The dominant Raquel González finally stands at the top of the mountain after toppling Io Shirai to become the new NXT Women’s Champion.
Despite González’s extremely impressive past year since emerging on the NXT scene, the gutsy Shirai showed the heart of a true champion when she challenged “Big Mami Cool” for a main event matchup at TakeOver. Although Shirai has soared above the best that the squared circle had to offer, at Stand & Deliver, González was destined to ground her.
In the beginning, the power of González seemed somewhat neutralized by the sheer athletic prowess and quickness of the titleholder. But moments after her cohort Dakota Kai got herself thrown out from ringside, González took over with a dominant display of brutal force.
The Genius of the Sky roared back with a fast-paced, impactful offense and soon locked in the crossface submission, nearly making her challenger tap out before González managed to get to the ropes.
Seconds later, Shirai recovered with a moonsault off the top rope and onto the unforgiving steel ramp, opening the door to the action to spread out into the arena. Before the WWE Universe could even catch its breath, the titleholder rose to new heights and leaped off the top of the 20-foot NXT Stand & Deliver Skull onto her opponent standing on the steel grate below.
Nevertheless, when she got Shirai back in the ring, González became the first person to ever kick out of the titleholder’s top rope moonsault.
González then regained the advantage outside the ring and hurled Shirai on the ringside floor. After leveling the titleholder with a devastating lariat back in the squared circle, González hit the earth-shattering Chingona Bomb to finally lay claim to the NXT Women’s Championship.