Ranking Matches From TakeOver: Stand And Deliver Night One

After several weeks of anticipation and hype, it was finally time for night one of NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver with night one delivering and being worthy of all the weeks of hype as he saw WALTER defend his NXT UK Championship against Tommaso Ciampa, three new champions crowned and much more. So with that in mind, it is time to rank all the matches from NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver.

5. Gauntlet match (LA Knight, Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes, Dexter Lumis, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott And Leon Ruff) 

After Kushida and Pete Dunne did an amazing job opening the show LA Knight, Bronson Reed, Dexter Lumis, Leon Ruff, Cameron Grimes and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott all had a huge job in delivering a great match. Luckily all six men would deliver as they played their roles perfectly throughout the match. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and Leon Ruff would continue their feud as they were the first two men to start off the match with Bronson Reed coming out at third.

Cameron Grimes would then come out at four, followed up with Dexter Lumis at five with Leon Ruff being eliminated first by rival Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. LA Knight would come out last and cut a promo on all four men in the ring with Knight later pinning Lumis for a surprise elimination. Reed would then eliminate LA Knight leaving just Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott in the ring to face each other.

Grimes and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott would roll each other up with Scott getting the last laugh after grabbing Grimes’s tights to eliminate Grimes, leaving just him and Reed remaining. Scott would hit Reed with a 450 splash only for a near fall. Scott would continue to test Reed, only for Reed to hit Scott with a powerbomb and eventually the Tsunami for the win, meaning he will face Johnny Gargano at Night Two.

4. Kushida vs Pete Dunne 

Despite having less than a week’s build-up to this match Pete Dunne and Kushida would put on an amazing opening match making things exciting heading into the rest of the card. Kushida and Dunne would exchange several submission holds against each other with Pete Dunne targeting the fingers of Kushida while Kushida targeted the arm of Pete Dunne with both men putting on a smooth technical match.

Late in the match, Kushida would trap Dunne on the top rope with Kushida then joining Dunne on the top rope and flip him on the top rope and lock in the Hoverboard lock. Despite Kushida’s best efforts, Dunne would escape the hold and grab Kushida’s fingers. Dunne would then snap the fingers and hit Kushida with a kick before eventually hitting the Bitter End on Kushida for the win.

This was an amazing opening match with both men putting on an amazing technical showing, while still keeping a fast pace that is expected of an opening match. Hopefully, this is not the last we see of Kushida facing Pete Dunne as both men has amazing chemistry and have the potential to put on more amazing matches in the future.

3. MSK vs Grizzled Young Veterans vs Legado Del Fantasma   

While it is disappointing that Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan had to vacate the NXT Tag Team Titles after Danny Burch suffered a shoulder injury during a match with Karrion Kross, we still got to see an awesome replacement match as MSK. the Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado Del Fantasma all put on an amazing match with MSK pinning the Grizzled Young Veterans to win the NXT Tag Team Titles.

All three teams would put on a fast exciting action-packed match. Despite Grizzled Young Veterans targeting the previously injured arm of Wes Lee and locking in the Shankley Gates, Wes Lee would push through the pain, with the Grizzled Young Veterans and MSK taking out Legado Del Fantasma late in the match to leave just the Grizzled Young Veterans and MSK in the match.

MSK and the Grizzled Young Veterans would trade blows with Carter reversing the Ticket to Mayhem into a double cutter. MSK would then hit an elevated blockbuster for the pin and the win making MSK one of the fastest rising teams in NXT history.

2. Io Shirai vs Raquel Gonzalez

After a year of strong booking starting her debut NXT TakeOver: Portland, where she destroyed Tegan Nox it was only a matter of time until we saw Raquel Gonzalez in the NXT Women’s Championship picture. TakeOver: Stand and Deliver would see the climax of a year’s worth of build as Raquel Gonzalez took on the dominant NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai.

Io Shirai would take the fight to the challenger early on in the match, hitting Requel Gonzalez hit dropkicks, takedowns and even a suicide dive. Shirai would later hit a moonsault outside the ring on Gonzalez and follow it up with an amazing crossbody off the skull on the stage on Gonzalez. Shirai would then a Moonsault on Gonzalez with Gonzalez kicking out.

Gonzalez would then hit a single-arm-powerbomb outside of the ring on Shirai to change the momentum in the match. Despite Io Shirai’s best efforts to fight back in the match, it was not enough as Gonzalez hit another single-arm-powerbomb to capture the NXT Women’s Championship, ending Io Shari’s amazing reign.

1.WALTER vs Tommaso Ciampa 

While WALTER’s long title reign has still been lacking of more matches, mainly due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  There is no denying that some of WALTER’s title defenses have been amazing to watch. WALTER would once again have another amazing title defense as he defended his NXT UK Championship against Tommaso Ciampa. Even during the entrances, something felt special about this match, as Tommaso Ciampa had that look that had been missing for a long time.

Ciampa would start the match, trying to survive against WALTER. Ciampa would then get the upper hand after WALTER missed a chop on Ciampa and destroyed half of the announce table cover as a result. With WALTER’s hand injury, Ciampa would waste no time attacking The Ring General, hitting WALTER with a clotheslines with Ciampa even hitting WALTER with the Fairy Tale Ending for a near-fall.

WALTER would then get back in the match, targeting the neck of Ciampa. Late in the match, WALTER would hit two brutal powerbombs late in the match, only for Ciampa to kick out. Despite Ciampa kicking out, it was still hopeless as WALTER then hit Ciampa with a brutal german suplex and a big boot to pin Ciampa in an amazing match.

These here my rankings from NXT TakeOver: Stand And Deliver Night One. What were your favorite matches and what did you think of Raquel Gonzalez, beating Io Shirai for the NXT Woman’s Championship Let us know in the comments below.