WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver: Night 1 Review - April 7, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Zoey Stark def. Toni Storm

I'm still waiting for more character development from Stark, but at least she's made the most of every in-ring opportunity she's had so far, having good to great matches with pretty much everyone she's wrestled since coming to NXT a few months ago. This was another quality contest from her and having Storm as a dance partner obviously helped. Kudos to Stark for picking up her first big win in NXT, but Storm losing so soon after failing to become NXT Women's Champion (twice) is certainly questionable.

Pete Dunne def. Kushida

For the record, I'm not a fan of Dunne's new entrance theme. It isn't terrible, but there was no reason to change his original music. Nonetheless, this was the perfect choice for the opener, especially since didn't have much storyline support behind it and was added to the card at the last minute. Both of these guys are great and brought the best out of each out here. Dunne is likely headed to either the NXT Championship picture or the NXT North American Championship picture soon, so him winning made sense.

Bronson Reed def. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Leon Ruff, Cameron Grimes, Dexter Lumis and LA Knight in an NXT North American Championship No. 1 Contender's Gauntlet Eliminator

The rules of this confused me because I thought someone would come out only after someone else had been eliminated. You know, like a normal Gauntlet match. Instead, entrants came out at certain intervals like it was a Royal Rumble. Other than the odd layout, this was fun. I figured Knight and Lumis would last longer than he did (why is Lumis' recent win over Johnny Gargano on TV being forgotten about?), but the final stretch with Reed and Scott was a blast. This sets up Gargano vs. Reed for Night 2.

NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER def. Tommaso Ciampa

I don't think anyone actually thought Ciampa would win the NXT UK Championship (especially since WALTER is defending the title against Rampage Brown on Thursday's NXT UK Prelude show), but damn, this was extremely entertaining and a hell of a hard-hitting affair at that. They beat the crap out of each other and had the crowd hooked on everything they did. WALTER always brings a big fight feel to his matches and this was no exception. Credit to Ciampa for having an excellent performance as well, channeling a part of himself we haven't seen in a few years. Hopefully it isn't long before we see WALTER in NXT again.

MSK def. Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde) in a Triple Threat Match to Win the Vacant NXT Tag Team Championship 

I like all three of these teams and any one of them could have realistically won. Personally, I was pulling for a Grizzled Young Veterans victory because they lost in the finals of the men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic for the second straight year back in February, but MSK are getting the big push at the moment and it's cool that NXT is going all in with them (given IMPACT never did). As expected, this was a terrific Triple Threat with a chaotic pace. NXT's tag team division was a sore spot for them for a long time, but it finally feels like it's gotten back on track with a ton of tandems in the mix.

Raquel Gonzalez def. Io Shirai to Win the NXT Women's Championship

Shirai probably could have gotten a quality match out of a green Gonzalez a year ago, but with how far Gonzalez has come since aligning with Dakota Kai, I can't say I'm surprised this was such a strong main event. The dynamic was wonderful with Shirai having to fight from underneath for most of the match and giving Gonzalez all she had, only for Gonzalez to win in dominant fashion, anyway. It put Gonzalez over like a million bucks and felt like a fitting end to Shirai's lengthy reign. I'm sure a move to the main roster is inevitable for Shirai, but it will be interesting to see how soon it happens.

Overall Show

Night 2 is going to have a tough time topping this show, which was absolutely superb. Then again, Night 2 is going to feature even bigger matches, so I'm sure it'll have no problem being equally enjoyable. It would have been easy for NXT to put Kyle O'Reilly vs. Adam Cole in the main event of Night 1 with Finn Balor vs. Karrion Kross headlining Night 2, but I'm glad they went with Shirai vs. Gonzalez in that spot on this show instead and they definitely delivered. The rest of the card was top-notch and it was a killer night of action from start to finish.