NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver

TakeOver was a series of professional wrestling shows that began in May 2014, as WWE's NXT brand held their second WWE Network-exclusive event, billed as TakeOver.[1] In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of their NXT live specials. While originally exclusive to the WWE Network, NXT TakeOver events also became available on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) beginning with TakeOver 31 in October 2020.[2]

Announced during the March 10, 2021, episode of NXT, Stand & Deliver was scheduled as the 34th NXT TakeOver event. It was also the only two-night TakeOver, airing on April 7 and 8, 2021, subsequently being the only TakeOver to be held on a Wednesday and Thursday night.[3] Both nights aired on the WWE Network, making it the first WWE in-ring event to air on Peacock's WWE Network channel in the United States after the shutdown of the standalone version of the American WWE Network on April 4.[4] The first night was also simulcasted in NXT's normal timeslot on the USA Network, making it the only TakeOver to air on USA and on cable television.[5] This was also the final NXT event to air in the Wednesday night timeslot, as NXT began airing on Tuesdays on April 13.[6][7] The second night aired on traditional PPV in addition to the livestreaming platforms.[8] Guitarist Nita Strauss performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" on Night 1,[9] while musician Poppy performed her song "Say Cheese" on Night 2.[10]

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March 2020, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set. NXT's programming was initially held at NXT's home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. In October 2020, NXT's events were moved to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, featuring the "Capitol Wrestling Center" setup, an homage to the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the predecessor to WWE. Like the WWE ThunderDome utilized for Raw and SmackDown's programming, LED boards were placed around the Performance Center so that fans could attend virtually, while additionally, friends and family members of the wrestlers were in attendance, along with a limited number of actual live fans, divided from each other by plexiglass walls.[11][12]

For TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, seating capacity was increased at the Capitol Wrestling Center, with extra rows of seats being added, and the plexiglass dividers being removed. Fans, however, were still required to wear masks, and were given free COVID tests prior to entering, with a negative test needed to enter.[13]

The card comprised a total of 12 matches evenly divided between the two nights, which included one pre-show match each night. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT.[14][15]

At TakeOver XXX on August 22, 2020, Karrion Kross won the NXT Championship;[16] however, during the match, he suffered a legitimate shoulder injury,[17] requiring him to relinquish the title.[18] Finn Bálor then won the vacant championship at Super Tuesday II on September 8.[19] Kross then made his return from injury in December.[20] Following Bálor's title defense on the March 10, 2021, episode of NXT, he was finally confronted by Kross over the championship.[5] Bálor was subsequently scheduled to defend the NXT Championship against Kross at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, which was scheduled as the main event of Night 2.[21]

At TakeOver: Vengeance Day, after Finn Bálor's NXT Championship defense against Pete Dunne, he was attacked by Dunne, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong) came to Bálor's aid to fend off Dunne, Burch, and Lorcan. Bálor and The Undisputed Era then stood together until Cole delivered a superkick to Bálor. O'Reilly then began to question Cole and Cole also superkicked O'Reilly.[22] This ultimately led to The Undisputed Era disbanding, with Cole and O'Reilly feuding due to Cole wanting the NXT Championship which O'Reilly had also been contending for. On the March 24 episode of NXT, an unsanctioned match between Cole and O'Reilly was scheduled for TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2.[23]

At TakeOver: WarGames in December 2020, Raquel González's team defeated NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai's team in a WarGames match, with González pinning Shirai.[24] Over the coming weeks, González continued to set her sights on the title and on the March 10, 2021, episode of NXT, González and her partner, Dakota Kai, were confronted by Shirai, who challenged González to a match.[5] The following week, after Kai won her match, Shirai appeared and walked past Kai to go face-to-face with González and challenge her to a match, while shoving a contract at her. Later that night, González accepted the challenge.[25] On March 20, the match was confirmed to take place in the main event of Night 1.[26]

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin was unable to travel to the United States. An interim champion was then crowned to serve as titleholder in the U.S. until Devlin could return. Santos Escobar became the interim champion, and over the course of the following year, Devlin defended the title on NXT UK (when shows resumed in September 2020) while Escobar defended the title on NXT. After the travel ban was lifted in March 2021, Devlin made his return to the U.S. on the March 17 episode of NXT and confronted Escobar over who the real champion was. Escobar then challenged Devlin to a match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver to determine the undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion.[25] The following week, the championship unification match was scheduled as a ladder match for Night 2.[23]

As a result of Danny Burch getting injured during his match on the March 17 episode of NXT, NXT General Manager William Regal vacated the NXT Tag Team Championship, which Burch had held with Oney Lorcan. On the March 24 episode, Regal scheduled a triple threat tag team match for the vacant championship for Night 1 of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver between MSK (Wes Lee and Nash Carter), Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson), and Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde).[23]

On the March 24 episode of NXT, a six-man Gauntlet Eliminator match was scheduled for TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 1 with the winner receiving an NXT North American Championship match against Johnny Gargano on Night 2.[23] The six participants for the gauntlet match were determined by a 12-man battle royal the following week. Leon Ruff, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes, Dexter Lumis, and LA Knight qualified for the Gauntlet Eliminator match, entering in that order.[27]

On the March 17 episode of NXT, after Tommaso Ciampa defeated Marcel Barthel (accompanied by Fabian Aichner), NXT UK Champion Walter appeared and, along with Imperium (Aichner and Barthel), laid out Ciampa.[25] The following week, after Walter won his match, Ciampa appeared and challenged Walter for the NXT UK Championship at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. Following this, Imperium laid out Ciampa, after which, Walter accepted the challenge and the match was scheduled for Night 1.[23]

On the March 10 episode of NXT, after Pete Dunne won his match, Dunne stated that he was the best technical wrestler in the world and dared anyone to try to prove him wrong.[5] During this time, Kushida began setting his sights on a match against Dunne. On the March 31 episode, Kushida was interviewed backstage, but was interrupted by Dunne, who told Kushida that the previous week, he called himself the best technical wrestler in NXT, and Dunne stated that he held that crown. Kushida then told Dunne something in Japanese, and later that night, a match between the two was made official for Night 1 of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.[5]

On the February 10 episode of NXT, Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart defeated The Way's Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell in a semifinals match of the inaugural women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.[28] The following week, Moon and Blackheart defeated LeRae and Hartwell in a rematch after Johnny Gargano brought out Austin Theory to the stage, causing LeRae to check on Theory.[29] On the March 10 episode, Moon and Blackheart won the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship.[5] Two weeks later, after Moon and Blackheart's successful title defense, they were confronted by Hartwell and LeRae backstage, with Hartwell and LeRae stating that the champions needed real competition.[23] On the March 31 episode, after LeRae and Hartwell won their match, they challenged Moon and Blackheart to a title match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, and the champions accepted. The match was subsequently scheduled for Night 2.[27]

On April 6, a match between Zoey Stark and Toni Storm was scheduled for the Night 1 Kickoff pre-show,[30] while on April 8, a match pitting Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) against Killian Dain and Drake Maverick to determine the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship was scheduled for the Night 2 Kickoff pre-show.[31]

The first match of the night took place at the Pre-Show and Zoey Stark started better in this match, having mastered the technical part and even started to increase the intensity, but Toni Storm with a little cheating to the mix reversed the course of the domain.

The Australian dominated for several minutes, but made the mistake of climbing to the third rope. Zoey Stark took advantage of it and with a Superplex she quickly balanced this strife. After an exchange of strikes, Zoey Stark gained a great momentum and almost won the match right there, but Toni Storm survived and she also had several near victories. In the end, Zoey Stark surprised Toni Storm and fans with a Small Package.

The opening match was Pete Dunne and Kushida. The match consisted of technical wrestling throughout the whole match. The match ended when Kushida threw forearms at Dunne, followed by Dunne repeatedly targeting Kushida's fingers, then performing a Roundhouse Kick followed by the Bitter End to win.

Next was the six-man elimination gauntlet match between LA Knight, Bronson Reed, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Cameron Grimes, Leon Ruff, and Dexter Lumis. Ruff was the first to be eliminated by Scott. Lumis was pinned next by LA Knight, rolling him up to pin Lumis. Afterwards Grimes, Scott, and Reed teamed to eliminate LA Knight. Grimes was next to be eliminated by Scott as well. Bronson kicked out of 3 consecutive House Calls. Scott was looking for the finish, but Reed performed a massive Powerbomb followed by an Alabama Driver. He executed his signature Tsunami Splash to pin Scott and win the match, heading to Night 2 of TakeOver Stand & Deliver to face Johnny Gargano for the NXT North American Championship.

Then, Walter defended his NXT UK Championship against Tommaso Ciampa. After a very back-and-forth matchup, Walter would eventually get the win over Ciampa with a devastating Knife Edge Chop.

This match started as expected, with Raquel González using her strength and Io Shirai using her agility, and it was the NXT female champion who came in best.

However, Dakota Kai tried to interfere and ended up taking the red card from the referee and was expelled from close to the ring. However, after a streak outside the ring, Raquel González's strength came to the fore and the powerful fighter turned the fight in her favor.

After a long dominance, Io Shirai used her outburst to turn the momentum into her favor and the two fighters ended up fighting outside the ring. The Genius of The Sky decided it was a good idea to climb onto the top of the skull near the top of the NXT stage and jumped onto Raquel González with a Crossbody.

Already in the ring, Io Shirai almost won with her Moonsault, but outside the ring, the powerful fighter hit her Powerbomb, taking the "Genius of The Sky" back into the ring, having finished the fight with another One-Handed Powerbomb.

The first match of the second night took place at the Pre-Show and Dain and Breeze started the match Maverick then tagged in and was then dominated by Breezeango. Maverick was then able to tag in Dain who cleaned house and hit both his opponents with simultaneous Samoan Drop and Fallaway Slam. Maverick then hit a Frankensteiner on Fandango. Dain powerbombed Maverick on top of Fandango to give Maverick the pinfall win and become the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championships.

The opening match was the ladder match for the unification of the NXT Cruiserweight and NXT Interim Cruiserweight Championships between Santos Escobar and Jordan Devlin. Late in the match, Escobar and Devlin battled on top of the ladder where Escobar gave a Headbutt to Devlin, sending him to another stack of ladders. Escobar then won by unhooking both the belts to become the unified Cruiserweight Champion.

Next was the second title match of the night with Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart defeating "The Way" Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell to retain their NXT Women's Tag Team Championships after Moon delivered a singular Eclipse to both LeRae and Hartwell followed by Blackheart hitting her signature falling Senton leading to her pinning Hartwell.

This was followed by Johnny Gargano defending his NXT North American Championship against Bronson Reed. Gargano won the match when Reed hit a Alabama Driver and attempted a Moonsault, but Gargano moved then hit One Final Beat twice to pin Reed.

The NXT Championship between the champion Finn Bálor and Karrion Kross started with initial test of strength. Bálor dominated most of the match, with Kross kicking out of Coup de Grâce. Bálor later gave Kross a double stomp and also locked in a modified Koji Clutch. However, Kross escaped the submission and then performed a Saito Suplex on Bálor followed by two Northern Forearms for the pinfall win to become the new NXT Champion.

The co-main event of the night and the unsanctioned match between Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly closed the night. The match was a wild brawl with both competitors hitting each other with several chairs and trying to injure their opponent. The match ended when O'Reilly performed a Diving Knee on Cole with a chain wrapped around the knee for the pinfall win.