6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE NXT Stand & Deliver 2024

2. Dragunov & D’Angelo Deliver

NXT Stand & Deliver 2024 Ilja Dragunov Tony D'Angelo Channing Stacks Lorenzo
WWE.com

The NXT Title bout had a story thread similar to the Women's Title match.

Granted, Ilja Dragunov's hand injury didn't come into things quite as much after a while, but the reigning champ still had to grit his teeth and fight from underneath from minute one. This was a really, really great fight. That's how it came across: As a fight. The best title matches should have that air.

Tony D'Angelo did well to keep up his end of the bargain even if nobody in attendance actually thought he was taking the belt from Ilja going into this show. The one big thing Dragunov has in his favour is that he's skilled enough to compensate for weaker title feuds. That's precisely what the NXT Champion did on Saturday at Stand & Deliver.

Triple H tweeted out his congratulations to Ilja shortly after the match finished, and 'The Game' pondered who'd be next in line to challenge him. That's a good question. Here's hoping it's someone big time, because Dragunov proper deserves that.

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