WWE NXT: Scenic route to get to Io Shirai versus Raquel Gonzalez

WWE NXT was all about big moments and big announcements this week. New titles were created, and two-day shows revealed as NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver is set for April. There was one moment that caused a lot of excitement as well when Io Shirai stood face-to-face to Raquel Gonzalez. After months of speculation and round-a-bout storytelling, it looks like the much-needed women’s feud is here to be one of the main angles heading into Stand & Deliver.

Rewind the clock back to December. Gonzalez stood tall at the end of the Women’s War Games match. A result that saw her pin Io Shirai after a car-crash of a contest between the eight women in the match. With that win, Gonzalez became the only person to pin Shirai since Rhea Ripley did it back in December of 2019. During that run, Shirai picked up important wins over all the top names in the NXT women’s division, even beating Sasha Banks in an exceptional singles match. Gonzalez was a made-woman at that moment, but WWE decided to take the long route to get to where things are today.

For a moment, it looked like Gonzalez was going to be built into a monster heel for Shirai. She would defeat the returning Ember Moon and send Ripley packing to the main roster. But instead, there was the announcement of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. She and Dakota Kai won the tournament, were “screwed” in a title match, were given titles, then lost those within the hour. Before that title loss could be addressed, Shirai confronts Gonzalez, immediately placing her in the crosshairs of the biggest angle in the NXT Women’s division.

Taking the long road to get to this match fits within the booking issues that continue to pop up in the WWE. There are moments when the company shows viewers that they can take their time in telling a story that they know is coming but feeding bit by valuable bit along the way. Take Adam Cole versus Kyle O’Reilly as an example. But the women’s divisions struggle with getting that same care when it comes to story-telling.

It was great seeing Gonzalez and Kai win the Dusty Cup, but the focus should have been on Gonzalez being a monster heel for NXT. Her pinning Shirai was the catalyst needed to paint Gonzalez as the big bad Shirai needed to overcome. The Dusty Classic was still there to book, with a plethora of women’s teams available. But Shirai versus Gonzalez should have received main event booking from the moment War Games ended.

With less than a month remaining before NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver it is vital for WWE to remind wrestling fans that Gonzalez is a destroyer, much the way they booked her both before and immediately after War Games. Can it be done? Of course, it can, but the question remains to be to whether the WWE will take the care needed to deliver such a compelling angle at the top of the NXT women’s division.