NXT Stand & Deliver to showcase next generation of WWE stars
NXT Stand & Deliver has served as the perfect appetizer for pro wrestling fans who have been eager to watch WrestleMania.
The NXT brand features WWE’s next generation of young talent and over the last few years the rising stars have put on tremendous performances leading into the night.
On Saturday, Stand & Deliver will take place at 1 p.m. ET at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. There will be five matches with five titles on the line.
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The card itself showcases those who are ripe for WWE stardom. Last year’s premium live event featured Bron Breakker, Roxanne Perez, Lyra Valkyria, Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes.
Breakker will defend the Intercontinental Championship in a fatal four-way match at WrestleMania 41. Perez was the runner-up in the women’s Royal Rumble match in January. Valkyria is the women’s Intercontinental champion and will look to claim tag-team gold with Bayley at WrestleMania 41.
Hayes was called up to the SmackDown roster, challenging Cody Rhodes in his first match and is now in a tag team with The Miz. Dragunov made an epic impact in his first year on the main roster but suffered an injury that cost him a few months.
If any fan wonders who is next, Stand & Deliver is the best place to look.
Here is how the card shakes out. The event can be seen on Peacock
A four-way tag-team match will take place during the Stand & Deliver Countdown Show featuring Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, representing Meta-Four, Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade, Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne representing Fatal Influence and Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolan.
The winners of the match will become the No. 1 contenders for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. Those titles will be on the line at WrestleMania 41 when Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez take on Bayley and Lyra Valkyria.
It will be an epic way to get wrestling fans’ adrenaline pumping before the main card begins.
Stephanie Vaquer relinquished the NXT Women’s Championship weeks after she became the first double champion in NXT history. It set up what would become a ladder match for the vacant championship.
Zaria has been an underrated addition to NXT. She has mostly teamed up Sol Rucia but has made her presence felt in WWE’s developmental brand. Kelani Jordan was the first NXT women’s North American champion, winning a ladder match at NXT Battleground in June.
Sol Ruca may be the favorite going into the match. Ruca’s aerial assaults have captivated the WWE audience. Though injuries set her back in previous years, Ruca has been on a roll and might walk out of Las Vegas with some gold.
Izzi Dame’s status has risen in the weeks since she turned on the D’Angelo family and joined The Culling, headed by Shawn Spears. Dame now has a chance to win the first title of her WWE career.
Thea Hail and Lola Vice joined the rest of the fray on the final NXT before Stand & Deliver. Hail made her long-awaited return to the brand and topped Karmen Petrovic in a qualifying match. Vice, the winner of the 2023 NXT Breakout Tournament, defeated Tatum Paxley.
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The fatal four-way match for the NXT Women’s Championship will feature three of WWE’s boldest free-agent signings over the last year with Vaquer, Giulia and Jordynne Grace, while Jaida Parker is hungry to prove herself as the company’s home-grown star.
Vaquer won the title over Giulia at NXT Roadblock in March, cementing herself as one of the top stars on the brand. Grace has emerged as one of the top contenders for the title since she appeared at the Royal Rumble. The former TNA Knockouts champion officially joined WWE in January. She eliminated Parker in the Royal Rumble, jump-starting their road to Stand & Deliver.
Parker, a former LSU women’s soccer player, burst onto the NXT scene during the Women’s Breakout Tournament in 2023. Since then, she’s teamed with the OTM faction and has been in contention for the Women’s North American Championship. She nearly defeated Vaquer for the Women’s Championship in March and finds herself with a 25% chance to win on Saturday.
Giulia appeared in the crowd at last year’s Stand & Deliver before she even entered an NXT ring. She quickly announced herself as one of the top stars on the brand and held the NXT Women’s Championship before losing to Vaquer. She came back recently to attack Vaquer and staked her claim for the title she lost at Roadblock.
Nathan Frazier and Axiom have dominated the NXT tag-team scene since they won the belts at NXT No Mercy in September. They have defended it and won against almost anyone who has stepped into the ring with them, including WWE main roster talents like Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins and Grayson Waller and Austin Theory.
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger outlasted four other teams in a tag-team gauntlet to become the No. 1 contenders for the tag titles. They topped Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura, the No Quarter Catch Crew, The Culling and Tyriek Igwe and Tyson Dupont.
Ricky Saints has only been with NXT for a few weeks, but he’s put the brand on notice. The revolution was televised this month when he pinned Spears for the NXT North American Championship. Saints has yet to lose in singles or tag-team competition since he made his debut.
Ethan Page has been on a tear since he debuted in WWE and made his appearance on NXT last May. He quickly made an impression on the NXT roster and found himself winning the NXT Championship just 40 days after his debut. The reign, though, only lasted 86 days, and he's been trying to recapture that momentum ever since.
Saints vs. Page could be a show-stealing match as both competitors have some previous history with each other outside WWE. Page won a fatal four-way match on the final NXT show before Stand & Deliver to earn his spot against Saints.
The D’Angelo Family and DarkState finished the last NXT show before Stand & Deliver on an explosive note with a parking lot brawl. Now, they’ll get to have at it in a six-man tag-team match.
Tony D’Angelo, Channing "Staks" Lorenzo and Luca Crusifino will take on Dion Lennox, Cutler James and Saquon Shugars. Osiris Griffin could also be the third man representing DarkState in the match.
Any interaction between NXT stars and DarkState appears to get out of hand and the six-man tag match could be as explosive as the other encounters.
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A triple-threat match for the NXT Championship would be the perfect end to what is set up to be an intense Stand & Deliver.
Oba Femi has run roughshod through the men’s division on his way to winning the NXT Championship at New Year’s Evil in January. He has not lost a singles competition since then, only in tag matches. A gambling man might say Femi is the favorite to win the championship.
When it comes to veterans on the NXT brand, Trick Williams is that guy. He’s done everything anyone could ask for him to do on NXT. He’s a two-time NXT champion and an NXT North American champion. He won the Iron Survivor Challenge in 2023. Now, he’s looking to reclaim the main title in an epic triple-threat match.
Je’Von Evans is the newcomer of this group. Evans has the edge when it comes to bounce and high-flying assaults that neither Femi and Williams can compare to. The 20-year-old built some momentum after his win over Page at Roadblock and could now win his first title in NXT.
DarkState has also cast a shadow over the three competitors in recent weeks. Femi, Williams and Evans even teamed up to compete against James, Lennox and Shugars and lost. DarkState is certainly set to make their presence felt on Saturday. But will they have enough in them to take on the D'Angelo Family and interfere in this match? Only time will tell.
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