WWE's Ilja Dragunov Retains NXT Title at Stand & Deliver

WWE's Ilja Dragunov defeats Tony D'Angelo to retain NXT Championship at Stand & Deliver

By Matthew Aguilar

Tony D'Angelo made his presence felt by shaking up the NXT Championship picture, kicking Carmelo Hayes out of the mix and becoming the number 1 contender to Ilja Dragunov's NXT Title. Since then the two superstars have had several intriguing collisions, and it all led to today's electrifying battle between the two fan-favorites. D'Angelo focused his attention on Dragunov's ailing hand, and that continued to be a factor throughout the match. Surprisingly D'Angelo turned away brass knuckles to keep things fair, as he wanted to fight this particular fight on his own. It took a lot of damage to finally take D'Angelo down, but Dragunov was able to make it happen, retaining his NXT Title.

D'Angelo came in with a game plan, and that was to focus on Dragunov's few weaknesses. One such weakness was his hurt hand. D'Angelo targeted the hand relentlessly, and the method started paying immediate dividends, as Dragunov could barely put any weight on the hand after a series of attacks.

Dragunov tried to grab a rope at one point and had to immediately let go, and D'Angelo just kept making things more painful for the Champion. The stars would trade blows on the outside, but Dragunov got the bad end of things when D'Angelo dodged a chop, sending Dragunov's hand right into the ring post. Dragunov still found the strength to lift D'Angelo and slam him into the barricade, giving the Champion some much-needed momentum.

Dragunov got the challenger down momentarily for a cover, but D'Angelo kicked out. Dragunov then bounced off the ropes and brought D'Angelo down again for a pin attempt, but The Don still kicked out. D'Angelo got back on his feet and knocked the Champion down, and then something surprising happened. Stacks offered D'Angelo some brass knuckles to help, but he turned them away. Dragunov made D'Angelo pay for that hesitation, stomping on the challenger in the corner.

D'Angelo told Stacks to let him fight this on his own, and then he went into overdrive, kicking the Champ around with punches to the head. Dragunov hit a kick but then got hit with a suplex from The Don. D'Angelo hit another suplex, and then a massive clothesline before lifting up the Champ. D'Angelo then hit a huge belly-to-belly suplex on Dragunov from the top rope, sending Dragunov all the way out to the floor.

They both removed everything from atop the announcer's desk and then started slugging it out. Dragunov hit an H-Bomb on the floor and then jumped on the barricade. He hit another H-Bomb on D'Angelo on top of the table, smashing it completely. Back in the ring, D'Angelo went up top for a senton and got it, going for a pin, but D'Angelo got his shoulder up in time.

D'Angelo caught Dragunov from the top rope and slammed him down into a cover attempt, but the Champ kicked out. D'Angelo stomped on the Champ's hand and then slammed him down for a pin, but Dragunov still kicked out. D'Angelo got hit with the Torpedo Moscow and then Dragunov went up top again. He hit the Super H-Bomb and covered D'Angelo, and that was enough for the pin and the win.

NXT Stand & Deliver Updated Results and Card:

  • NXT Championship Match: Ilja Dragunov (C) def. Tony D'Angelo
  • NXT Women's Championship Match: Roxanne Perez (C) def. Lyra Valkyria
  • NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin (C) def. Axiom and Nathan Frazer
  • NXT North American Championship Triple Threat Match: Oba Femi (C) def. Dijak and Josh Briggs
  • Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes

What have you thought of NXT Stand & Deliver so far? Let us know in the comments and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!

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