Second Title Match Officially Set For WWE’s “NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver”
Tonight on 205 Live, it was officially confirmed that Jordan Devlin and Santos Escobar will settle their debate on who is the rightful owner of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship with a Unification Match at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver on either Wednesday, April 7, or Thursday, April 8.
This week on NXT, Devlin made an appearance to confront "The Emperor of Lucha Libre." In their segment, "The Irish Ace" reiterated how he's the only Cruiserweight Champion in WWE. Escobar took it upon himself to challenge the other champion to a match at TakeOver to unify the title. Devlin's reply towards that request was a nasty headbutt.
On Thursday, Devlin successfully retained his championship against Trent Seven in the main event of NXT UK. Seven, who issued this matchup with Devlin in January of this year, spent the last two months trying to cut weight. He was able to obtain his goal in time. Unfortunately, he came up short after Devlin landed a 450 splash for the pinfall victory.
Devlin has now held the NXT Cruiserweight Championship for over a year. His title reign began at last year's WWE Worlds Collide after defeating the former champion Angel Garza, Travis Banks and Isaiah "Swerve" Scott. Due to COVID-19, Devlin was unable to defend his title due to travel restrictions. Because of those unforeseeable circumstances, he was stripped from the title.
The other current champion, Escobar, prevailed in last summer's eight-man tournament to determine the new Interim Cruiserweight Champion. The company changed the title status from Interim to just Cruiserweight Champion following Escobar's triumphant tournament victory.
When NXT UK returned last September, Devlin made his return back to the company in October. Since then, he has retained over Travis Banks, Levi Muir (in a non-title match), Amir Jordan, Oliver Carter, Nathan Frazer (fka Ben Carter), Dave Mastiff, and recently, Trent Seven.
As of this writing, it has not been announced which night these two cruiserweight's showdown will take place. Stay tuned for more on the Devlin vs. Escobar, as well as other matches set for NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.
Below is the updated card:
NXT Championship:
Finn Balor (c) vs. Karrion Kross
NXT Cruiserweight Unification Match:
Jordan Devlin vs. Santos Escobar
NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver will be the first-ever two-night event for the brand. It will take place during WrestleMania 37 Week on Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, April 8. Night 1 will air on the USA Network, while Night 2 will air on Peacock.
.@Jordan_Devlin1 had a huge response to the challenge laid down by @EscobarWWE! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/mWQMjWYtH5
— WWE (@WWE) March 18, 2021
Who is the rightful #Cruiserweight Champion: @Jordan_Devlin1 🇮🇪 or @EscobarWWE 🇲🇽 ? #WWENXT #NXTUK pic.twitter.com/4r7cYNNfQr
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) March 19, 2021
Stand and Deliver. pic.twitter.com/wKElKG6hbl
— JD McDonagh (@jd_mcdonagh) March 19, 2021
EXCLUSIVE: @Jordan_Devlin1 sounds off after another successful defense of the #WWENXT Cruiserweight Title.#NXTUK pic.twitter.com/2hZPL611HT
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) March 18, 2021