NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver: Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart Retain NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship

The NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships remain in the hands of Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart, as the pair emerged victorious over Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell. After a high-flying affair highlighted by bodies flying everywhere (along with a scary moment where Blackheart dived through the ropes and almost entirely missed her opponents), Moon landed a double Eclipse on LeRae and Hartwell and then Blackheart finished the job with a diving senton on Hartwell.

The rivalry between The Way, Blackheart, and Moon goes back months after Blackheart interfered in a match between LeRae and Shirai during Halloween Havoc, preventing LeRae from capitalizing on Hartwell’s interference to win the championship. Blackheart and LeRae later were named captains of their respective WarGames teams, with Blackheart recruiting Moon as her first teammate. While LeRae’s team picked up the win (with future NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez pinning then-champion Io Shirai), Blackheart and Moon remained teammates and had a great showing in the Women’s Dusty Classic tournament. While they came up short in the tournament, Blackheart and Moon picked up the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship by challenging Gonzalez and Dakota Kai right after they were awarded the title, thus kicking off their championship reign.

LeRae and Hartwell keep losing high profile matches, so you have to wonder what’s next for the duo, as they seem to be out of both the NXT Women’s title and the Tag Team titles. Hartwell seems to have an obsession with frequent Way foil Dexter Lumis, so it’s likely that relationship will continue to create friction between Hartwell and her frequent partner. Moon and Blackheart meanwhile will look to continue to build the NXT Women’s Tag Team division, continuing their series of strong title defenses against all comers.