The March 31, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
- Cameron Grimes def. Roderick Strong.
- Santos Escobar def. Tyler Breeze
- The Way def. two jobbers
- Raquel Gonzalez def. Zoey Stark.
- Tian Sha def. Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro
- LA Knight wins Battle Royal
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
New Title Match
The Way (Candice LeRae and indie Heartwell) beat two jobbers in a quick match. After the bout, LeRae cut a very good promo about how she deserves to be a champion and that they are coming after the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles. Thus, they’ll do it their way and at TakeOver.
Thus, an official challenge to the current champions Ember moon and Shotzi Blackheart. Fast forward a few seconds, Moon and Blackheart came out on a tank. Shotzi questioned LeRae for thinking they should have the titles. They called them crazy and accepted the challenge. They promised to win the match. Blackheart shot something out of her tank and then rolled to the back.
Final Build
With this being the go-home edition of NXT for next week’s TakeOver special, you know WWE would want to hit home the main event of the second night hard. Of course, the second night will be headlined by Finn Balor defending the NXT Title against Karrion Kross.
So what did WWE do on this show? In the first hour, we had a video that aired of Kross training and talking about what he was doing to prepare for the match. Scarlett changed up her look by having a different hair style. Kross said that Balor’s gameplan was to outlast him, but time isn’t on his side.
The second hour saw Balor cut a video package while a video of him working out. He said that his stamina has always been his strength and the longer it goes, he will drown Kross in the deep water.
Raquel Gonzalez vs. Zoey Stark
Raquel Gonzalez vs. Zoey Stark in a singles match took place. The back and forth match ended with Raquel winning with her finisher. Raquel gets better and better while Stark, who the company is behind, continues to drop losses for whatever reason.
Post-match, Io came out and brawled with Raquel, but the heel managed to stand tall by sending Io into the barricade.
Just last week, Gonzalez & Dakota Kai defeated Shirai & Stark in a tag team match when Raquel got the pinfall victory by pinning Stark. Post-match, Gonzalez attacked Shirai and slammed her onto the announce table.
Shirai vs. Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s Championship will be the main event of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one.
Prime Target
WWE has filmed various angles for the feud between Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly over the past few weeks. The two stars are slated to work an unsanctioned match at the upcoming TakeOver special.
Instead of doing another angle, the company decided to air a Prime Target segment, which is basically a long video package, to further promote the match.
It all started at the last TakeOver special when Cole turned on O’Reilly. Since then, the Undisputed Era has broken up.
Roderick Strong vs. Cameron Grimes
Roderick Strong vs. Cameron Grimes took place in a singles match.
The match opened the show. It had a back and forth style with some near falls towards the end. In the end, it was Grimes winning after he distracted Strong by dropping an Undisputed Era armband and hitting a double foot stomp.
WWE set up this bout on last week’s show when there was a backstage segment where Strong punched Grimes. This came after Grimes had come up to Strong and wanted to buy Undisputed Era’s intellectual property.
Battle Royal
Dexter Lumis, Bronson Reed, Pete Dunne, Cameron Grimes, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Leon Ruff, Kushida, Austin Theory, LA Knight, Tyler Rust, and Jake Atlas in a battle royal took place. The way the match worked was the final six wrestlers in the battle royal advancing to a Gauntlet Eliminator match that’s taking place at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one.
Reed did some damage with a few different eliminations. They did a spot where Theory saved himself from being eliminated, but did a kip-up and landed on his feet. Thus, an elimination. Kushida and Dunne were the final two eliminations.
As a result, the final six competitors are Bronson Reed, Dexter Lumis, Cameron Grimes, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Leon Ruff, and LA Knight. The winner of the match was Knight, who will enter Gauntlet Eliminator last.
The Gauntlet Eliminator match will start with two wrestlers in the ring and every three minutes, a new wrestler was added. Eliminations occurred via pinfall or submission.