NXT Stand & Deliver 2022 recap & reactions: 2.0 delivers

Welcome, everyone, to Stand & Deliver! NXT’s culmination of a hectic 12 months is finally here. Claire has you covered on the play-by-play, and I’m analyzing what it all means in the grand scheme of things for a brand in the midst of change.

Ready?

Good. Let’s talk Stand & Deliver!

To…the…moon

Before we get into this incredible match proper-like, let me say this again: Trick Williams is THE MVP. Of the match, of the brand, and quite possibly of the year. Trick brings so much to the proceedings with his mannerisms, his willingness to do whatever, say whatever, and serve as a Swiss Army knife for anything of which he’s involved. Salute that man. If you’re in Dallas this weekend and happen to see him, give him props.

This adjourns this meeting of the Trick Williams Appreciation Society. We now return to your regularly scheduled program.

This ladder match. I mean, seriously. This ladder match. I didn’t understand Stand & Deliver setting it off with a match of this caliber and with these stakes.

Then it happened and I was overjoyed with the direction they chose. The story of Carmelo Hayes’ reign is his desire to fight any and everyone. He takes on all comers. Not due to a sense of pride like a normal babyface champion, but because his ego needs feeding.

Without a tall challenge in front of him, that ego starves and suffers from malnourishment. On more than one occasion, I said homie bites off more than he can chew. With this food metaphor stretched as far as it can go, the bottomline is Melo’s hubris finally bit him in the ass.

Cameron Grimes is your new NXT North American champion, and Melo was literally on his back when it happened.

The match started with Melo in the center of the ring talking trash to his competitors. Hayes told them straight up and down, they’re not worthy of his championship. Well, if you know professional sports entertainment wrestling, you know those are fighting words. A brawl ensued, with Santos Escobar dominating for quite a bit. His luchador flavor was necessary for this brawl and also proved detrimental. But we’ll get to that.

The match’s tempo changed when all the managers, bodyguards, and stablemates on the outside finally got involved. Sanga threw Grayson Waller a ladder. LdF sent Santos a ladder. Trick not only set up a ladder for his boy and tossed people off to save the title, but he climbed it once as well. He ended up on the outside of the ring as a result, but like so many times in the past, Trick was more than willing to take a bullet for his best friend.

Eventually, the outside noise was neutralized. LdF took out Sanga, which included a beautiful top rope cross body from Elektra Lopez to Grayson Waller, while Trick spent the last half of the match recovering from, ya know, getting thrown off said ladder.

Eventually, with bodies everywhere, it came down to Cameron Grimes and Carmelo Hayes. It was always going to be that, right? They battled on the apron and, like a pair of opponents who know each other way too well, traded simultaneous pump kicks. Grimes landed on the apron while Hayes landed on a ladder.

And this is where the match turned.

Grayson Waller, more concerned with going viral, jumped from the tallest ladder possible to land a big move on Hayes. But, as is the case with Waller way too often, he took too long. He soaked in the moment just a bit longer than necessary, and missed big. Now, I’m still not sure if Melo simply moved or if Trick pulled him out of the way since Trick had a front row view.

Since this is a Trick Williams love fest, I’m going with the latter in my head canon. While Trick and Melo looked on at a broken ladder and an even more broken Waller, the match continued.

Melo took to the ring, took a Phantom Driver from Escobar, and was defenseless to what happened next. Santos turned around to catch a Cave In from Grimes off of a ladder.

With bodies everywhere and another ladder still erect in the middle of the ring, Grimes climbed to the moon and finally delivered on his promise.

Dope match, dope match, dope match. There’s nothing more to say. But I will…

While I wanted Melo to win because I love Melo, this is the right call in the moment. Time will tell where everyone goes from here, but Cameron Grimes as the North American champ certainly sets a different tone and vibe. There’s also a chance Melo and Trick are taking their act to the main roster. Or, maybe, going after the NXT championship.

But that’s for later. For now? Give all the flowers to everyone involved, and watch this match right now if you missed it live.

The Queen Stay the Queen

There was a telling moment early in Fatal 4-Way for the NXT Women’s championship. Kay Lee Ray and Io Shirai had their fun with Cora Jade and Mandy Rose. They met back in the middle of the ring, shook hands, and proceeded to…