NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver - Night 2 Review

Pre-Show

Breezango vs Killian Dain & Drake Maverick

Night 2 of NXT’s big show kicks off with a number one contender’s match for the tag team titles. 

Killian Dain kicks off the match showing off his strength by easily tossing around both Breeze and Fandango.

Breezango takes control as they beat down Drake. Frequent tags made by both Breeze and Fandango. 

Drake Maverick finally makes the tag and Killian Dane shows off his athleticism and strength. 

Highlight: Killian Dane tosses both Breeze and Fandango at the same time over his head. Dane goes for the pin but the pin is broken up.

Highlight: Drake Maverick hits a beautiful hurricanrana from the top rope onto Fandango. 

Maverick was pumped after it and wanted a high-five from his partner, instead, he got power bombed onto Fandango. Maverick was power bombed perfectly onto Fandango for the ref to count the 1, 2, 3! Drake Maverick and Killian Dane are now officially the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Titles. The crowd loved it as Drake and Killian were treated as faces from the crowd.

Rating 2.5/5

Fun back and forth action that had good comedy elements to it. Not the best match of the night, but a good way to kick off an epic night!

Main Show

The show opens up with Poppy performing and rocking out the ThunderDome! 

NXT Cruiserweight Championship Ladder Match: Santos Escobar (c) vs Jordan Devlin (c) 

Both competitors look to start the match one-upping each other. Devlin takes control and shows his athleticism off early, hitting a moonsault onto Escobar on the outside.

The ladder comes into play for the first time with Escobar drop kicking it into Devlin.

Escobar goes climbing the ladder and Devlin tries pulling him down. Escobar then jumps down onto Devlin and starts aggressively stomping a mudhole in him.

Highlight: Devlin prevents Escobar from pulling him off the ladder by hitting him with a Diving Tornado DDT, coming down from the ladder!

A series of back and forth action takes place with the ladder taking the brunt of the impact.

Highlight: Jordan Devlin from the top of the ladder perfectly executes a Moonsault from the top of the ladder onto Escobar!

Devlin starts to climb and the other members of Legado Del Fantasma knock the ladder down and Devlin falls to the outside.

Escobar starts to climb the ladder but Devlin gets back up and hits him with another ladder.

Highlight: Devlin from the top of the ladder prevents Escobar from winning the match by hitting the Spanish Fly off the top of the ladder!

Highlight: Both men are on the top of the ladder again, Escobar finishes off Devlin with a headbutt that sends him off the ladder onto another ladder. 

Escobar takes his sweet time grabbing both Cruiserweight Titles.

Rating 3.5/5

Both superstars pulled out all the stops to give us an exciting back and forth ladder match. This wasn’t the greatest ladder match of all time, but lots of highlights to be happy about.

NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship: Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon (c) vs The Way

The Way instantly charge the champs once the bell rings, taking control right off the bat. 

The Way keeps the momentum for a while and prevents Blackheart from getting to her corner to make a tag.

Ember Moon gets the tag and takes the momentum back.

Highlight: All four women are in the corner, and come crashing down from the top rope! Hartwell goes to cover Moon but she kicks out at two.

Highlight: Blackheart dives and connects on the outside taking out both members of The Way. Ember Moon follows up with her own suicide dive!

Ember Moon hits the Eclipse on both members of The Way, followed up with Blackheart hitting a Diving Senton onto Hartwell. Ember and Blackheart retain the tag team titles!

Rating 2.5/5

This match was fast-paced and did not last long, but good tag team action, and each superstar left their mark on this match.

NXT North American Championship: Johnny Gargano (c) vs Bronson Reed

Reed, the challenger, comes out ready for business. Gargano is all smiles and is loving himself. During his introduction he was lipping his name being announced, then he noticed Reed was right beside him and instantly looked scared.

Reed dominates Gargano in the beginning. Little to no offense from Gargano as he couldn’t faze the big man.

Gargano finally takes Reed down and delivers a series of kicks.

Highlight: Gargano goes to dive onto the outside but gets caught by Reed. Gargano gets himself out of the predicament and pushes Reed into the announce table. 

Reed went midsection first, making it a target for the remainder of the match.

Gargano remained in control for quite a while.

Highlight: Gargano attempts a double axe handle from the second rope, but gets hit with a thunderous powerslam by Reed!

Reed attempts to suplex Gargano from the ropes, but Garango hits him with a big kick, and follows it up with a backstabber! 

Reed kicks out at two.

Highlight:Reed has Garango upon his shoulders, but gets hit with a reverse frankensteiner!

Reed, from the stage, throws Gargano into the ring with a Razor’s Edge. 

Reed looks for the ending, dives off the top but nobody home!

Superkick from Gargano! 

Reed again kicks out at two.

Highlight: Gargano goes for a super hurricanrana, but Reed is too heavy to get the move off. Reed follows it up with a powerbomb! Reed covers Gargano, but Austin Theory puts Gargano’s foot on the rope.

Highlight: Reed is on the top rope, goes for a moonsault but nobody home! 

Gargano hits Reed with One Final Beat! Reed is still conscious and gets hit with another One Final Beat to finally  put him away!

Rating 4/5 

What a back and forth match this was! Great wrestling IQ to make sure both wrestlers look strong. Gargano was able to escape with an ending that wasn’t totally clean, but still a believable finish.

NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) vs Karrion Kross

This has been the story to follow. Both men have had to relinquish championships before due to injury. Finn Balor only has one loss in his Take-Over career, while Kross is a perfect 12-0.

Kross starts off with momentum, and Balor is laughing it off.

Balor chops Kross, that pissed him off. Kross tosses Balor halfway across the ring like a ragdoll. Balor continues to laugh as he gets up.

Highlight: Kross is in control and towering over Balor. Armbar out of nowhere from Balor! Kross is in agony! Kross rolls through and looks to slam him, but Balor counters and drives Kross’s arm into the mat!

Balor begins to target the left arm.

Balor is throwing several kicks at Kross, stomping a mudhole into him. Balor is feeling the adrenaline kick in!

Balor with clubbing blows to the chest of Kross, but Kross hits a devastating kick to the face taking Balor down!

Kross has Balor on his shoulders and runs him into the corner twice. Balor then finds a way to hit a final cut in the center of the ring.

Back and forth, no man can seem to contain momentum!

Balor looks to set Kross up for his patent dropkick into the corner, but gets caught with a huge clothesline!

Highlight: Kross looks to set up Balor for his Running Forearm smash, but Balor catches him with a Pele kick! 

Balor hits the Kudagra! 

Kross kicks out!

Kross gets momentum back and locks Balor in a submission! Kross breaks the submission and Balor looks defenseless. 

Highlight: Kross hits a Running Forearm, smashing to the back of the head to Balor! And another one! 

Kross covers Balor and we have a new champion! Kamion Kross wins back the NXT Championship, a title he never lost in the first place! 

Kross celebrates as the fans in the Thunder Dome boo him.

Rating 3.5/5

This match was full of spots, and the action never left the ring. It was an all-around great championship match. Even though the match was great, it does not feel like it was the best on the card. They had a tough task following up Johnny Gargano and Bronson Reed.

Kyle O’Reilly vs Adam Cole (Unsanctioned Match)

It is now time for the final match of the night. The Undisputed Era is no more, as Adam Cole will take on Kyle O’Reilly. O’Reilly is not medically cleared, which is why the match is unsanctioned. As both men are in the corner, security is in the middle of the ring keeping both competitors from each other before the start. 

O’Reilly charges right at Cole with right hands, Cole now throwing right hands. 

Both men want to beat the hell out of each other!

Cole throws O’Reilly into the caged barricade two times in a row. Now O’Reilly returns the favor twice in a row as well. 

Highlight: Cole puts several chairs in the ring, and for good measure starts beating the hell out of O’Reilly with a chair that has the Undisputed logo on it.

Cole begins to talk smack to O’Reilly, and the tide finally begins to turn! 

Cole rolls to the outside, and a leaping dropkick by O’Reilly takes down Adam Cole.

Highlight: O’Reilly brings chains into the ring, and Cole hits a neck breaker right onto them! 

Cole covers O’Reilly, but he kicks out at two.

Highlight: O’Reilly runs into the ropes, and Cole uses the chain right into the neck of O’Reilly. 

Backstabber by Cole, but O’Reilly still finds a way to kick out at two. 

Shining Wizard by Cole. 

O’Reilly keeps kicking out at two!

Cole goes to the outside and lays down the steel steps on the outside.

O’Reilly locks Cole in a Gullitine submission out of nowhere! Cole beings to fade and all of a sudden O’Reilly has a new life.

Highlight: Right hands back and forth being delivered on top of the announce table. O’Reilly picks up Cole, and delivers a suplex on the announce table! 

O’Reilly looks to keep the momentum, and gets struck out of nowhere with a tv monitor, glass breaking over his head!

Highlight: O’Reilly with an armbar, the chain is wrapped around Cole’s arm. O’Reilly now has him in a triangle choke. 

Cole, with a pipe to the side of O’Reilly, finds a way out of the submission hold. 

Both men are in the middle of the ring sitting on chairs. 

Cole starts trash talking. Kick from O’Reilly, right hand from Cole, it keeps going back and forth. 

Highlight: Low blow from Adam Cole as he sets up O’Reilly for a superkick. 

O’Reilly is still not done. 

Cole has a chair wrapped around the neck of O’Reilly. He is about to hit O’Reilly with another chair but takes out the ref instead. 

Cole then hits the Panama Sunrise on O’Reilly, but the ref is out, so the match continues.

Cole continues to beat down on the defenseless O’Reilly. 

Highlight: O’Reilly finally is showing signs of life again as he locks Cole into a Guillotine Choke.

Cole counters and drives him right through the stage! Cole emerges back from falling through the stage with a bloody hand. O’Reilly’s back is all marked up. 

O’Reilly appears to be all but finished but Cole just won’t stop. 

Suplex onto the stairs! 

Cole covers O’Reilly, and somehow he still has the instincts to kick out, just barely. 

Highlight: Cole goes for the Last Shot, but O’Reilly dodges. Double leg lock from O’Reilly. 

Cole gets out of it by punching O’Reilly with the chain. Last Shot from O’Reilly. He has stolen Cole’s finisher! 

Cole kicks out at two!

Highlight: Adam Cole looks to end Kyle O’Reilly, he has him on the top rope but a low blow from O’Reilly slows things down. 

O’Reilly wraps the chain around his knee, and jumps off the top rope across the neck of Cole right through a chair! 

The match is finally over! 

The crowd gives both men a standing ovation after we just witnessed an instant classic. 

Adam Cole is carried out on a stretcher, and Kyle O’Reilly is barely able to walk back on his own power.

Rating 4.5/5

Easily match of the year candidate. This match was hard-hitting from the start and never felt like a moment where it was going flat. The storytelling from start to finish was super well done. It is hard to say what wasn’t a highlight in this match. It felt like they were coming one, after another. If Kyle O’Reilly wasn’t seen as a big-time star before this match, he definitely is now. Kyle O’Reilly raises his arm on the stage as the show fades out.