-way match allows weapons, so perhaps it will have a different feel from everything else on the show. The Women’s 3-way match could have weapons as well, but I think it’s more likely for this match to have weapons being used. They should break some tables, use some chairs, and other weapons, because when you have four guys involved, it’s a lot easier to have a brawling type of match.
When it comes to Page and Saints, I think either of them could be going to the main roster after WrestleMania. They are both clearly ready for it, so I don’t see either of them winning the title.
I’m going to pick Joe Hendry to retain the title, but I think Tony D will win it later in the year, maybe by the summer. I think if they get 15-20 minutes and they use some weapons in the match, then it might be the best match on the show. I look forward to it.
Winner: Joe Hendry
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BONUS TOPICS FOR WWE NXT STAND & DELIVER
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
The NXT Championship and NXT Women’s Championship equally.
The Match I Care About The Least
The Vanity Project vs. Los Americanos.
Longest Match
Joe Hendry vs. Ethan Page vs. Ricky Saints vs. Tony D’Angelo around 17 minutes.
Shortest Match
Tatum Paxley vs. Blake Monroe for about 10 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
It’s a 7.5 out of 10. The match quality should be strong throughout the show. I don’t know if there’s a single match that will be over four stars or something like that, but a lot of them will be over three stars (meaning very good), and I think there will be some memorable moments along the way. A few title changes are possible as well. I like the NXT brand right now. I wouldn’t say it is at its absolute peak, but I like the roster, and most NXT PLE’s are entertaining.
I’ll be back with a review of the WWE NXT Stand & Deliver on TJRWrestling.net on Saturday. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading.