William Regal starts off NXT 3/10 with the two promised “major announcements.” The first, a two-night Takeover event Stand & Deliver on April 7-8th. The second, Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai were called to the ring in front of the entire women’s roster to be awarded the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship belts. Dakota wants her propers from the locker room after “beating each and every one of you.” Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart say that champions need challengers and they want a shot tonight! William Regal agrees and makes it happen.
Io Shirai (c) vs Toni Storm for the NXT Women’s Championship
Toni hits hard, fast, and often until Shirai manages to slow her down with an Octopus Hold and takes the action to the ringside area. It proves to be a mistake as Toni rips her from the apron and sends her into the steel ring steps. Back in the ring, Toni grinds down the champ with neck wrenches, suplexes, and stomps. Io fights back with a 619 and springboard dropkick before countering a rollup with a belly stomp. Toni stalls a top rope climb with a headbutt and connects on a superkick. Matrix evasion by Io gets an elbow drop from the challenger but moments later a ring post moonsault to the outside nearly counts them both out. In the ring, moonsault misses but Storm Zero connect for a two count! Storm goes for the diving headbutt but Shirai evades and catches her in a crossface for the win!
Winner and still champion: Io Shirai
Finn Bálor says that he and Adam Cole are the two biggest names in NXT and, tonight, there will be no tricks or cheap shots or ambushes. It’s just the two of them as Finn settles the score once and for all.
LA Knight is telling McKenzie Mitchell that next week is the perfect time for him to make his NXT in-ring debut “if anyone has enough tingle in their loins.” It may not be a tingle but a rumble when Bronson Reed appears to grab him by the throat. It looks like the match is on for next week as officials break them apart.
Jake Atlas vs Pete Dunne
Dunne spends the opening minutes torquing Atlas’ left arm and teasing finger breaks between slaps to the face. Atlas rallies with kicks and standing moonsaults. The cartwheel DDT gets stuffed and Dunne starts to stomp the head and separate the shoulder of Jake Atlas.
Winner: Pete Dunne
Dunne says that he made his name in the UK but he is the best technical wrestler in the entire world, challenging anyone to step up and prove him wrong.
Marcel Barthel of Imperium wants to tell Timothy Thatcher that he belongs in Imperium and Fabian Aichner says that, out of respect for Thatcher, he can bring his “little friend,” Tomasso Ciampa, along with him.
Leon Ruff addresses the recent comments by Isaiah “Swerve” Scott about his “lucky breaks.” Ruff says that he worked and earned everything he’s gotten, including his win over Scott two weeks ago.
Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez (c) vs Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship
Ember kicks back Raquel but a tag to the captain of Team Kick has Ember BTFO to bring in Shotzi. Quickly, ‘Kota finds herself fighting off a cloverleaf hold. War of attrition between Kai and Shotzi weakens Shotzi for Raquel and Dakota again after a few power moves. Shotzi getting her trunks handed to her by the champs but manages to tag up to an en fuego Ember Moon. Jumping Codebreaker on Gonzalez and she holds the ropes open for Shotzi to hit a tope suicida that bounces Gonzalez off the announce table. Raquel throws Ember off her shoulders for Dakota to kick but it only gets a two count. They try again but Moon slips out and makes the tag. High cross body block on both champs and a springboard head scissors for Gonzalez. Striking combo and suplex can’t keep Dakota down. Ember Moon tries for the Eclipse on Gonzalez but she’s caught! The Amazonian is knocked outside with Ember in powerbomb position and Dakota is rolled up with jackknife pin by Shotzi. Short reign for the inaugural champs.
Winners and new champions: Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon
Adam Cole says that Kyle O’Reilly stepped out of line and got put into place. Then, Roderick Strong questioned the natural order and got beat where he stood. Now, he will beat Finn Bálor to remove any doubt that he’s the greatest NXT Champion of all time.
Shotzi & Ember are embraced by the ladies’ locker room upon leaving the ring (right next to the “Stay 6ft Apart” sign!) except for Candice LaRae & Indi Hartwell. They confer with Johnny Gargano who wants to know about Austin Theory. Theory is despondent about the “therapist” that Johnny hired last week telling him that Dexter Lumis found Theory annoying with mediocre abs. he rips off his shirt in rage and is ready to go mindhunting.
Kayden Carter vs Xia Li
Kayden comes out hot until Xia Li manages to kick out her right knee. Xia closes in for the kill on Kayden but is distracted by Kacy Catanzaro hobbling up on crutches. She gets more distracted, however, by Kacy whacking her across the leg with a crutch in full view of the official! The bell rings and Xia retreats across the ring in pain. Catanzaro follows her and continues the assault until Boa takes the crutch from her snaps it in two. Carter uses the other crutch so they can escape as Tien Sha watches.
Winner by DQ: Xia Li
Jordan Devlin is excited to leave the Irish weather. After all, what would Takeover be without the real NXT Cruiserweight Champion?
Zoey Stark gives us some insight on her journey from the wrong side of the tracks to the NXT ring.
Santos Escobar is livid and in the face of William Regal about Jordan Devlin’s claim to the cruiserweight crown. So much so that he sends Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza to the ring without him.
Legado del Fantasma vs The Grizzled Young Veterans
Zack Gibson & James Drake tell “Escobar’s errand boys” that what they did to Wes Lee’s hand is nothing compared to what they’re going to do to them tonight. Wilde & Mendoza seem to be doing a great job in making them eat those words but they’re distracted by a set of astronauts that appear on the ramp. When the helmets come off to reveal MSK instead of Breezango, the Grizzled Young Vets are caught unawares and rolled up for the win.
Winners: Legado del Fantasma
After the match, the Young Vets confront MSK but get Gibson’s hand smashed with a space helmet for it. And, since turnabout is fair play, Breezango slide into the ring to teach Legado a lesson in blindsides.
McKenzie Mitchell interviews Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez about their loss. Dakota says that it’s a stupid question. Raquel says that their accomplishment still made history but Io Shirai comes in to pick a fight! The towering Texan tells the champ to be careful what she wishes for.
Tomasso Ciampa tells Timothy Thatcher that Imperium says that “If we’re not with them, we’re against them” and that he’s A-OK with that.
Main Event of NXT 3/10: Adam Cole vs Finn Bálor (c) for the NXT Championship
Champion and challenger trade off move-for-move in the opening minutes. A shoulder block is met by a shoulder block. A hedlock takeover is rolled through to a pin attempt. Wristlock is rolled through to another. Cole tries to rough it up on the outside but, back in the ring, Finn starts to take away the superkick threat by working the left leg. Back outside, Cole sends Bálor into the ring steps and has to break the count out to keep his championship opportunity alive. He wants to do more damage but gets suplexed onto the entry ramp! The champion is the first one back into the ring and to his feet. They trade kicks and Finn looks for the 1916 but Cole hits him with a shoulder breaker. Panama Sunrise misses but Sling Blade doesn’t. Coup de Grâce with nobody home and a superkick leaves the champ frantically protecting his oft-injured jaw. Cole slaps on a crossface and Bálor barely gets to the rope. Cole uses every nanosecond before breaking the hold. Balor is desperate, brawling with ground-and-pound and lariats. Cole connects on a Shining Wizard but it isn’t enough just yet. The crowd chants “This is awesome” as the champ kicks out after a Panama Sunrise. Adam Cole is tossed to the outside where Kyle O’Reilly stares him down. He’s a sitting duck for Bálor’s tope and a 1916 on the arena floor. Coup de Grâce to win.
Winner and still champion: Finn Bálor
After the match, Kyle O’Reilly gets in the ring and proceeds to pummel Adam Cole, tossing the refree to the ground to continue the punishment. Adam Cole is saved from a DDT on the ring steps by more referees but breaks away to attack again on the rampway. Bálor watches with moderate interest but wonders aloud “What took you so long?” and we see that he’s speaking to Karrion Kross who has appeared behind him in the ring!
Five Takeaways from NXT 3/10
- First thing’s first. I’m guarded about the women’s tag titles. Losing off a technicality to the “main roster” champs did not give the significant rub to Gonzalez & Kai they might have been looking for. Losing the awarded titles on the first night erased whatever they did get. Between the NXT & NXT:UK rosters, there may be enough to fill this new division but the “main roster” title barely had enough without dipping into NXT ranks. It seems that the amount of consideration that WWE gives to tag teams is, at the very least, universal in consistency.
- I’ve enjoyed the dynamic between Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai. With obvious plans for Raquel to break away and be the big bad of NXT soon with an upcoming singles program vs Io Shirai, that might be coming to an end. I enjoyed Shawn vs Diesel, though, so it will probably all work out.
- Not too long ago, Imperium seemed to be looking to breakup a tag team and motivate Killian Dain. Now, it seems that they’re doing the same with Timothy Thatcher. I can’t see both of them resisting the call.
- Kacy Catanzaro may be on the shelf for the time being but she sure shuffled off in impressive fashion tonight. Problem is, there’s nowhere to go from here; either for Kacy or for Xia Li to get her mojo back.
- Finn Bálor. Karrion Kross. The title one never lost. Santos Escobar. Jordan Devlin. The title one never lost. Stand & Deliver is shaping up to be a jump off for somebody.
