Three things that went right at NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver Night One

No matter how uneven the NXT writers have scripted the weekly television show over the last year or so, the big TakeOver shows have continued to deliver, and the first night of NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver didn’t deviate from that trend.

WWE’s “alternative” brand kicked off its contribution to WrestleMania 37 with a five-match card on Wednesday night — six if you include the Toni Storm/Zoey Stark pre-show match — and four of them deserve at least some consideration for 2021 Match of the Year.

This makes picking three highlights from the show a difficult task, but that’s what this piece aims to do.

These were the three things WWE got right on night one of NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver

3. Pete Dunne and Kushida put on a technical clinic

Pete Dunne and Kushida didn’t receive the most robust of builds to their TakeOver match — the bout was premised around each wrestler proving their superiority as a mat technician — but the “turn in your report at 11:59 on Blackboard” vibes of the feud didn’t matter once the opening bell sounded.

As expected, these two showed the fans who tuned in why both are in the top tier when it comes to applying holds and finagling their way out of precarious situations. The meat of the match centered around working over each other’s respective arms for disparate reasons — Kushida to set up the Hoverboard Lock and Dunne to prevent getting locked in that hold — and this led to some amazing counters, many of which ended with Dunne snapping Kushida’s fingers.

While the finish felt abrupt and you could argue that the wrong person went over — Dunne pinned Kushida after hitting The Bitter End — there’s no arguing the quality of this opener.

2. Raquel Gonzalez and Io Shirai’s stellar battle over the NXT Women’s Title

Speaking of keeping things simple, Io Shirai and Raquel Gonzalez adhered to the “smaller wrestler fights from underneath against their larger opponent” format in their NXT Women’s Championship main event match, and the two maximized this time-tested formula to craft arguably the best women’s matches of the year thus far.

Of course, this match once again proved that Shirai is among the best wrestlers in the world, but Gonzalez deserves a large helping of the credit, too, for keeping pace with her relatively diminutive adversary in a match that featured almost no rest holds and bumping around like a wrestler half her size.

With Gonzalez unseating Shirai as champion, it will be interesting to see who they’ll line up for her in the months ahead — the brand is light on credible babyface contenders for her. Shirai, for her part, is likely headed for either Raw or SmackDown after doing the honors here. But for now, let’s marvel at the effort these two put in for one of the most prestigious prizes in wrestling.

1. WALTER and Tommaso Ciampa beat the s*** out of each other

On the main shows, WWE likes to present itself as a variety show that gives fans a little bit of everything to cater to as many tastes as possible. Of course, the reality is that so much of Raw and SmackDown product is homogenized to the point of being rote, and this includes the matches.

For all its flaws, NXT sometimes avoids this issue, and the Walter vs. Tommaso Ciampa match at NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver best exemplifies how these aberrations from the routine can boost an already amazing match.

Seriously, when was the last time you saw a match centered around a wrestler trying to hit a knife-edge chop on someone?

For nearly 17 minutes, these two men forwent dazzling highspots — not that the two are known for that anyway — and battered each other until one didn’t get back up.

Of course, there was more to this match than devastating strikes. WALTER’s selling of his “injured” hand down the stretch was phenomenal and the spot where Ciampa used his surgically repaired neck to bridge out of a pin only for WALTER to get up, twist said neck, and hit two powerbombs was outstanding.

The finish — WALTER hitting Ciampa with a sleeper suplex and a chop to score the pin — seemed anticlimactic at first glance, but it put over all the damage Ciampa suffered throughout the fight and further established WALTER as an efficiency-driven wrestler who only cares about retaining his title, style points be damned. It was unexpected and unlike any other finish on the show, which, in a weird way, makes it the perfect one for this match.