WWE NXT Results & Grades: Cole and O’Reilly face off

NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver continues to inch closer as each night passes. With two main events scheduled, there’s still a full card to flush out. Unfortunately, the NXT tag titles are vacated due to the injury to Danny Burch, which means this news, the future of the tag team division, and much more is up for discussion heading into the next edition of WWE NXT.

Women’s tag team action kicked off the night. Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez got together to face off against Zoey Stark and Io Shirai.

Stark and Gonzalez started things off, with Gonzalez easily getting the upper-hand in the power department. Stark attempted to counter with her speed, but she still struggled to get the bigger woman off of her feet. Kai comes in and both women exchange slaps, ending with Stark hitting a Thesz press for additional punches.

Shirai makes the tag and they exchange attacks and near falls. Stark and Shirai isolate Kai on their side of the ring, continuing to punish her before she can get the tag to Gonzalez. Gonzalez and Kai were able to layout Stark, stopping any momentum build. Stark continued to take the bulk of offense from the former tag team champions.

Stark cleared out the ring and did damage to both Gonzalez and Kai outside the ring. Shirai landed a big moonsault, but Stark missed the 450, to find herself planted with the one-arm powerbomb. Another powerbomb and the team of Gonzalez and Kai win.

Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai defeat Io Shirai and Zoey Stark: B+

Good booking, as WWE avoided pinning their champion as they tend to do. Gonzalez continues to be booked very strong. All four women came out looking great in this match.

LA Knight and Bronson Reed finally got their chance for singles action. Knight starts off flapping his gums which leads to Reed laying him out. He hits a counter powerslam and Knight kicks out, but that doesn’t slow down Reed’s momentum. Reed slowed the match down with a bear hug, before knocking Knight out of the ring.

Knight dropped Reed with a shoulder block and finally got in some offense of his own. Knight remained in control, even as they fought outside the ring. Back inside, Knight kept Reed grounded and putting on punishment. Knight had Reed grounded but the big man would not go away, eventually slamming him into the corner.

Reed chokeslammed Knight to the ground and Knight attempted to stop what was coming. But after another counter, Reed landed the Tsunami to pick up the victory.

Bronson Reed defeated LA Knight via pinfall: B

This was a good back and forth, midcard match. Reed comes out looking strong and LA Knight helps put over a younger talent that could use some push.

Karrion Kross wasn’t done with Oney Lorcan and they had a singles match on WWE NXT. Lorcan storms directly into the ring and starts throwing punches. Kross went full assault mode on Lorcan, not giving him an ounce of space.

Lorcan uses his experience to get some offense in of his own, but after a nasty clothesline his body nearly goes limp in the middle of the ring. The punishment continued, but Lorcan continued to kick out and fight back. Lorcan fought back out of the corner and dropped Kross with a series of uppercuts and chopping the knee. It wasn’t enough though, as he gave Lorcan a suplex then followed up with an elbow to the back of the head to get the win.

Karrion Kross defeated Oney Lorcan via pinfall: B

This was another solidly booked match. It was surprising to see Lorcan get that much offense, but Kross continues to look like a dominating force in NXT. Lorcan is a good worker, regardless of if he’s a single or tag performer.

Drake Maverick found himself in a singles match against NXT UK champion, Walter. Maverick charges out of the corner and is immediately slammed to the mat. Powerbomb, single leg crab and the match is over.

Walter defeats Drake Maverick via referee stoppage: A

This was the exact type of booking that Walter should get. Smash people and move on. Great booking and set up to something interesting with Tommaso Ciampa.

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The women’s tag team titles were up next. Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart faced off against Aliyah and Mercedes Martinez.

Martinez started off with Moon and they exchanged offense with Moon getting the advantage. Blackheart came off of the top with a Lou Thesz press and Robert Stone causes the distraction for Martinez to take over. Aliyah got the tag and kept Blackheart on their side of the ring, even dropping Moon with a stiff kick off the apron.

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Aliyah found herself in the ring by herself, taking the Eclipse and was pinned by Moon for the champions to retain their belts.

Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart defeat Aliyah and Mercedes Martinez via pinfall: C

This was a decent match, went as expected with the champions looking strong.

Kushida slides in with an ankle pick to start things off, but Devlin was able to quickly get back to his feet. They end up outside the ring with Devlin getting the advantage after the springboard moonsault. Back inside the ring, Devlin grounds Kushida to slow down the match. Kushida fights back to his feet, laying into Devlin with forearm shots.

Devlin counters a charging Kushida with a cutter, nearly pinning him in the ring. They go to the top rope, where Kushida fights back. Devlin gets distracted by Santos Escobar and Kushida hits a Superplex of his own and rolls into the arm bar. Legado del Fantasma drag Devlin out of the ring and he’s surrounded. Devlin escapes back into the ring but a scramble allows Devlin to roll up Kushida for the win.

Jordan Devlin defeats Kushida via pinfall: B

This was a segment that unfortunately saw Kushida take the loss to build up to the match between Santos Escobar and Jordan Devlin. It was a great singles match between two of the best on the roster. The post-match segment kept Kushida looking strong and built toward what should be a great ladder match.