The RAW after WrestleMania is synonymous with returns and debuts and Triple H made sure to deliver a couple of exciting ones in Philadelphia.
Although the show opened with The Rock saying goodbye – well, temporarily – and Cody Rhodes’ celebration, the first match of the night gave fans a look at a new superstar.
Triple H used to run NXT and has seen many of his creations come up to the main roster with varying degrees of success.
Now, WWE‘s developmental territory is in the hands of his best friend and, perhaps, the greatest in-ring talent in WWE history, Shawn Michaels.
NXT Stand and Deliver achieved an attendance record on Saturday afternoon with 16,545 in attendance and the two champions who ended the show made their debuts on the big stage on Monday night.
Ilja Dragunov and Roxanne Perez had their first outings and both came away with victories.
Ilja Dragunov is one of the best in-ring talents in the world right now
Roxanne Perez is a true starlet in pro wrestling with ability well beyond her years
Shinsuke Nakamura was the foe for Dragunov and the Russian made relatively short work of the former Intercontinental champion, finishing him off with a Torpedo Moskau.
Dragunov reigned as the NXT UK champion for a year before he had to vacate the title with an injury. He has been the NXT champion since last September and will be in the WWE draft that takes place in around a month’s time.
Perez is a prodigy inside the ring. She defeated Indi Hartwell – a former rival in NXT – just two days after winning the NXT Women’s title from Lyra Valkyria.
She’s just 22 and was trained by WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T. The Rock is one of her idols and her ring name before WWE, Rok-C, was a combination of The Rock and her real first name, Carla.
The draft will take place at the end of the month, starting on SmackDown on April 26 and finishing on RAW on April 29.
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