 NXT Women's Champion Stephanie Vaquer Agreed to Relinquish the NXT Women's North American Championship; Jordynne Grace and Jaida Parker BrawledI hate the decision to take the Women's North American title off Vaquer so quicky. I thought it was cool she defended both belts on last week's episode because WWE doesn't do that sort of thing often, but they're going the expected Keith Lee route instead. Worse yet, they're doing yet another six-way Ladder match to determine the new champion. They did that exact matchup to crown the inaugural champ at Battleground last June. The rest of this segment was solid with Grace and Parker furthering their feud, but we know it'll be Vaquer vs. Grace at Stand & Deliver. Zaida def. Lash Legend to Qualify for the NXT Women's North American Championship Ladder Match at Stand & DeliverAlthough I've enjoyed her team with Sol Ruca, it was refreshing to see Zaria showcased in singles competition for a change. She and Ruca have been feuding with The Meta-Four as of late anyway, so this qualifier made sense. They worked well together and had a quality contest. Legend continues to improve. By the way, weren't The Meta-Four considered to be part of the main roster months ago? What happened with that? No Quarter Catch Crew (Myles Borne and Charlie Dempsey) def. Tank Ledger and Hank WalkerOutside of Nathan Frazer and Axiom, the NXT tag team division is really struggling right now. There were a fair number of teams, but very few of them are actually interesting. For example, No Quarter Catch Crew had a hell of a showing when they challenged for the NXT Tag Team Championship at Heatwave last summer, but they've done nothing of note since then. This was a nice little sprint from these teams, but we'll see what it actually accomplishes in the long run. Darkstate Attacked NXT Champion Oba Femi, Trick Williams and Je'Von EvansThe talking segment that preceded the beatdown was good and established that it will indeed be in a Triple Threat for the NXT Championship at Stand & Deliver. I like how they've gone in the direction of teasing that Williams is turning into what Carmelo Hayes was when he betrayed Williams a year ago. All three guys are playing their roles well, and it's probably more interesting than it would have been with just Femi and Williams. The Darkstate attack was more of the same, but the fact they laid out Williams should rule him out as the leader (which seemed to be what they were strongly suggesting). Kelani Jordan def. Roxanne Perez to Qualify for the NXT Women's North American Championship Ladder Match at Stand & DeliverI'm always shocked to see Perez whenever she pops up on NXT TV at this point. Seriously, what the hell is she still doing there? She was appearing fairly regularly on the main roster between the beginning of the year and Elimination Chamber, but she's been absent from all three brands recently with no sense of direction. I appreciate that she's putting over the newer talent on her way out and this was a fun match, but it'd be a bummer if Perez had to miss WrestleMania weekend this year (and it looks like she will). Ricky Starks def. Shawn Spears to Win the NXT North American ChampionshipNo, you aren't reading an AEW Rampage review. This was indeed the main event of NXT, and I'm not saying that as a bad thing. In fact, they ended up having a great match with an exciting final stretch. I thought for sure Ethan Page would interfere to set up a Triple Threat for Stand & Deliver, so Starks winning the title instead was a pleasant surprise. WWE hasn't wasted any time with him and it's awesome to see. Page attacking Starks afterward indicates that will be the Stand & Deliver matchup, unless Spears finds his way in there somehow. Overall ShowWe got a much better idea this week of what the Stand & Deliver card is going to consist of: an NXT Women's North American Championship Ladder match, an NXT Championship Triple Threat, Starks vs. Page for the NXT North American Championship, and most likely Vaquer vs. Grace for the NXT Women's Championship. There's more work to be done, but we're on the right path. This felt like a focused episode with some entertaining action and a big title change to close it out.
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