NXT Stand and Deliver: St Louis
Welcome to Four Pitches!
I haven’t decided what I want to do for the intro of this series, so I figured fuuuuugg it. Let it just be what ever I am feeling in the moment. Right now, I am feeling pretty good! Tired.. but good. Honestly, very excited to get back into the swing of things creatively with this series. Maybe it lands me a job one day. Oh boy, oh diggity dog!!
Alrighty then… well anyways - It’s going to be a full month of action packed wrestling events and NXT Stand and Deliver kicks us off. I picked the four matches I wanted to pitch for, so if I missed the match you wanted to read, I got TWO WORDS FOR YA: sorry bud. Maybe I will start some sort of voting system for fans of this series but for now, tough luck buttercup!
So let’s get crackin’! (I doubt that tagline is sticking around)
Myles Borne vs Johnny Gargano
(For the NXT North American Championship)
I don’t think I am being unfair in saying that Johnny Gargano has had a tough time connecting with the WWE live audience. The internet loves him. The NXT universe loves him. But the main roster live audience just isn’t picking it up. The same can be said for MCMG. In fact, on Smackdown Candice Larae seems to be scheming up something between MCMG and Johnny.
So with that in mind, I would have Johnny win the belt. But I wouldn’t move him to NXT. Nope - Johnny is using this belt as a way to go everywhere. He’s with the belt on Smackdown. Then you see him on NXT as well, defending it. Then woaaaaah, is that Johnny Gargano in the Impact Zone, showing up on a TNA PPV? ¿Es ese Johnny en la AAA? (Is that Johnny in the AAA?) Speaking of AAA… they have a Trios Championship. Johnny Gargano and MCMG in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide would be AMAZING - and those doors seemingly open up with championship victory.
The Trios Championships is a little bit of a bonus what if but the focus here is Johnny gets more TV time, more social media highlight clips, just more exposure overall. And I don’t think Myles is negatively affected by this either. As long as NXT keeps him in prominent storylines and matches, he can afford a loss.
Sol Ruca vs Zaria
These two have an interesting dynamic. The crowd are fully behind Zaria, because everything she is accusing Sol Ruca of doing - they agree with. I really can’t tell if the seeds have been planted for a double turn this whole time OR if Sol was just accidentally a huge bitch lol. Simply because it feels like this whole thing was dragged out, and teased, then dragged out some more. Either way, today I am NOT pitching the double turn route. Instead, we are going John Cena vs Brock Lesnar Summerslam 2016. Zaria DESTROYS Sol. Sends her ass packing, all the way to the main roster - which is not a bad place to land honestly.
I think Sol Ruca’s time on the main roster is coming sooner than later. And let’s say WWE doesn't have it planned until Summerslam. The NXT crowd are not happy with Sol. The only thing you could really do with her right now is turn her heel… but if she is main roster bound, do we want her being called up as a heel too? She is clearly babyface material, despite the way this storyline played out. The call up has to be immediately, or way later. I prefer immediately. Zaria gets to leave Stand and Deliver with a huge victory, and have every reason to be next up for the NXT Women’s Championship.
The Vanity Project vs Los Americanos
(For the NXT Tag Team Championships)
The Vanity Project got a hot start in NXT by winning the tag team championship about a month into their official debut. At the time, Jackson Drake had the Evolve Championship as well. Since that hot start, Drake has lost his championship title. And I think Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes should lose their titles too. The schtick really only works if they brats. We established them with the championship win, now let’s give them some character development by ripping those titles away. Immediately after losing, they can start whining and complaining. Entitlement promos. The whole nine yards.
Now - I know Birth Right is also a heel stable full of ‘entitled brats’ via nepotism. So how would I help differentiate the two groups? I would have Vanity Project become lackeys for Blake Monroe. Shiloh Hill was the one to give up Monroe’s location to Tatum Paxley right? Well, how is Monroe going to get her revenge? Send in the boys.That story would play out like this: They all have a big ol crush on Blake. They do all her bidding. They slowly start to realize she is completely insane and unhinged behind the pretty face. But it’s too late - they can’t escape her. She has become intertwined in their lives.
Los Americanos picking up the championship belts is perfect too because I have a HUGE feeling El Grande Americano is going to win a title in AAA very soon. The whole crew having gold around their waist will make for a great visual. Or even if Los Americanos lose theirs during the journey, they could add that as a layer in the chapter of El Grande’s story. Plus the NXT roster has more heel teams than babyface teams, so we needed to get the belts onto a team that will allow those heel teams a chance to chase something.
Jacy Jayne vs Kendal Grey vs Lola Vice
(For the NXT Women’s Championship)
Fatal Attraction has dominated the NXT women’s division for a while now, and it feels like the right time to switch up Chef HBK’s cooking. So what flavor is Chef Chico cooking with? Nine times out of ten I’m taking Lola, but today I’m rolling with Kendal Grey.
A peak behind the curtain: I originally planned to go with Lola. She’s come up short a few times already, and it would be satisfying to see her finally win the big one. (Side note: has anyone else noticed that she keeps getting title shots by interrupting other wrestlers who were calling for their own? It’s happened at least twice! It’s honestly pretty funny). But I’m making the ol’ switcharoo, and here’s why.
I’ve been a BIG fan of Kendal Grey since she first appeared on NXT. Honestly, she could’ve gone straight to the main roster, but extra time to develop her character is never a bad thing. The bigger reason for my pick is that the championship has been held by a heel for so long that a babyface champion would breathe fresh air into the division.
And I know Lola could fill that role too, but Kendal comes with a ready-made story already in place. Her connection to Wren Sinclair, who’s connected to Charlie Dempsey, who is in The Birthright, sets up a potential feud with TNA Knockouts Champion Arianna Grace. Lola has been a fixture in NXT, while the wrestlers around Kendal represent a newer wave of talent. Let’s invest in that and give Grey the win.
TA DA!
Well there ya go! Hope you enjoyed that and I will see you in just a few days for AEW Dynasty! (I haven’t fleshed out an outro yet either. Tune in next week, where you will find that I still haven’t fleshed it out. Good stuff)