WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand And Deliver (Night One) 4/7/21

DATE: April 7, 2021 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
AVAILABLE ON:USA Network, Peacock, WWE Network (Outside of the U.S.)

The Kickoff pre-show will air at 7pm ET via the WWE Network on Peacock, and all WWE digital platforms.

CARD

NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Io Shirai (c) vs. Raquel Gonzalez with Dakota Kai

NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (VACANT)
MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma

NXT UK CHAMPIONSHIP
WALTER (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa

GAUNTLET ELIMINATOR FOR A NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Leon Ruff (first participant) vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott (second participant) vs. Bronson Reed (third participant) vs. Cameron Grimes (fourth participant) vs. Dexter Lumis (fifth participant) vs. LA Knight (final participant)
Winner challenges NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano on Night Two.

Pete Dunne vs. Kushida

Kickoff Pre-show
Toni Storm vs. Zoey Stark

WWE NXT “Takeover: Stand And Deliver” Night One To Also Air On Peacock And WWE Network

WWE NXT “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” Night One and Night Two will both air on Peacock and the WWE Network.

Night One was originally announced to air exclusively on the USA Network next Wednesday at 8pm ET, making it the final Wednesday night show for the brand before it moves to Tuesdays beginning April 13. However, WWE has announced that Takeover Night One will also air on Peacock and the WWE Network while it’s airing on USA.

Night Two will still air exclusively on Peacock and the WWE Network. It was previously indicated that Night One will be available for on-demand viewing on the WWE Network the following day, while Night Two would be available for replays immediately after it airs.

Takeover is scheduled to begin at 8pm ET on both nights, but there is a two-night Kickoff pre-show. That is scheduled to begin at 7pm ET.

Stay tuned for more on the NXT “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event, which will air from the Capitol Wrestling Center at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL. Below is the current card:

NIGHT ONE – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7 ON THE USA NETWORK:

NXT Women’s Title Match
Raquel Gonzalez vs. Io Shirai (c)

Triple Threat for the Vacant NXT Tag Team Titles
MSK vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma

NXT UK Title Match
Tommaso Ciampa vs. WALTER (c)

Gauntlet Eliminator for a NXT North American Title Shot
Leon Ruff (first participant) vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott (second participant) vs. Bronson Reed (third participant) vs. Cameron Grimes (fourth participant) vs. Dexter Lumis (fifth participant) vs. LA Knight (final participant)
Winner challenges NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano on Night Two.

Pete Dunne vs. Kushida

NIGHT TWO – THURSDAY, APRIL 8 ON THE WWE NETWORK:

NXT Title Match
Karrion Kross vs. Finn Balor (c)

Ladder Match for Cruiserweight Title Unification
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin vs. NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar

NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles Match
The Way vs. Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart (c)

NXT North American Title Match
Gauntlet Eliminator winner vs. Johnny Gargano (c)

Unsanctioned Match: No Rules, No Liability
Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Taya Valkyrie Getting New Ring Name And Bringing Her Dog To WWE NXT Next Month?

It looks like Taya Valkyrie is set to make her WWE NXT debut on the first episode after next week’s two-night “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event.

Last night’s Takeover go-home edition of NXT on the USA Network featured a series of vignettes where a Pomeranian dog was seen running through the Capitol Wrestling Center at the WWE Performance Center. The dog finally ran up to a woman in boots. The only part of the woman shown was her boots, but it said she would be coming on April 13, which is the first NXT episode to air in the new Tuesday night timeslot on the WWE Network. The final part of the vignette featured writing on the screen that said “Franky” will see us soon.

Earlier this month WWE filed to trademark the “Franky Monet” name for general pro wrestling and sports entertainment use. It looks like this will be the name of the “Franky” teased in tonight’s promo.

Fans online noticed that the dog used in the vignette is Presley, one of the pets owned by Valkyrie and her husband, WWE RAW Superstar John Morrison. They have an Instagram account for both of their dogs, Presley and Bowie, at @the_pee_boyz. Taya has carried Presley at various wrestling shows in the past, including for a few Impact Wrestling appearances.

There is some online speculation that Valkyrie will use another name, and that the dog will go by the “Franky” name but that has not been confirmed, and it’s more likely that Valkyrie’s new ring name in NXT will be Franky Monet.

As seen below, WWE tweeted a screenshot from the April 13 teaser and indicated that Franky could be the name of the dog. They wrote, “How are we gonna wait that long? Franky stole our heart. [dog emoji][growing heart emoji] #WWENXT”

Valkyrie has re-tweeted several of the dog tweets from tonight’s show, and she also re-tweeted a USA Network tweet that teased her as the new character.

“If that’s who we think it is… @WWENXT is gonna be loca in April 13th. #WWENXT,” USA tweeted.

Valkyrie is a former Impact Knockouts Champion and a former three-time AAA Reina de Reinas Champion. She debuted for Impact in September 2017 and left in January of this year, leaving the company as the longest-reigning Knockouts Champion in history. Valkyrie signed with WWE in mid-February and reported to the WWE Performance Center to begin training in late February.

There is no word yet on what WWE has planned for Valkyrie, Below are shots from the related vignettes on tonight’s show, along with recent photos of Taya and Presley:

WWE NXT Preview 3/31/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will be the go-home show for next week’s “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event. This will also be the last regular Wednesday night episode before NXT moves to Tuesday nights on April 13.

WWE NXT Superstar Danny Burch To Miss Several Months With Injury

WWE NXT Superstar Danny Burch will miss several months of in-ring action due to his shoulder injury.

Burch suffered a separated shoulder during last week’s NXT main event, which saw he and Oney Lorcan retain the NXT Tag Team Titles over Karrion Kross and NXT Champion Finn Balor. The injury came when Kross hit a double suplex and Burch landed awkwardly.

Vic Joseph noted during this week’s NXT show that Burch is expected to be out of action for 6 months.

NXT General Manager William Regal was forced to vacate the NXT Tag Team Titles due to Burch’s injury. Night One of “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” on Wednesday, April 7 will feature a Triple Threat for the vacant titles with MSK vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma.

There’s no word on what WWE has planned for Lorcan while Burch is out. He lost a singles match to Kross on tonight’s show. There has been some speculation on Lorcan and Pete Dunne teaming up.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 3/24/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature more build for the upcoming two-night “TakeOver: Stand and Deliver” event during WrestleMania 37 Week.

WWE NXT Preview 3/17/2021

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature more build for the upcoming two-night “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event during WrestleMania 37 Week.

WWE is teasing more in the new feud between Karrion Kross and NXT Champion Finn Balor for tonight’s episode.

It was previously announced that Leon Ruff vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott would be happening tonight, plus tag team action with Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Imperium’s Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner, but the WWE website indicates that those matches may have been pulled, possibly due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak.

As of this writing the following matches are being advertised for tonight:

* Karrion Kross sets his sights on NXT Champion Finn Balor

* NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin returns to the United States to confront NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar

* Austin Theory vs. Dexter Lumis

* LA Knight makes his NXT in-ring debut

WWE NXT Moving To Tuesday Nights Update

While not official as of this writing, it looks like the so-called Wednesday Night War between WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite will be coming to an end next month.

We noted earlier this month how there were reports of NXT moving to Tuesday nights on the USA Network. In an update, PWInsider has confirmed with WWE sources that the first NXT episode coming out of WrestleMania 37 Weekend is scheduled to air on Tuesday, April 13 on the USA Network.

It was noted that the internal production calendar for WrestleMania 37 Week currently has a taping scheduled for Tuesday, April 13.

NXT moving to Tuesday nights would put the show head-to-head against Impact Wrestling on AXS. NXT will likely remain in the 8pm time slot, the same time that Impact hits the air.

NXT has a two-night “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” event scheduled for WrestleMania 37 Week. Night 1 will air on Wednesday, April 7, and that looks to be the final NXT broadcast for Wednesday nights. Night 2 will air on Thursday, April 8, via Peacock and the WWE Network.

There’s no word on when WWE plans to announce the move to Tuesday nights.

WWE NXT To Remain On Wednesday Nights?

The Walt Disney Company, which owns ESPN and ABC, announced a seven-year rights agreement with the NHL that is worth $400 million per year. This is double the price that NBC Universal has with the NHL.

The NHL is still negotiating with other companies for a second rights package as their deal with ESPN is mostly for streaming and only half of the NHL playoffs. NBC previously had exclusive rights to the NHL in a 10-year deal worth around $2 billion, which expires in October.

NHL games had been airing on Wednesday nights on the NBC Sports Network, which will be shutting down this year. With the network shutting down, it was expected that the Wednesday Night NHL games would likely move to the USA Network, which would result in the weekly WWE NXT show moving to Tuesdays.

NBC is still in negotiations with the NHL for the other half of the rights package. Fox Sports and CBS are also expected to put in bids. According to Sports Business Journal, negotiations between NBC and the NHL “had been strained over the past several weeks, especially as it pertains to price.”

If NBCU does secure the rights to the NHL, then NXT will likely move to Tuesdays. However if the rights go to FOX Sports or CBS, then it’s possible that NXT will remain on Wednesdays head-to-head with AEW Dynamite.

It is expected that once the NFL’s television rights are finalized in the next couple of weeks, it will be more clear where the three networks stand with the NHL package.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Takeover Two-Day Event Announced For WrestleMania 37 Week

The first-ever two-day WWE NXT Takeover special is now official for WrestleMania 37 Week.

NXT General Manager William Regal opened last night’s NXT broadcast on the USA Network and announced that NXT “TakeOver: Stand and Deliver” will air on Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, April 8.

Night 1 will air as the weekly NXT episode on the USA Network at 8pm ET. Night 2 will air exclusively on the WWE Network on Peacock for fans in the United States, and on the WWE Network internationally.

There’s no word yet on matches planned for “TakeOver: Stand and Deliver” but stay tuned as we will keep you updated.

Regal also opened tonight’s NXT show by announcing the first-ever NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles.

Below is a clip from the promo in last night’s announcement by Regal, along with the TakeOver logo: