NXT has always been known for its big events, whether they're officially branded as Takeover or not, and WrestleMania weekend provided the brand the chance to showcase its qualities. That's exactly what the upcoming stars of tomorrow did as they put together a brilliant event to kickstart WrestleMania Saturday.
There was a great blend of different matches on this card, and there was certainly something for everyone with the brilliant storylines that had been built up for this event. Every wrestler was clearly trying to steal the show, and that led to some fantastic matches taking place to wow the audience and leave everyone talking about them after Stand & Deliver was all said and done.
7 Gallus (c) vs. The Creed Brothers vs. Tony D'Angelo & Stacks (NXT Tag Team Championship Match)
This match was all about Joe Coffey making his return to WWE and ultimately being the difference-maker in helping Gallus retain their NXT Tag Team Titles. It was a good finish that gives people something to talk about, but the crowd wasn't as engaged in this one as they were in other encounters on this show.
Everyone worked hard here and Stacks in particular got a lot of time to shine with the energy that he brought, while The Creed Brothers were able to hit several big power moves. This match lacked some big believable near falls to truly build it up, and that would have taken it to the next level.
6 Fallon Henley & Kiana James (c) vs. Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre (NXT Women's Tag Team Championship Match)
This one was a fairly standard tag team match, but with fewer teams involved than the men's match, it was able to be slightly more focused at points. The in-ring action was great, which is to be expected as all four of them are talented workers, and the tension between the champions was something that was at play throughout this one.
That was clear at the end when Kiana James was willing to cheat to get the win, but Josh Briggs didn't allow it to happen. That set up the finish for new champions to be crowned, which was a smart ending to a good encounter.
5 Chase U & Tyler Bate vs. Schism
This match might have been tucked away on the pre-show, but all eight wrestlers ensured that it was a memorable one. Everyone got time to shine in this one, and while Ava Raine did look a little nervous at points, that didn't stop this from being a great match. Schism took control early on, and the tension of them trying to recruit Duke Hudson was the big story.
They managed to beat everyone down to the point where Hudson even ended up with a Schism shirt on, but he was ultimately just playing them as he turned and helped Chase U pick up the win. It was an effective story and it's something that audiences bought into.
4 NXT Women's Championship Ladder Match
This was the match that kicked off the main card and every woman involved did a great job of pushing themselves to their limits here. Certain moments were slightly sloppy, but there were also some huge bumps, with Tiffany Stratton taking a huge one to the outside toward the end.
Each competitor got their time to shine here, with Jacy Jane costing her former tag team partner, while Dexter Lumis turned up to reunite with Indi Hartwell to help her win. There were a lot of moments with only two women actively working, but that's expected for this type of bout and it didn't hurt the encounter at all.
3 Bron Breakker (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes (NXT Championship Match)
This big main event match was heavily promoted and the two men went all out to make sure it lived up to the billing. While it wasn't the greatest encounter of the night it was certainly a solid encounter and the fact that their styles are so different helped to enhance that.
Bron Breakker brought the power while Carmelo Hayes had more of a technical, high-flying style, and with Trick Williams outside the ring, the challenger was able to push Breakker. Hayes had to pull out all the stops, and that's exactly what he did to claim the gold.
2 Johnny Gargano vs. Grayson Waller (Unsanctioned Match)
Grayson Waller and Johnny Gargano had an excellent match that was filled with emotion as they truly pushed the idea that they hated each other. Having Candice LeRae and Gargano's child at ringside added to that as they had to watch Waller brutally beat him down until LeRae got involved herself.
There were some excellent near falls and several truly unique and clever spots to build this encounter. Sometimes these stipulation encounters don't work out because they're not believable, but that wasn't the case here, especially since they used such an array of weapons to be as physical as possible.
1 Wes Lee (c) vs. Dragon Lee vs. Axiom vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh (North American Championship Match)
This was a case of five men heading out with only one purpose, and that was to steal the show. They put on a breathtaking match that was filled with crazy spots and great callbacks to old rivalries while everyone was able to showcase themselves. Something was happening at all points in this one, and to their credit, it was always involving multiple people.
It wasn't the case of two people wrestling and everyone else laying low, they came up with creative spots to keep everyone involved. It was hard to predict who was going to win and what would happen next, and that frantic energy helped to make this one incredibly exciting.
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