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Andrew’s Impact Wrestling Results & Match Ratings: 11.9.2023

Two Championship matches tonight! Digital Media Champ Tommy Dreamer defends again Crazzy Steve and World Champion Alex Shelley defends against Jonathan Gresham!

Published

6 months ago

November 9, 2023

Andrew Balaz

UK Tour lead to an interesting Turning Point. Simon Miller’s gimmicky as hell match (but still fun), a few really solid matches, Will Ospreay and Eddie Edwards putting on a great match; night ending with some great words from the Billy Goat. Now we see if the Gail Kim Eat Da Feet leads to more, what Deonna will do now that she can’t challenge for the Knockouts Title, Trey Miguel and Rich Swann probably still have beef…either way, lots of room to tell stories and grow into 2024 and the return of TNA.

We’ve got two title matches tonight, but no real idea on where things will go from here. So lets see what tonight brings us!

.@TheBadReed has ARRIVED! @TheTreyMiguel @ZacharyWentz #IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/HrVhqpMn6q

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) November 10, 2023

Ratings:

Tasha Steelz vs Deonna Purrazzo: Tasha wins via Okurrr – *
Digital Media Championship: Tommy Dreamer (c) vs Crazzy Steve: Steve wins via DQ – ** – Dreamer sadly retains
Brian Myers vs Joe Hendry: Myers wins via Roster Cut – ***
Eddie Edwards w/Alisha Edwards vs Eric Young: EY wins via Piledriver – **
Dirty Dango & Oleg Prudius w/Alpha Bravo vs Nick Diamond & Storm Grayson: Dango wins via Scorpion Deathdrop – Squash
World Championship: Alex Shelley (c) vs Jonathan Gresham: Shelley retains via Shellshock – *****

Results:

Tasha Steelz vs Deonna Purrazzo

The catch is catch can start is honestly just Deonna doing things and Tasha getting out. Deonna even pulls out the Paradise Lock after Tasha twerks a little when she counters, and then we go into a few seconds of Deonna twerking to mock Tasha while she recovers from eating the Dropkick unlock of the Paradise Lock.

This is just a lot of the slow pose after a sequence, taunt one another that they were close to ending it and then finally we get a strike exchange that ends with both succumbing to stereo Lariats. While the concept is fine, Tasha isn’t known as a technical wrestler, they’re both more well known as heels and they’re doing like the playful technical babyface spots. So honestly, this match has made no sense. Deonna hits the Russian Leg Sweep into the Fujiwara but Tasha counters. Tasha then hits the Satellite into the Rings of Saturn, Deonna gets out of it, Tasha finally breaks the hold with a rake to the eyes. So finally heel stuff happens, they complain at each other but Tasha lights up Deonna and catches her with two intense Okurrrs with a burst of fierocity out of…nowhere.

This match was complete nonsense.

Digital Media Championship: Tommy Dreamer (c) vs Crazzy Steve

HEY TNA, do me a favor. When we restart the brand….STOP PUTTING TOMMY DREAMER IN MATCHES. If this devolves into a retirement match or something for Dreamer, fine. But seriously, stop shoving Dreamer at us, bring back Kid Kash, Blue Meanie or Joel Gertner if you want ECW chants. STOP with the Dreamer stuff.

The match starts out a little rough and quick with a tie up that turns into a joint powder, some brawling, then Dreamer tries to rain down 10 count punches but Steve bites his thigh. Steve sings his “Angel of Death” dark lullaby, clubs on Dreamer, DDT into a Neck Twist, then pulls at his face in the ropes before the referee forces the break. Steve goes to the top rope but Dreamer cuts him off, Superplex for the both “slow to get up” spot. Rising haymakers from both, Dreamer gets the best of things with his Flip Flop and Fly. Two Bionic Elbows into a Scorpion Deathdrop for 2. Dreamer Driver, nope, Spicolli Driver is blocked with biting and gouging at the eyes. Cannonball into the corner from Senor Crazzy.

Steve walks out to his briefcase muttering “I have to end you”, and reveals the fork from his briefcase. Steve tries to stab his face, Dreamer blocks, bites the wrist, but eats a Cutter. Dreamer picks up the fork, “Fork You”, forks Steve in the face and the referee Disqualifies Dreamer. Dreamer then keeps gouging at the head wound.

So unfortunately Dreamer is still champ, so maybe we’ll just get some kind of Fork on a Pole, murder the loser match or something by Hard to Kill or maybe even Final Resolution.

Brian Myers vs Joe Hendry

Hendry begins the rebrand early saying that Myers is no longer “Edge’s Bitch”, he’s “Adam’s Bitch”. So when the match starts, Myers starts off hot since he’s grumpy that the crowd supported picking on him with the rebrand. Scoop Slam from Myers, Roster Cut attempt, but he eats the European Uppercut and then Hendry throws him over the top to rub salt in the wound about the Gauntlet.

Bouncing his head off the apron, Hendry keeps up the pressure, brings things back in and keeps Myers grounded with a few Arm Wringer Takedowns. Myers tries to powder after but Hendry hits the Vertical Suplex outside in from the apron. Spinning Scoop Slam into a Rope Run Elbow Drop for 2. Hendry tries to keep up the pressure but the Drop Toe Hold from Myers finally gives him some offense, as he continues that with a Russian Leg Sweep for 2. Myers decides to paint brush Hendry a few times and mock him, so of course the babyface fires back up. Trust Fall into his Chant Chops, Stalling Suplex, but only a 2 count. Myers powders again, but Hendry collects him and tries to follow up but Myers cuts him off and then tosses him into the post and off the apron.

Sleeper Hold from Myers gets countered as Hendry stands up, turns Myers around and just Suplexes him off of him. Back to back Lariats, catches the Crossbody and then Sack of Shits in triplicate for only another 2 count. Myers with a desperation Gamengiri, into the Implant DDT for 2. They raise up, Myers thinks about his next move but Hendry shoves him into the ropes and hits the Pop Up Powerbomb. Standing Ovation counter, Myers guards in the ropes, pokes the eye and then Roster Cut out of nowhere. Myers wins!

.@WillOspreay has words for @Walking_Weapon ahead of their match NEXT WEEK on #IMPACTonAXSTV! pic.twitter.com/t4NNCot589

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) November 10, 2023

Eddie Edwards w/Alisha Edwards vs Eric Young

Early on there’s just some general back and forth but nothing crazy, EY hits the Flair Flop into sliding back into the ring under the ropes, through Eddie’s legs, and a little more back and forth until Lish makes her presence felt for the first time picking the ankle. Eddie takes the opportunity to hit a bit Overhead Belly to Belly and just start beating on EY. Eddie brings him to the ropes, drapes EY, distracts the ref and then Lish chokes EY while the ref isn’t looking. An attempted fire moment for EY is stifled with a big Back Elbow, so Eddie is still very in control.

Scoop Slam from Eddie, he plays to the crowd a bit too long as they Boo at him, goes for the Moonsault and misses big. EY hits a few moves, Scoop Slam of his own, EY calls for the Macho Elbow but Lish distracts him for Eddie to get up. Eddie tries to cut him off, but EY bites his face, then hits the Elbow for 2. EY calls for the Piledriver, Lish hops on the apron to distract EY and it works. Eddie hits a desperation Blue Thunder Bomb for 2. Lish slides the chair in to Eddie, Ref is distracted dealing with the chair, Lish hops up again, swings the Kendo Stick but misses EY and hits Eddie. EY then hits his Piledriver for the win as Lish is seen apologizing over top of a down Eddie.

Is @TheMooseNation prepared for the challenge of 'The Red Headed Rebel? @HEATHXXII #IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/ADhZvumC7x

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) November 10, 2023

Dirty Dango & Oleg Prudius w/Alpha Bravo vs Nick Diamond & Storm Grayson

Vladimir Kozlov and Dango get to go against some local jobbers since its Kozlov’s first real match in over a decade.

Dango lets Oleg start and Dango walks off to do guest commentary as Oleg is murdering people. Standing Fireman’s Carry Slam, Sack of Shit, then he headbutts some dork out of the sky. Dango walks back to the ring, tags in after Oleg murdered some people and Dango wins with the Scorpion Deathdrop.

Solid enough way to get over Oleg being a monster again.

World Championship: Alex Shelley (c) vs Jonathan Gresham

Gresham offers the hand and Shelley slaps it away after Gresham’s recent usage of dirty tactics. Gresham pushes Alex into the corner, slow break but Gresham tries to hit him, Shelley ducks it to reverse the spot and Shelley just gives him the Sign of the Cross as a taunting clean break. Early commercial break as we come back, Shoulder Tackle and then a chop spot. Gresham is overselling the chops, tries to ask for a second, takes off some wrist tape to distract the referee as he feints the chop and Jimmy Taps Alex Shelley. Then he uses his loose tap to choke Shelley, and starts working Shelley over on the mat eventually locking in a Figure Four.

It takes over 30 seconds, Shelley grabs the ropes and Gresham says he’s stuck, but uses the extra time to keep wrenching on the knee. The ref gets in Gresham’s face and he goes full Tom and Jerry with motioning a halo around his head and acting like he’s gonna go after the ref until he turns and then tries to look innocent. This has really just been Gresham’s true coming out party for being a shitty cheating heel. Shelley finally fires up a bit, Arm Wringer, short Elbow and now a few chops into an Elbow Hyper Extension but Gresham stops it with a Sleeper. Shelley fights out, but Gresham turns it into a Knee Breaker working on the left knee he already Figure Four’d. Another Knee Breaker, Grounded Dragon Screw on the bad leg, and then he starts thinking again. Gresham uses his body to shield the wrist tape cheating from the referee and wrestles Alex down to keep the shield.

Shelley counters out, then gets into a Grounds Armlock, manipulates the fingers and then drives his knee into Gresham’s shoulder blades. Straight Jacket Bow and Arrow from Alex, but then Shelley sells the knee as he tries to fire. Classic Dragon Screw from Gresham on the bad leg to get the momentum back. Gresham turns Shelley over on the mat and just starts ramming his knee into the mat over and over again. Knee Breaker again, but Shelley sneaks in a Right Knee Strike to rock Gresham. Gresham responds with a low Dropkick as Shelley tries to limp to the corner. Corner flourish from both which ends with Shelley hitting a Stun Gun on Gresham, but Gresham slides out and grabs the bad knee. Alex tries to go after the left arm to relieve some of the pressure, and just throws his body over the top in a Plancha to wipe out Gresham.

Alex breaks the count once, they keep going back and forth on the outside. Gresham charges, misses and eats the post. Shelley lands a DDT, they get to a 9 count and Shelley tries to get both back in. Gresham charges the ropes, kicks the leg, DDT, and then three covers in a row, even with tights, but Shelley kicks out. Shelley White Boy Dances to dodge the Sliding Dropkick on the bad leg, baits Gresham to the corner, Flatliner into the middle buckle, Tornado DDT floated through into the Border City Stretch….Gresham grabs the official and uses the ref to pull himself towards the ropes. Gresham lands multiple chops on the bad leg, Shelley tries to grab the left arm but Gresham goes for the left leg, Enzuigiri partially connects, Misawa Rolling Elbow into a Border City-counters into a Rolling Cradle for 2. Knee Smash, Leg Extension, School Boy with extra leverage from Gresham for 2! They exchange strikes on the limbs they’ve weakened through the match.

Arm Snap from Shelley, Chop on the bad leg from Gresham, Shelley tries to hit the ropes but the leg gives out again. Moonsault, into a Dive, rolls him back in, Locomotion Cradles, no one wins, La Magistral attempt from Shelley, no back and forth Cradles continue and still no pinfall. Japanese Clutch from Gresham no, Border City – No, Gresham locks in a Figure Four as he barely gets to the ropes. A few chops, Gresham tosses him to the ropes but Shelley falls, Superkick from Shelley as he was baiting him a bit, SHELLSHOCK! ALEX SHELLEY RETAINS!

Overall Score: 7.75/10

Okay there’s a lot to love here. Myron Reed joining the Rascalz officially is awesome, the main event was stellar, Kozlov having his first match in over a decade and looking awesome was great and Santino’s way of messing with Kenny King was funny as well. Hell I even personally really like the idea of Moose trying to prove himself by protecting Myers by forcing Heath to go through him before touching “Adam’s Bitch”. Sets up for a slightly bigger moment when one of them eventually turns on the other.

Only really awful thing was the Tasha vs Purrazzo match. From a television wrestling perspective it makes absolutely no sense. It felt very indie stupid bullshit where even though they are both known as asshole heels they have a playful technical match. And then Tasha winning because she actually remembered she was a heel was dumb. Yeah I get it, Deonna is either phasing out or needing a whole breakdown to build back up, and Tasha is back so she needs momentum. Sure I get THAT, but the story of the match made less sense than Mush Mouth from Fat Albert.

Either way this was a good episode to respark interest toward Final Resolution and to get those TNA vibes flowing.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Greg DeMarco’s WWE Stand & Deliver 2024 Results & Review

It’s that time of year again–time for WWE NXT Stand & Deliver! Greg DeMarco is here with your results and his review of NXT’s biggest event!

Published

3 weeks ago

April 7, 2024

Greg DeMarco

WWE NXT Stand & Deliver Roxanne Perez Women's Champion

It’s that time of year again–time for WWE NXT Stand & Deliver! Greg DeMarco is here with your results and his review of NXT’s biggest event!

As everyone gears up for WrestleMania, the NXT Universe (?) gets ready for their WrestleMania, Stand & Deliver! Shawn Michaels has been less HBK and more HBCook lately, delivering some of the best booked shows found anywhere on Tuesday nights.

I fully expect that to carry over–but let’s see it in action!

Countdown Match – Shawn Spears vs. Joe Gacy

As much as I really wanted “The Ten Guy” back, I have enjoyed Shawn Spears run back in NXT. Also interesting to see Wade Barrett on commentary alongside Vic Joseph and Booker T, which makes me expect the ‘Mania call will be handled by Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Pat McAfee.

Ridge Holland, who had joined the Kickoff panel, had to be held back during Shawn Spears’ entrance, then attacked Joe Gacy with a chair during his own entrance. Storylines in every element of the show–that is how it’s done!

Also interesting to see Gacy bring back little facets of The Schism with the mask and the smiley face on his knee pad. Makes me wonder what the long term plan is for him (either on NXT or the main roster), as he is crazy entertaining (and crazy, and entertaining).

Stream of consciousness:

Thank Randy Orton cares that Spears used the Hangman DDT? Something tells me Randy doesn’t.
Joe Gacy is so damn talented and moves so well for his size and perceived conditioning.
Shawn Spears is a 22-year veteran of the ring, and it shows in all of the little things he does, especially the non-verbals.
Gacy, mind you, is an 18-year veteran himself, let’s not forget that.
Didn’t expect that result, especially after Ridge attacked Gacy on his way to the ring.

Winner via pinfall: Joe Gacy

Highly entertaining match that fits anywhere: Countdown To Stand & Deliver, NXT TV match, NXT TV main event, PLE main card match, and would work on Raw or Smackdown. Very intrigued to see what happens next for both of these guys.

WWE NXT Stand & Deliver 2024

As usual, I am watching this on a delay (west coast time, and I’ve gots a family!). I am fairly capable of staying spoiler free as I start (I did get one result spoiled for me, but it is what it is). But I did see that the event drew 16,545 fans, which is amazing (and a record for NXT). For perspective, last year’s event with the same name drew 7,584. For those of you who, like me, try to apply some math to these things, that’s double +18% (or 215% of last year’s attendance).

Job well done by all involved.

Once again… #WWENXT delivered.

An incredible show, with a record-setting number of @WWEUniverse members in attendance. Congrats to the Superstars, and the crew members behind the scenes, who helped set the tone for the biggest #WrestleMania Weekend EVER. #StandAndDeliver pic.twitter.com/JiAypgi2MW

— Triple H (@TripleH) April 6, 2024

Very much enjoyed the opening video (that I presume we watched as Meta Four made their way to the ring), where there went through all of the major settings and storylines in NXT and here tonight.

I was wrong, Meta Four stayed by the entrance. Great to see that huge crowd on camera. The business is so hot right now.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match – Axion & Nathan Frazer vs. Baron Corbin & Bron Breakker (champions)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Nathan Frazer & Axiom win the tag team titles.

Extremely excited to see Axiom & Frazer get the nod to be in this match when you had The LWO, The Good Brothers, and Alpha Academy all as possible participants as recently as this past Tuesday. Not so sure they will get the win, but you never know with Baron Corbin having been back down in NXT for a while now, and Breakker already a member of the Smackdown roster.

Hot start to the match (and PLE) with multiple dives from the challengers.
Breakker is so damn good with less than 4 years in the business. He was truly born with it.
Interesting fact from Vic that Breakker has never won at Stand & Deliver. Of course, in 2022 he won two nights later on Raw.
Wade Barrett speaks! I forgot he was on commentary. It’s hard when Vic & Booker do this together every week. And Booker talks a lot–and for a long time.
Axiom & Frazer really do make a fantastic team. If they don’t win tonight, I wonder where they fit in. Because they are so damn good.
Hell of a Frankensteiner, not sure what Corbin was supposed to do with it.
“Justified” This Is Awesome chants, as Tony Khan would say.
BARON CORBIN WITH THE USO SPLASH!!!
Tons of near-falls in this match. HBK letting these boys go!
Spear ends it, I’m surprised Bron didn’t get to score the fall since he’s never done that at Stand & Deliver.

Winners via pinfall, AND STILL your NXT Tag Team Champions: The Wolf Dogs

Outstanding opener, crowd was way into everyone. But, man, Bron Breakker is on a completely different level. That man is going to deliver one hell of a WrestleMania main event some day.

WWE NXT North American Championship: Dijak vs. Josh Briggs vs. Oba Femi (champion)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Oba Femi retains the NXT North American Championship

Given the copious number of nearfalls in the opener, I expected the six-woman tag here. But, hey, this card is stacked, so obviously we need to place that elsewhere. I love all three guys in this match, and I really think Josh Briggs is likely going to get called up in the next draft. But man, Oba Femi is a damn star! He might in one of those WrestleMania main events with Bron Breakker that I referenced earlier.

This match is sponsored by Knuckles, on Paramount+, by the way. Weird to see a Paramout+ sponsorship on a show streaming on Peacock, but here we are!
That Knuckles banner is literally duct-taped to the floor! That’s always a funny aspect of Stand & Deliver, some of the main production elements are already set-up in the stadium.
The Man of Mayhem definitely brings that when he flip-chokeslams Dijak from the top rope to (through?) Oba Femi, who was seated (literally) on the floor.
Briggs, by the way, is an 8-year veteran of the ring (that surprises me, I thought he had more), and Dijak has 11. Femi, of course, has about 15 matches. Which is absolutely insane.
Looking up those years, I had the result of this match spoiled for me, but I am totally fine with that. That result was expected!
Interesting for Barrett to point out that some refs won’t allow getting your foot on the ropes to break up a pin in a Triple Threat Match. All the years I have been watching this stuff, I haven’t heard that.
~~SUPERKICK~~BIG BOOT PARTY!
Dijak and Briggs doing the majority of the heavy lifting in this one, and putting on a performance reminiscent of Dijak and Keith Lee.
NOW THAT WAS A TOWER OF DOOM SPOT.
I can’t even describe it, you just have to see it. INSANE.
If I ever rewatch this match, I am counting the number of Big Boots.
Feast Your Eyes on a 300 lb man!
Crowd was NOT HAPPY about Briggs pulling the ref out. I thought it was brilliant.
“Justified” This Is Awesome chants, as Tony Khan would say.
That camera shot was AMAZING.

Winner via pinfall on Briggs, AND STILL your NXT North American Champion: Oba Femi

What a match! Seriously, one hell of a classic put on by all three men. All props to Dijak and Josh Briggs, who really need to have great runs on the main roster.Man, this company is LOADED with talent right now. Where do you fit everybody? It feels like they need a third main roster brand.

Meta Four (unsuccessfully) trying to get interviews is very, very entertaining.

Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Kiana James, Izzi Dame, & Jacy Jayne (With Jazmyn Nix) vs. Fallon Henley, Kelani Jordan, & Thea Hail (with Andre Chase, Duke Hudson, & Riley Osborne)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Babyfaces over!

I loved the addition of this match to the card, getting six very talented competitors on the card. Hell of an opportunity for Izzi Dame and Kelani Jordan, too.

All total, we have 10 NXT Superstars in and around the ring for this match.
Still not sure why Jacy Jayne worked so hard to save Chase U just to ditch them so quickly after. If she was never Thea’s friend, why did she bust her ass to help?
Kelani with a handspring into a ….. Flatliner? That makes zero sense.
Nice “not the first time a James has been jealous of a Jordan” reference by Vic Joseph, who should appreciate that Lebron James brought a championship to Cleveland.
Have to wonder if Jacy, Jazmyn, Kiana, and Izzi will formally be put together into a “Mean Girls” style stable.
Love Wade Barrett with the Toxic Attraction reference.
Gotta figure that Fallon Helney will end up on the main roster sooner rather than later–and I hope she isn’t lost in the shuffle.
Kelani Jordan has a lot of development to come, but damn she can hit that Moonsault to the floor just as good as Charlotte Flair.
Great set-up to get to Thea vs Jacy, and the crowd was hyped for it.
Nice sequence to the finish.

Winners via Hail submission on Dame, Thea Hail, Fallon Henley, & Kelani Jordan

Hell of a match that felt like it got a lot of time, and was easily Stand & Deliver worthy. The women’s division is in really good hands for years to come.

Hey look Giulia is here! (And kinda looks nervous.)

WWE NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez vs. Lyra Valkyria

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Roxanne Perez captures the NXT Women’s Championship for a second time (with something underhanded involved)

Kinda surprised to see the two women’s matches back-to-back. I actually had the match order a little different, and the final three would have been (in order): NXT Championship, NXT Women’s Championship, Trick/Melo.

Nice point from Vic Joseph, pointing out that the NXT Women’s Championship is the only NXT title to be defended at a WrestleMania.
Another streaming partnership for a match here, with Fallout on Amazon Prime getting the visibility treatment here on Peacock.
Roxanne Perez working over the arm like a champ. That’s been a big part of the story all along.
I must say–as I always do when the set-up is like this–that I really do prefer a WWE arena event without the big huge stage (not talking abut WrestleMania).
With all the high-flying, crazy action of the first three matches, the crowd is definitely a little quiet during this one–all the spent time working over the arm also causes that.
I’m not complaining, this is very much the type of match you’d see on the main roster (even a main roster WrestleMania), and that’s why we are here.
Roxanne Perez, by the way, has 6-years in the business. Nine years for Lyra Valkyria.
The Pop Rox (and subsequent kickout) definitely woke the crowd up.
Tatum Paxley appearance, which had to be expected (Paxley has been amazing in this pairing, by the way).
The crowd is now solidly behind Roxanne Perez. Big pop for her locking in the submission a second time.
Poison Rana into Pop Rox into the Crossface, and that has to be it.
Big pop for the finish, too.

Winner via submission, AND NEW WWE NXT Women’s Champion, Roxanne Perez

Roxanne Perez joins Shayna Baszler and Charlotte Flair as your only two-time NXT Women’s Champions. She needs a good 440 days to pass Baszler’s days as champion–and I would love to see it.

WWE NXT Championship – Tony D’Angelo (with Channing Lorenzo, Adriana Rizzo, and Luca Crusifino) vs. Ilja Dragunov (champion)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Ilja Dragunov retains

Tony D’Angelo’s highest profile match to date, and I truly think he deserves this spot. But to me, this spot is about building Tony’s future. I see him as a future NXT Champion, but not tonight. The build to this has seen Tony lean more towards the heel side once again, which could set things up for a Tony/Trick feud. But we could get more than one match out of Tony and Ilja, too

During the intros I did our experience check: Tony D debuted in 2019 (5 years ago–time flies!), Ilja Dragunov has been working for 14 years.
Tony wearing the “WrestleMania whites” for his gear today–usually you see more of that! We’ll see what happens at WrestleMania tonight.
Seeing Stacks on the outside is odd to me. Not because he’s out there, or out there with Tony, but it seems like a demotion for him after working so closely with Tony in-ring. I do wonder if a split is coming there.
Ilja chops the ringpost as we hear from Booker T for the first time in this match! I almost wondered if he took a break or went back to congratulate his student, Roxanne Perez.
Ilja tried to get Stacks involved, but The Don called him off. Ilja kissed him on each cheek (a Mafia thing, which Wade Barrett totally missed and called as Ilja kissing Tony on the mouth) and that just fired up Tony D.
Huge Overhead Belly To Belly by Tony off the top rope, which woke the crowd up (much like Roxanne vs Lyra, they started off slow).
Well done H-Bomb through the table, as Stacks looks on and says he’s not doing anything (remember, Tony told him not to).

Winner via pinfall, AND STILL your WWE NXT Champion: Ilja Dragunov

Not gonna lie, that felt short. And while it was the Top Rope H-Bomb that ended it, the match never made me believe Tony might capture the title. (Late research showed me I was wrong–this was 17 minutes and was the longest match of the program!)

Carmelo Hayes vs. Trick Williams

It was no surprise when this match was announced as the Stand & Deliver main event. It simply made sense. What’s crazy is the development of Trick Williams, wrestling on a Stand & Deliver for his first time ever, and doing so in the main event.

Hype video for this match was great, but almost felt unnecessary solely because everyone knows this story.
The only drawback of this feud was how long it took for Melo to be revealed as the one who attacked Trick. Even in the video package that was largely overlooked. I wonder how many casuals actually know that it happened that way?
Carmelo Hayes made his debut almost exactly 10 years ago, in April 2014. Trick, on the other hand debuted in late 2021, less than three years ago. That’s how fast Trick has developed.
With the brawling in the crowd (after the match started), and commentary constantly reminding us that Ava told the referee to provide “leniency,” you have to wonder why this match didn’t have any added stipulation/gimmick to it.
Nice little double dropkick spot done in a way you normally don’t see.
BIG BOOT!
Big dive to the floor from the middle rope from Melo to Trick.
“Justified” This Is Awesome chants, as Tony Khan would say.
Why did we need a ref bump in a match where the ref was already handcuffed? Let’s see …
So we got a chair, and a low blow. Since nothing followed the low blow, the crowd didn’t really buy the nearfall.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand ref bump #2.
Another, more believable, nearfall.
Trick Knee finishes the match.

Winner: Trick Williams

Look, it was a great match. Was it truly a “moment?” Tommaso Ciampa called it the biggest match in NXT history. And it might be Melo’s send-off. If so, I think it fell short. Think of the things that Ciampa and Johnny Gargano did in their Takeover matches. Hell, there was a women’s 4-way on a Takeover that got crazier than this. Trick is over, but I think this one missed a third gear to make it truly great. And I hate to say it.

Greg DeMarco’s Overall Thoughts on NXT Stand & Deliver 2024

My complaints about the match order (swap the two NXT title matches), and the lack of a third gear for Trick and Melo notwithstanding, this was one hell of a show. NXT is the future, and I need to remind myself about that. It’s a different NXT now then when Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa were trying to kill each other all over the building. It’s about populating the main roster, and so many of the stars we saw today will do just that. Trick and Melo will cross paths again, even if it’s not in NXT.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this show, and the most important point is that the future is bright. Damn bright.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Greg DeMarco’s Top 5: WWE WrestleMania 40 Opponents For Roman Reigns

It’s Royal Rumble season, which means we may soon know Roman Reigns’ WWE WrestleMania 40 opponent. Who are the candidates to challenge the Tribal Chief?

Published

4 months ago

December 30, 2023

Greg DeMarco

The start of 2024 will send us right into the Royal Rumble, which kickstarts the Road To WrestleMania, and the next milestone title defense for Roman Reigns! But who will his opponent be?

Roman Reigns’ historic championship reign is one that history will never forget, even if it can be polarizing for many fans online. Many of those fans believe it is a veritable lock that Cody Rhodes will get a rematch at WrestleMania 40 and unseat the longest reigning champion of the modern era. Doing so would be a major departure for WWE.

Only once in WWE history has the main event of WrestleMania been a rematch of the prior year’s main event: WrestleMania 29 saw John Cena defeat The Rock in a rematch of the prior year’s main event (which The Rock won). While there have been rematches at WrestleMania (including two famous trilogies featuring The Undertaker vs. Triple H and Steve Austin vs. The Rock), Cena-Rock is the only instance of a main event repeating in consecutive years.

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Could it happen this year? See what I think–here are your Top 5 WWE WrestleMania 40 Opponents For Roman Reigns!

5. AJ Styles

Recently making his return to WWE Smackdown, AJ Styles has been turning heads with his alignment. He seems to be a heel-leaning tweener, attacking LA Knight and not being buddy-buddy at all with Randy Orton. This is more of a vigilante AJ, one who is hell-bent on revenge on The Bloodline for taking him out. Many would expect his beef to be with Solo Sikoa, the man who put him on the shelf, but that was at the behest of The Tribal Chief.

I believe AJ will get his title shot, but I don’t expect it to be at WrestleMania 40. But if it were AJ Styles, the company would have no issue getting the match over, as AJ is one of the most beloved performers of this generation, and a WrestleMania main event would be quite the feather in the cap of an amazing career.

4. Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn is no stranger to the Premium Live Event main event, competing in multiple such matches in 2023–including the main event of night 1 of WrestleMania 39. He also challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Championship in Montreal at the Elimination Chamber event, a night those in attendance–and Sami himself–won’t soon forget.

Sami Zayn is currently out of action, but a Royal Rumble return–and victory–would be a surprising development but would also make Sami an amazing babyface headed into a WrestleMania 40 showdown with Roman Reigns. It also follows the pattern of underdog babyfaces “on the 10s,” following Bret Hart (WrestleMania 10), Chris Benoit (WrestleMania 20), and Daniel Bryan Danielson (WrestleMania 30) challenging for the world title in the WrestleMania main event.

3. Cody Rhodes

You may be surprised to find Cody “so low” on this list, coming in at #3. As I listed above, it’s a no-brainer to so many people. History says it won’t happen, but it’s easy to ignore history when it doesn’t suit your narrative. WWE, on the other hand, loves history, especially making history.

And the company will never be this close again to having someone surpass Hulk Hogan’s 1474 day reign as WWF Champion. It’s now or never for that historical marker, and it makes perfect sense to do it with Roman. They should have split the titles in 2022 at Clash At The Castle (utilizing Austin Theory’s Money In The Bank briefcase and a wiseman in Paul Heyman smart enough to find a loophole that Theory could only cash in on one championship, thus when Drew McIntyre pinned Theory he only won one title–the WWE Championship). So if you assume Roman is breaking Hogan’s reign, it makes zero sense to have Cody lose AGAIN in the main event of WrestleMania.

For those of you who say “there’s no way Cody doesn’t win it at 40,” remember that you also said the same thing about WrestleMania 39. I do believe Cody Rhodes finishes the story–at WrestleMania 41 (potentially in London) when he is the man to finally take the title off of Roman Reigns.

2. CM Punk

Speaking of another guy looking to finish a story, CM Punk is on a mission to finally secure his WrestleMania main event (although his WrestleMania 28 title defense against Chris Jericho WAS considered a main event by WWE–but you know Punk and many others believing the main event is only the match that goes on last).

If Punk is going to get a show-closing match at WrestleMania 40, it’s likely going to have to be against Roman Reigns. You might think Punk vs. Seth Rollins is going to main event night 1, but there’s a small issue with that. WrestleMania 37 is the last “Granddaddy Of Them All” to have women in a main event match. I just can’t see Triple H being the guy to keep them out of that slot for a third straight year.

The only way CM Punk gets his WrestleMania main event at 40 in Philly is to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Roman Reigns. I don’t think that happens as I fully expect Punk vs. Rollins to happen, just with no championship involved.

Honorable Mentions – a few darkhorse/longshots to challenge Reigns in Philly include…

GUNTHER.
Seth Rollins
A Bloodline 4-way vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso.
Brock Lesnar.

Just kidding on that last one! 😁

1. Randy Orton

It’s crazy to think that Randy Orton was last in a WrestleMania main event at WM30–a full decade ago. Hell, Triple H has a more recent WrestleMania main event (WM32), along with Daniel Bryan Danielson (WM37). Orton has been white-hot since his return. He was also rumored to be Roman’s SummerSlam 2022 opponent before the injury (that turned into Roman vs. Brock Lesnar in the now-famous Last Man Standing Match that featured Brock nearly destroying the ringside area with a tractor).

It’s also crazy to think that the internet fanbase chooses to ignore Randy’s place in WWE history. A Royal Rumble win would make him only the second three-time Rumble winner, alongside “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Orton is also crazy over with the casual fanbase. And remember, THAT is the target audience, not us.

Daddy’s Back, he’s winning the Royal Rumble, and (unsuccessfully) challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the Night 2 main event of WrestleMania 40.