WWE NXT Review - April 7, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo, Joe Hendry, Ethan Page and Ricky Saints Interrupted Each Other and Brawled with DarkState

The crowd was happy for D'Angelo in his first appearance as NXT Champion, and it was definitely a cool moment for him at Stand & Deliver, but I'm curious what his character direction is going to be now that he's fulfilled his mission of exacting revenge on DarkState and winning the title. We didn't find that out here as we instead got him running it back with Hendry, Page and Saints in a revolving door of promos. The brawl with DarkState was lazy because we've seen this same formula with so many unwilling partners over the last year and it's never interesting.

Sol Ruca def. Izzi Dame

Despite Ruca defeating Zaria decisively at Stand & Deliver, I figured there was a chance their rivalry wasn't over yet, if only so they could do some sort of stipulation match. Sure enough, Zaria cost Ruca the win here to further their feud. The match itself was solid and gave Dame a rebound win after her recent losses to Tatum Paxley. We found out later on that Ruca and Zaria will have a Last Man Standing match in two weeks.

Keanu Carver def. Josh Briggs and Jasper Troy in a Triple Threat Match

This was good big man action with all three guys getting some time to shine. Granted, this didn't last very long (similar to Carver vs. Troy on last week's episode), but it accomplished what it needed to as far as furthering Carver's momentum and giving him another notable victory. Briggs and Troy will likely continue to spin their wheels while Carver moves up the card.

Ethan Page, Ricky Saints, Joe Hendry and NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo def. DarkState (Saquon Shugars, Osiris Griffin, Cutler James and Dion Lennox)

I hate the formula of three or four guys who are feuding having a match with DarkSate, but what usually happens is that they can't coexist, have a falling out and lose. I was shocked that wasn't the case here, but then again, DarkState haven't had a lot of luck lately, so the finish made sense. Plus, Lennox got distracted by Myles Borne at the end, so that was part of why they lost. Page scoring the win for his team was enough to earn him a shot at the NXT Championship on next week's episode.

Lexis King def. Chazz "Starboy" Hall in a WWE Speed Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

I'm not familiar with Hall whatsoever, but per his pre-match vignette, he's from the west coast independent scene as well as the WWE ID program and Evolve. He did well in his NXT TV debut despite this being brief due to it being a Speed match. Birth Right still don't feel like a threat, and no, King potentially winning the WWE Speed Championship won't do anything to change that.

Blake Monroe and Jackson Drake def. NXT Women's North American Champion Tatum Paxley and Shiloh Hill

The Vanity Project presented Monroe with a custom NXT Women's North American Championship belt, so with the Monroe vs. Paxley program not over yet, it feels like we're headed for a Ladder match where both belts will be hanging in the balance. Nonetheless, this was a quality contest and I appreciated the energy from everyone involved. Paxley and Hill have great chemistry together along with Monroe and Drake.

NXT Women's Champion and AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion Lola Vice Attacked Fatal Influence

Vice has come a long way as a talker since her terrible segment with Roxanne Perez a few years ago. She cut a nice promo here celebrating her championship win, even though it felt slightly scripted. Her interaction with Fatal Influence was designed to set up her defending against Jacy Jane next week. I assume that it will be it for Jane (and possibly Fatal Influence as a whole) in NXT, but time will tell.

Overall Show

Stand & Deliver happening two weeks before WrestleMania weekend puts NXT in a position to wrap up any existing storylines for stars that are main roster bound, so the next two weeks of the Revenge "specials" should give us a better idea of who's leaving and who's staying (for now). This edition of NXT successfully followed up on Stand & Deliver and wasted no time in building toward Revenge next week.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews