NXT’s main event picture is wrestling’s foremost spotlight of Black talent amongst current discourse as NXT Champion Oba Femi defends against Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans at Stand & Deliver. On the road to WrestleMania 41 weekend, four assailants in Darkstate have run roughshod, and members Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin and Saquon Shugars add to the notion of Black excellence. Cutler James tags along too as Darkstate debuts in tonight’s main event.
Jordynne Grace vs Jaida Parker
NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer opens the show by telling Kelly Kincaid she’ll have her opponent picked for Stand & Deliver after this match. The competitors brawl while Vic Joseph struggles to converse with Vaquer on commentary, and Parker connects with a hip drop before break. Grace comes back with powerful slams but trips up on the ropes in a suicide dive attempt. Parker recovers by slapping Vaquer, who inadvertently slaps Grace leading to a disqualification. In comes Giulia, returning from an apparent injury, clearing the ring and driving her now former friend into the mat. She holds up the NXT Women’s Championship, which she maybe shouldn’t have dropped for a three-week rest period.
Winner: N/A
A package highlights Ricky Saints’ North American Championship win last week and subsequent attack from Ethan Page. An unfazed Shawn Spears says the title was only a vessel, and his focus is directed towards the success of The Culling.
Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs Swipe Right
WWE Evolve’s Swipe Right meet Hank Walker and Tank Ledger backstage, telling them to watch and take notes. The newcomers start hot but Fraxiom’s signature speed is unmatched, hitting consecutive dives on opposite ends. Swipe Right stays fresh with quick tags until Frazer makes a lightning comeback, Axiom hits a Spanish Fly, and the former hits the Phoenix Splash for victory. Keeping up with Fraxiom is an impossible task, but Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes did that in an impressive debut.
Winners: Nathan Frazer and Axiom
Footage from earlier shows Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne arguing over who will compete in tonight’s qualifying match. Instead, rookie Jazmyn Nyx inserts herself in, looking for a spot in the Stand & Deliver ladder match.
Jazmyn Nyx vs Sol Ruca – Qualifying Match
Tonight’s winner joins Kehlani Jordan and Zaria, who accompanies Ruca ringside. Ruca’s agility lends itself to unique offense and multiple springboards. Nyx scores briefly with the Nyx Kick, but the spectacular Sol Snatcher expectedly puts it away.
Winner: Sol Ruca
Je’Von Evans is interviewed backstage, telling Oba Femi and Trick Williams he was right about Darkstate. After, cameras catch Giulia in the parking lot: “Stand & Deliver. No friends. Rematch.”
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger vs The Culling
The Brooks Jensen singles run led right back to tag team action, where Walker and Ledger are seemingly the only contenders. They at least have infectious intensity, but Jensen avoids a Swanton attempt from Walker. Vance tags in and connects with a double-team finisher as Shawn Spears proudly watches the monitors.
Winners: The Culling
The new North American Champion Ricky Saints enters the ring to “Ricky Strokes” chants. He calls out Ethan Page and his “fragile little ego,” but Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King and Eddy Thorpe interrupt consecutively instead. Thorpe calls the title his birthright and King “another greedy white man,” but Wes Lee follows by accurately naming himself the lineage’s best. Page initiates a five-man brawl, and Lee stands tall with a dive onto the mass.
In Ava’s office, Stephanie Vaquer “wants all of them” at Stand & Deliver: Giulia, Jordynne Grace and Jaida Parker. WrestleMania 41 season loves its multi-man matches.
Trick Williams is interviewed backstage, listing his accomplishments in NXT like Carmelo Hayes would. “At Stand & Deliver, imma whoop both y’all asses,” he says towards Evans and Femi,
Wes Lee vs Yoshiki Inamura
Inamura catches Lee’s immediate dive attempt, symbolizing an interesting opposite of styles. In Inamura’s first NXT singles match, his hoss power and strikes are highlighted with an airplane slam in particular. Josh Briggs knocks an interfering Tyriek Igwe and Tyson Dupont off the ropes, inadvertently slipping Inamura and allowing Lee to capitalize with the finishing Kardiac Kick.
Winner: Wes Lee
NXT Champion Oba Femi vows to put down Darkstate tonight and defeat Williams and Evans at Stand & Deliver.
Izzi Dame vs Wren Sinclair – Qualifying Match
Sinclair, accompanied by No Quarter Catch Crew, has niche support from Orlando. Dame takes control with The Culling at ringside and Shawn Spears watching the monitors. She quells Sinclair’s comeback with a sit-out powerbomb but releases the pin on two, thinking it was three. The bell rings anyhow, and Dame heads to Stand & Deliver.
Winner: Izzi Dame
The losers of each qualifying match argue with Ava over the nonexistent last-chance match. The general manager insists she “can figure something out,” and Roxanne Perez says it better not be a tag team match. She’s real for that.
Uriah Connors and Kale Dixon beg Andre Chase for advice as Hank Walker and Tank Ledger continue searching for their own. WWE Tag Team Champions The Street Profits tell them to be themselves and inspire them with a number-one contenders gauntlet match next week to determine Fraxiom’s next challengers.
Another number-one contender match is set for next week: Eddy Thorpe versus Lexis King versus Wes Lee versus Ethan Page to determine Ricky Saints’ first challenger for the North American Championship.
Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams and Oba Femi vs Darkstate
The three competitors for the NXT Championship at Stand & Deliver interrupt each other’s entrances. Can they coexist? All four Darkstate members jump the opposition, but it’s Dion Lennox, Cutler James and Saquon Shugars in the match. Williams refuses to make a tag despite getting beaten down, particularly by the vibrant Shugars. Evans makes a bouncy comeback before break, but Osiris Griffin provides a distraction on the outside. Lennox capitalizes with a crisp spinebuster, and thereafter, Femi takes his turn at a comeback. He throws Shugars into Williams, purposely or not, and the two begin throwing fists. Meanwhile, Evans is left to himself, and a three-on-one slam from Darkstate lends them the victory in their in-ring debut.
Winners: Darkstate
Tony D’Angelo’s music plays, and “Stacks” appears on-screen. “How about next week in the parking lot?” he says. “You four are gonna learn that messing with The D’Angelo Family has severe consequences.”
