After a stellar Night 1, NXT is back with Night 2 of Stand & Deliver. Tonight we will see if Finn Balor can walk out with his NXT Championship. We’ll also see Kyle O’Reilly take on Adam Cole in an Unsanctioned Match.
Preshow
Killian Dain and Drake Maverick defeated Breezango via Pinfall (Powerbomb)
Killian Dain and Drake Maverick are now the new number one contenders to MSK’s tag team championships. Dain used Maverick and powerbombed him on to Fandango to secure the victory.
Main Card
After a musical performance by Poppy we were ready to start the night and determine the true holder of the Cruiserweight Championship.
Santos Escobar defeated Jordan Devlin to retain/become the true NXT Cruiserweight Champion
NXT started the action off hot with this ladder match. Devlin began the match in control, but it did not last long. Escobar found a way to get back in the match and really brought the destruction to Devlin. Escobar brought out the first ladder and went to throw it at Devlin, but he was able to avoid it. The action went all over the outside of the ring, Escobar at one point threw Devlin into the barricade to keep the advantage.
When things began to look bleak for Escobar, Legado del Fantasma came out. They began to take Devlin down so Escobar had time to recover. At one point we did see Devlin do a moonsault on to Escobar from the top of a tall ladder. In the end, after some back and forth on two ladders, Escobar was able to head butt Devlin off his ladder and through another ladder set up in the corner.
After Escobar celebrated his victory on the ramp with Raul Mendoza, Joaquin Wilde, and his son. Then we saw the arrivals of Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly from earlier in the day.
Then we heard from the new NXT Tag Team Champions MSK. They gave their thoughts on Dain and Maverick being their next opponents. Also they gave McKenzie their predictions for the co main events. Let’s just say they didn’t agree on picks.
We then got hype for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship.
Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon defeated Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae (The Way) via Pinfall (Top Rope Senton)
As soon as the bell rang, all four women began throwing punches and kicks at each other. The Way then got in control when LeRae began working over Blackheart. Hartwell and LeRae then began to isolate Blackheart from being able to tag in Moon. While The Way began the match off in control, things began to take a turn in the wrong direction for them. Once Moon got in the match she went on a roll. Those hot tags man! Moon went off on LeRae, even giving her a DX chop!
Moon did try to climb to the top rope, but after a slight distraction by Hartwell LeRae was able to run into the ropes and knock Moon down. Although The Way was able to halt Moon and Blackheart, it just wasn’t enough. Moon was able to hit a double Eclipse, that set up Blackheart’s Senton.
Before the next match we saw Stephanie McMahon in the crowd with Gable Stevenson. Stevenson was recently announced to be Tokyo bound for the Olympics.
Johnny Gargano defeated Bronson Reed via Pinfall (One Final Beat DDT)
This, even as a Gargano fan myself, was an outcome I didn’t expect. Reed scared Gargano right away during introductions. This gave Reed an advantage, as he took control of the match right off the bat. At first Austin Theory didn’t try to insert himself into the match, but that didn’t last long. Before Theory got involved though, Reed kept Gargano to very little to no offense. Gargano was able to bring the Colossal One to his knees and even get a submission locked in, but it took a bit more than that for him to retain. Just when it looked like Reed had the pinfall, Gargano kicked out. He was also able to avoid the Tsunami!
In the end, after a truly enjoyable match Gargano was able to find a way to retain his North American Championship.
Before our first main event, we saw a video showing us how we got to Finn Balor versus Karrion Kross.
In the crowd before the main event, we saw Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan, and Pete Dunne.
Karrion Kross defeated Finn Balor via Pinfall to become the New NXT Champion
After our main event introductions, Balor went right for Kross. This seemed to just anger the bigger man, which Balor warned everyone was his downfall. Kross began to show a ton of emotion, which is exactly what Balor wanted to see and capitalize on. Balor was able to pick on Kross’ left arm and use that as a point of target throughout the match.
Although Balor seemed to have Kross right where he wanted him, it didn’t stay that way long enough for him to truly put the match away. Kross let his anger take the lead and even though Balor hit a Coup de Grace, was able to put Balor into the Straight Jacket. In the end, although Kross was let his emotions shine, Balor was not able to deal with his power. Balor was basically lifeless at the end of the match.
Before our second main event a video was played showing the history between Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly.
Kyle O’Reilly defeated Adam Cole via Pinfall (Knee to the back of the head)
Chairs, tool boxes, and a faulty entrance ramp. OH MY! Throw in a steel chain, the steel steps and all around carnage, there you have this unsanctioned match. There was a lot to take in really. Cole brought in a steel chair that had the Undisuted Era logo on it. KOR introduced the chains. The action was all over and Cole really dictated the pace of the match. Cole tried to use a steel chair around KOR’s neck at one point, but the referee (Darryl Sharma) tried to stop him. Of course Cole didn’t take that well and punched Darryl!
This led to absolutely no one around to gain control, or what control they could, over the match. Cole took the action outside of the ring again and KOR really seemed to be in trouble at that point. Somehow KOR was able to get Cole in a submission on the entrance ramp, but Cole was able to switch the momentum and sent them both through the entrance ramp!
The match took a lot out of both men honestly. Even though KOR seemed to take the most brutality out of the match, he was able to get the advantage over Cole. KOR wrapped the steel chain around his leg and then jumped from the top rope, landing on Cole who was on top of a steel chair!
We ended Stand & Deliver with KOR looking over at Cole being attended to by medical personnel.