WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver: Night 2 Review - April 8, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Killian Dain and Drake Maverick def. Breezango in an NXT Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Match

I've said this before, but the fact Breezango hasn't either turned heel or broken up yet is beyond me. They're both talented in the ring, but their act ran its course a while ago. That said, I got a kick out of Breezango dressing up as pirates because of the theme of the show. This was a fun little match with the right team going over, setting up MSK vs. Dain and Maverick for the NXT Tag Team Championship on NXT's Tuesday night premiere.

Santos Escobar def. Jordan Devlin in a Ladder Match to Become the Undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion

I'd been looking forward to this match for a long, long time. Giving it a Ladder stipulation was a nice touch and it made for an exciting opener. I routinely complain about how overdone Ladder matches are in NXT (and they definitely are), but this managed to feel special and live up to the hype. These two busted their asses and produced a number of memorable spots. Escobar winning surprised me because I figured it was on to bigger and better things for him, but NXT likely wanted the belt back on their show with it not being known when Devlin can return full-time.

NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart def. The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell)

These two teams have already had two other matches against each other, both won by Blackheart and Moon, and although they were quality matches, they weren't amazing enough that they left me begging for another encounter. However, I understand NXT doesn't have a ton of female teams, so they were almost forced to run this back. That's why it was dumb to introduce tag titles for the women of NXT in the first place. Just use the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, which are treated terribly on the main roster, anyway. Don't get me wrong, this was a well-wrestled affair, but it was easily the weakest match on the show to me as it could have easily happened on any average episode of NXT TV.

NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano def. Bronson Reed

Gargano always ascends to that next level for his TakeOver matches, but I didn't get that sense here, likely because the feud is just getting started and there might be more to come. Although this wasn't his best bout, it was still a solid match with good work from both men. I'm a big fan of Reed and his potential, so just to see him get this opportunity to shine was cool. It didn't stand out as much as it should have in my opinion, but there wasn't anything technically wrong with it, either. Rather, most of the other matches on this two-night TakeOver event were just that much better.

Karrion Kross def. Finn Balor to Win the NXT Championship

I've liked a lot of Kross' work since his arrival in NXT, but I agree with the masses that he hadn't had that definitive match until now. I don't know if it's a case of him holding back or not having great chemistry with his other opponents (or a bit of both), but he and Balor had a terrific match that was perfectly paced. They really brought the fight to each other and it made for a highly entertaining encounter. Kross never had a real run with the NXT Championship due to getting injured in the same match he won it in, so him getting the back belt here (and remaining undefeated) was the correct outcome.

Kyle O'Reilly def. Adam Cole in an Unsanctioned Match

I've seen a lot of criticism over this being as long as it was. With nothing at stake, I'll say the same in that I don't know if this being roughly 40 minutes was necessary. It didn't bother me as much as it did other people as I found the time to fly by, but not even the Unsanctioned match between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa from TakeOver: New Orleans three years ago was that long. Otherwise, this was a awesome main event that excelled in storytelling. They pulled everything out of their arsenals and made it feel like a true fight between former friends. The drama was there and the action was exceptional to boot. O'Reilly winning decisively would seem to suggest that the feud is over, but I wouldn't be shocked if NXT goes back to this soon much like they did with Gargano and Ciampa in 2018. Personally, I'd move Cole to the main roster because he's done all that he can do in NXT (though I realize that's a risk with how inconsistent the booking is with call-ups on Raw and SmackDown).

Overall Show

In retrospect, NXT making TakeOver two nights this WrestleMania weekend was a smart call with the amount of matches they squeezed onto the card. Okay, so the Gauntlet Eliminator wasn't entirely necessary and the NXT Women's Tag Team match could have easily been cut, but the rest of the matches were worthwhile and definitely TakeOver-worthy. We can argue all day long about which night was better, but both were a blast and it was an excellent event on the whole. Having more fans in the building was an added bonus and I can't wait until NXT gets to be back in front of full capacity crowds because it's a huge factor when it comes to making these TakeOver events even more special.