Axiom Won a Battle Royal to Qualify for the NXT North American Championship Fatal 5-Way Match at Stand & DeliverThis was every Battle Royal you've ever seen, and if you've been paying attention to Axiom's interactions with Wes Lee backstage, you knew he was winning this thing. They told a few stories, but this wasn't anything out of the ordinary otherwise. I did like that it came down to Axiom and Nathan Frazer given their history from the fall. I'd love to see Frazer get more of a push coming out of Stand & Deliver now that he's returned from injury. Tyler Bate def. Von WagnerIt's disappointing that Bate isn't doing anything more important at the moment than feuding with Schism, but at least he's on the Stand & Deliver card as part of that eight-person tag team match alongside Chase U. Meanwhile, Wagner continues to lose. Perhaps the plan is to turn him babyface, but I can't bring myself to care about him either way. This didn't get a ton of time, but it was a nice little match while it lasted. Elektra Lopez def. Valentina FerozThis hasn't been the most interesting story in the women's division, but it's been well done and I appreciate that they have a story at all. I think there's more to come from them considering the heel won here, as Feroz giving Lopez her comeuppance by beating her should be the endgame. This was way too brief to really be anything, but keeping it short and sweet may have been for the best given their inexperience. Eddy Thorpe def. Myles BorneThorpe is the former Karl Fredricks from New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He signed with WWE a few months ago and has been racking up wins as of late on Level Up. I didn't follow his NJPW run at all, but I've been impressed by what I've seen from him and I thought he had a solid debut here. We'll see how he holds up character-wise, but he can clearly go in the ring. I'm surprised this wasn't saved until after Stand & Deliver because I fear this will be forgotten about by next week. Indi Hartwell def. Ivy Nile and Sol Ruca in a Last Chance Triple Threat Match to Qualify for the NXT Women's Championship Ladder Match at Stand & DeliverAll three women are babyfaces, so crowd didn't have an incentive to cheer for any one of them over the others. That said, I was personally pulling for Hartwell because she's earned the spot at Stand & Deliver (despite her recent losing streak) and will be a better fit in that Ladder match over Nile and Ruca. Yes, Ruca in a Ladder match sounds like it could be crazy, but she should be a bit more seasoned first. This was decent, but they didn't have much time to do anything. The finishing sequence was cool, though. Drew Gulak def. Hank WalkerWalker is certainly making progress, but he's just not interesting to warrant getting so much television time. Hopefully now that he's been beaten by both Gulak and Charlie Dempsey, he can go back to being on Level Up and gaining experience there. Gulak and Dempsey have gotten the better of him almost every time and thus this should be it for the feud. This was well wrestled, as you could only expect from a Drew Gulak match. Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo def. Josh Briggs and Brooks JensenD'Angelo and Lorenzo are already set for the NXT Tag Team Championship match at Stand & Deliver, but if Briggs and Jensen were able to beat them, then they would have been added as well. The crap with Briggs, Jensen, Fallon Henley and Kiana James has not been my cup of tea whatsoever, so I'm glad they're keeping it to a Triple Threat with Gallus, The Creed Brothers, and D'Angelo and Lorenzo. The fact this lasted long than most matches on this show was unnecessary, but it was adequate. Johnny Gargano and Grayson Waller BrawledWaller had the stipulation put in place that he wouldn't agree to face Gargano at Stand & Deliver if Gargano entered the building, though Gargano disguised himself as a cameraman and attacked him, anyway (yes, the match is still on). It was the usual quality mic work from Waller building up their Unsanctioned matchup and the brawl was an effective way to close out the episode. They've done an excellent job of making the bad blood between them feel personal and generating interest in the blow-off to their rivalry. Overall ShowNXT tends to have pretty strong go-home shows for their live specials. This didn't leave me any more excited for Stand & Deliver than I was previously, but the effort was there and the key matches sell themselves. There were several significant matches that had stakes pertaining to Stand & Deliver, but I thought the best parts of the episodes were the Waller-Gargano brawl and the Prime Target video package for Bron Breakker vs. Carmelo Hayes.
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