WWE NXT Stand & Deliver 2022 Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of WWE NXT Stand & Deliver 2022.

This event kicks off WrestleMania Weekend and is the biggest show of the year for the NXT brand. All the titles are on the line with the potential for some game-changing shifts in the roster, including the possible last match of Tommaso Ciampa.

Check in here as we break down what happened, who won each match and all the notable highlights you need to know with NXT Stand & Deliver.

As advertised, here are the matches scheduled to take place:

• (Kickoff) NXT Women's Tag Team Championship Match: Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez defeated Toxic Attraction (c) by pinfall to win the titles.
• NXT North American Championship Ladder Match: Cameron Grimes defeated Carmelo Hayes (c), Grayson Waller, Santos Escobar and Solo Sikoa to win the title.
• Tony D'Angelo defeated Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall.
• NXT Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match: MSK defeated Imperium (c) and The Creed Brothers by pinfall to win the titles.
• NXT Women's Championship Fatal 4-Way Match: Mandy Rose (c) defeated Cora Jade, Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray by pinfall.
• GUNTHER defeated LA Knight by pinfall.
• NXT Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler (c) defeated Bron Breakker by pinfall.

The pre-show panel consisted of McKenzie Mitchell and Sam Roberts with a returning Beth Phoenix. They broke down the card and gave their predictions, running down all the angles, along with some other insight by Kayla Braxton, Peter Rosenberg and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila.

Eventually, Edris Enofe interrupted the discussion around Malcolm Bivens and the NXT Tag Team Championship match for a backstage segment wherein he pranked Malik Blade as a belated April Fools joke to unknowingly enter Imperium's locker room, rather than Toxic Attraction's. Blade had a gift basket he wanted to give to Mandy Rose to show his affection for her, but got an eye full of Imperium getting changed. He said he would be scarred for life seeing that.

Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta took Dexter Lumis and Duke Hudson shopping for new clothes to be the sexiest cowboy in Dallas.

Capping off the pre-show was the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship match.

Reunited best friends Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez were chock full of positive energy.

One of the biggest stories told was how Kai has been rejuvenated, implying her fragile state of mind as of late was guilt over ruining her friendship. This appeared to be the trick, as while the tag team champions weren't willing to go down without a fight, their time as champions has come to an end.

With a little help from Wendy Choo's interference, Gonzalez scored the pin on Jayne. This will be their second time as tag team champions and unless they lose the belts by the end of this show, it will already be a longer title reign.

Grade

B-

Noteworthy Moments and Observations

• Jacy Jayne broke out an old school D-Generation X crotch chop.
• The crowd didn't pop for Kai kicking out of the Toxic Shock, possibly because everyone assumed it wouldn't be the end of the match.
• Wendy Choo got a measure of revenge when she hit Gigi Dolin with a pillow, followed up with a cup of coffee to the face. Someone woke up from their nap on the wrong side of the bed!

The main card started with a bang as five of NXT's brightest stars battled it out in a grueling ladder match for the North American Championship.

Only Cameron Grimes and the champion, Carmelo Hayes, received entrances outside of the kickoff. That would have normally spoiled the finish as being down to those two, but all five Superstars had moments where they looked like they could win it.

The two babyfaces, Grimes and Solo Sikoa, had their work cut out for them as the three heels had some extra help on the outside. Legado del Fantasma, Trick Williams and Sanga even had an elongated segment mid-match where they were the bulk of the action while everyone else was laid out.

With one rush of adrenaline, Grimes managed to speed his way up the ladder and capture the title to honor his late father.

As Hayes wasn't pinned or made to tap out, it was a good way for him to lose the championship and still look strong, freeing him up for better things to come.

Grade

A

Noteworthy Moments and Observations

• After everyone else did a tope suicida or flip to the outside, Grayson Waller hyped himself up to run and do the same, only to grab a ladder and try to get the title. What a simple, but great heel moment.
• Fans are going to chant "Uso" at Solo Sikoa no matter what. WWE might as well turn into the skid and rebrand him as an official third Uso brother.
• Escobar had the best spot with his sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder to Sikoa.

Despite Tommaso Ciampa being the veteran, he was fighting as if he was the one with something to prove, rather than NXT rookie Tony D'Angelo, who was looking to make a name for himself at Ciampa's expense.

There was an air of desperation at times as Ciampa rushed to regain control any time he was on the ropes, exposed the concrete on the outside of the ring and fought like a man possessed.

Even still, it was D'Angelo who bent the rules with a low blow, though that wasn't enough to put The Blackheart down for good.

Surprisingly, D'Angelo wasn't ready to lose, either, even to a Fairytale Ending, and managed to outlast a Gargano Escape (which prompted the crowd to chant for Johnny Wrestling.)

Ciampa's decision to expose the concrete was a reversal of fortune as D'Angelo laid him out with a DDT that would give him the win.

After the match, Ciampa received his "thank you Ciampa" chants from the crowd. Triple H then came out to embrace him and give him a few more minutes of reflection and admiration.

Grade

B

Noteworthy Moments and Observations

• Ciampa did both the Triple H and Shawn Michaels entrance taunts as a nice nod to his mentors.
• "Where's my pizza?" may be the chant of the night.

The mat is sacred to Imperium, but Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner should have said another prayer or two prior to this title defense.

MSK would have been enough of a threat, flipping around with frenetic energy and flying all over the place as they do best. But the addition of Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament winners The Creed Brothers and their amateur wrestling skills made it even more impossible for the champions to retain their titles.

This felt relatively short. Seemingly just as it started picking up steam, it was over and MSK recaptured the titles with a pin out of seemingly nowhere.

The Creed Brothers are still on the hunt and Imperium will be looking for vengeance, but Nash Carter and Wes Lee are back at the top of the division for the time being.

Grade

B

Noteworthy Moments and Observations

• Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 is a royalty free classical piece. Why did WWE change Imperium's entrance to some generic other music when the previous song fit so much better and wouldn't cost them any rights problems?

Much like how the North American Championship match felt like a two-man show at first between Hayes and Grimes, this Fatal 4-Way gave off a vibe that it was very much more about Cora Jade and Mandy Rose with Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray acting as filler.

As per usual, all parties had moments on top, but whenever Shirai or Ray had momentum on their side, it didn't feel like they were truly about to win. Their near-falls were met with less enthusiasm, even though there was a "let's go Io" chant that broke out.

After all the back-and-forth, wherein nothing in particular stood out, Rose stole the pinfall after Shirai had hit her patented moonsault and eaten a kick from the champion.

Grade

C

Noteworthy Moments and Observations

• Cora Jade had others on skateboards accompany her to the ring, but Mandy Rose descended with angel wings on what Wade Barrett played off as his former podium for the better entrance of the night.
• The new championship belt looks great.

The NXT Women's Championship Fatal 4-Way was a weaker entry than the other matches before it, but LA Knight vs. Gunther followed it up with something even lesser.

This was textbook filler. Knight got some shots in, but it was a rather short story of giving Gunther a victory and not much more else to it. No notable maneuvers or moments took place to stand out.

This offsets some of Imperium's loss from the night, but with losing the tag team titles and getting a boring new theme, this isn't a great night for the faction, even with Gunther's victory over Knight.

At the very least, both Superstars performing on a big stage like this should get them some more notoriety within the WWE Universe for those who may not normally follow the NXT product.

Grade

C-

Noteworthy Moments and Observations

• Gunther is definitely getting in better shape. His physique has never looked better.

The main event for the NXT Championship was formulaic, but in exactly the right ways. There was a simple story to tell and overcomplicating it would have just become messy.

Dolph Ziggler had some outside help with Robert Roode and was the veteran. Bron Breakker was the rookie who was outclassed here and there, but still had the power and hunger to nearly win the title back on numerous occasions.

Surprisingly, after Breakker had kicked out of a Zig Zag for a very close near-fall, The Showoff still managed to land a superkick and retain the title. This seemed to upset the crowd, but it at least presents an interesting hook for the future of NXT.

If it isn't Breakker's brand going forward and Ziggler will remain there, who is the next in line for the title and this youth movement?

Grade

B

Noteworthy Moments and Observations

• Breakker broke the X from the NXT black and gold logo. Here, he used a chainsaw to cut the X of the NXT 2.0 logo. Is his gimmick just to rebrand NXT every few months by destroying the logos?

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.