Pre-Show

Toni Storm vs. Zoey Stark

Zoey Stark has been nothing but impressive since her NXT debut about one month ago, and the fans in the Capitol Wrestling Center are showing her a lot of love. 

Stark doesn’t do anything overly flashy or visually spectacular, but she just has a way of connecting with the NXT Universe based mainly on her facials and body language. 

Storm played up all of the classic tactics, hair-pulling, strikes to the head, and plenty of submission maneuvers.

Highlight: Storm headed up to the top turnbuckle, but Stark cut her off with a gamenguiri, followed up with a huge superplex.

Stark hit a series of big kicks but was unable to put away Toni Storm.

Storm turned the tables with a series of German suplexes, but Stark was able to squeeze out a victory with a counter to Storm Zero followed by a small package.

Rating: 2.5/5

A hard-hitting, fun pre-show match that really excites me for the rest of this NXT Takeover card.

Main Show Open

Nina Strauss, a badass guitarist for Alice Cooper, kicked off the show with an electric guitar rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner, and we’re greeted by Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett and Beth Phoenix.

Kushida vs. Pete Dunne

This matchup is all about finding out who the best technical wrestler in NXT is.

Right away, Dunne is looking for various submission moves, but Kushida is able to wrestle his way out of every one of them. 

Highlight: Dunne is in early control, hitting Kushida with an X-Plex onto the apron, and following that up by looking to separate the shoulder of Kushida with an armor through the ropes.

At one point, these two superstars traded kimura locks, finger holds and head stomps. Dunne and Kushida are evenly matched.

Highlight: Kushida has Dunne in the Hoverboard Lock on the top turnbuckle and takes him over Spanish Fly-style, and nearly gets Dunne to tap.

Dunne proves to be the best technical wrestler in NXT, picking up the victory with the Bitter End.

Rating: 3.5/5

A very back-and-forth and competitive match between two of the most skilled superstars in all of WWE. If you’re a fan of technical wrestling, this match is a must-see.

NXT North American Championship Gauntlet Eliminator

We start the gauntlet eliminator with Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and Leon Ruff fighting their way down the ramp, with the physicality escalating far before the match even begins.

By the time the bell rings, the pace is high and action is all over the place.

Highlight: Ruff jumps off of the announce table and hits a twisting cutter on Scott onto the floor.

The next competitor to enter is Bronson Reed, who takes Scott and Ruff off of their feet with ease.

Reed uses his size to add a new dynamic in this match and throws his body around to show his power and dominance.

Cameron Grimes joins the match shortly after, quickly buying off Isaiah Scott as they team up on Ruff. And they really do him dirty.

Grimes throwing money around puts a smile on my face.

Dexter Lumis is the next to enter, as Leon Ruff is pinned by Swerve Scott.

Lumis clears the entire field, suplexing just about everyone.

The match’s pace is certainly picking up, with the number of superstars only growing.

LA Knight enters, with a mic in his hand, trash-talking the remaining superstars. Before he makes it into the ring, Reed assaults the final entrant and shuts him up.

Once Knight gets going, he uses his rare combination of strength and speed (for a shorter stature) to clean house, superplex Swerve Scott and eliminate Dexter Lumis.

Bronson Reed squishes Knight directly after, eliminating the final entrant. Reed, Scott and Grimes remain.

Highlight: A superkick from Grimes to Reed, a leaping flatliner from Scott to Grimes and Reed falling on Scott. Triple Down.

Scott eliminates Grimes with a handful of tights, reversing Grimes’ initial attempt to roll up Swerve. Scott and Bronson Reed remain.

Swerve hit House Call THREE TIMES, and Reed still kicked out. Reed picks up the win by hitting the Tsunami Splash.

Rating: 2.5/5

This match was…a lot. It was mostly good, don’t get me wrong, but there is such a thing as overkill. This is one of those matches that with six competitors, just did a little too much.

WALTER (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa - NXT UK Championship

The United Kingdom Champion, WALTER, has been on top for over 700 days. He is the longest-reigning champion in modern WWE history. But Ciampa is the Psycho Killer once again, and if anyone can beat The Ring General, it’s Ciampa.

Ciampa, wearing trunks for the first time since 2018, heads to the ring to defend his pride and his family. WALTER, without Imperium, heads down to the ring to continue his two-year reign.

The challenger came out firing, aggressively striking the champion while simultaneously avoiding the massive chops from the General. But once WALTER got his hands on Ciampa, the chops hit like a gunshot blast. Loud. Very loud. 

Ciampa fights back though, chopping back and leaving some serious welts on the chest of WALTER before being put down by a massive boot.

Highlight: WALTER remained on his feet after being hit with about 20 clotheslines, and Ciampa just kept throwing them. After eating a chop from WALTER, Ciampa popped back up and finally took WALTER off his feet.

Ciampa targeted the hand throughout this match, bending back the fingers and striking the hand directly.

These two are just chopping the hell out of each other, blood-blisters forming on both competitor’s chests.

After targeting the neck, with a pair of stomps, and a series of powerbombs, WALTER is finally able to put Tommaso Ciampa away.

Rating: 4.5/5

This match was absolutely sick. Violent, crisp, emotional and ultimately believable in everything these two brought to the table. This match just stole the show.

Grizzled Young Veterans vs. MSK vs. Legado del Fantasma - Vacant NXT Tag Team Championship

Triple threat rules apply with one wrestler from each team currently in the ring to start the match. This one is gonna be wild.

Zack Gibson and James Drake showcase their veteran team status in this one, showing their ability to cut off the ring even during a triple threat match.

MSK on the other hand are so quick and explosive. The charisma is palpable.

Highlight: Mendoza and Wilde hitting a double dive to take out the other two teams.

Tag team moves all around, high pace and smooth movements, it’s honestly too much to simply read about.

MSK picks up the victory over Grizzled Young Veterans in this non-stop matchup

Rating: 4/5

This match was so much fun. The pacing, the action, the timing and storytelling between these three teams may just be unmatched by anything we see this week from other tag team matches.

Io Shirai (c) vs. Raquel Gonzales - NXT Women’s Championship

This is the main event of Night One.

Raquel Gonzales heads to the ring, flanked with her associate Dakota Kai, for her very first singles match on a Takeover card. Possibly the biggest showcase opportunity of her career.

The size difference is apparent, as they face off before the match begins.

Hot start in this one, Shirai charging the gargantuan Gonzales. Shirai using her speed to mount her offense, doing some real damage to Gonzales’ midsection in the early-going.

Dakota Kai looks to get involved but is quickly caught by the official. Kai is ejected from ringside.

Highlight: Acai moonsault from Shirai to the outside, perfectly landing on Gonzales.

Gonzales is an absolute powerhouse, throwing Shirai around the ring with considerable ease.

Highlight: Shirai leaps OFF THE SET onto Raquel Gonzales, as the NXT Universe goes absolutely nuts.

Shirai is willing to do anything to defend her title against her chosen challenger.

Shirai hits the moonsault, but Gonzales kicks out of the Genius’ signature move.

Gonzales ends the lengthy title reign of Io Shirai, hitting an enormous one-armed powerbomb on Shirai to crown the new NXT Women’s Champion. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Despite being the technical heel in this match, I found myself routing for Gonzales. Her progress over the last year or so has really endeared her to me, as well as many in the NXT Universe. This match was really good, surprisingly hard-hitting, and will probably be the best women’s match in all of WrestleMania week.

Overall

Rating: 3.4/5

What an excellent night of competition on NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver Night One, I can only be enthusiastic about what Night Two has in store. And if this is any indicator of what we get this week, it’s a good sign for WWE’s future.