Summary

NXT followed up Stand & Deliver on April 7 with a show from the Performance Center in Orlando that pushed several stories forward at once. The episode opened with Tony D’Angelo’s celebration getting interrupted by Ricky Saints, Ethan Page and Joe Hendry before DarkState entered the picture, and it closed with new NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice standing tall after her first challenger was confirmed.

The show also featured the start of the tournament to crown a new NXT Speed Champion, more movement around the men’s scene with Keanu Carver and Myles Borne, and another chapter in the tension between Sol Ruca and ZARIA. That issue had already been heating up before Stand & Deliver, including their clash in New York ahead of the event.

Results

Izzi Dame defeated Sol Ruca after ZARIA interfered.

Keanu Carver defeated Jasper Troy and Josh Briggs in a triple threat match.

Ethan Page, Joe Hendry, Ricky Saints and Tony D’Angelo defeated DarkState (Dion Lennox, Saquon Shuggars, Osiris Griffin and Cutler James).

Lexis King defeated Chazz Hall in the NXT Speed Championship tournament.

Blake Monroe and Jackson Drake defeated Shiloh Hill and Tatum Paxley.

Lola Vice and Tony D’Angelo leave NXT with new pressure

Lola Vice did not get a long victory lap as champion. Her celebration was cut off by Fatal Influence, and Robert Stone quickly made the next title match official by announcing Vice will defend the NXT Women’s Championship against Jayne next week. That gives NXT an immediate championship hook coming out of Stand & Deliver instead of letting the new reign settle in.

Tony D’Angelo also came out of the night with more attention around him than answers. He was part of the winning team against DarkState, but the opening segment and Keanu Carver’s later confrontation kept the focus on how crowded the picture around him has become.

What the Speed tournament and the Ruca loss mean for NXT

The Speed tournament now has one result on the board with Lexis King advancing, which gives NXT another active thread to build across weekly television. It is a smaller development than the women’s title scene, but it still adds a clear competition structure to the brand.

Sol Ruca’s loss matters because it was not clean. ZARIA costing her the match keeps that rivalry alive and gives NXT an easy path to revisit the feud after the Stand & Deliver fallout show.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.