WWE issued the following press release announcing that Io Shirai will defend her NXT women’s championship against Raquel Gonzalez in the night one (April 7th) main event of the upcoming Takeover: Stand & Deliver pay per view. The bout was made official after Gonzalez released a video on Twitter signing the contract.
Check out the full press details below.
Io Shirai isn’t waiting for her next challenger to step up. Instead, she’s coming to them.
The Genius of the Sky will defend the NXT Women’s Championship against the dominant Raquel González — her opponent of choice — as they main event Night 1 of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver on Wednesday, April 7 on USA Network, as first reported by “Muscle & Fitness Hers.”
Time and time again, Shirai has soared past the competition, prevailing against the best NXT has to offer. Candice LeRae, Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, Tegan Nox have all failed to knock her from the throne.
Shirai, not one to rest on her laurels, didn’t celebrate her most recent defense against Storm for long, confronting González later that night and demanding to face “Big Mami Cool.”
Few Superstars, if any, have had a more impressive past year in NXT than González. Bursting onto the scene with her alliance with Dakota Kai, González has racked up accolades in short order. She has defeated former NXT Women’s Champions Rhea Ripley and Ember Moon, and with Kai won the first-ever Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and were crowned the first-ever NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Will “Big Mami Cool” show that her dominance knows no bounds? Or will Shirai’s genius prove unsolvable once again?
Watch NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, beginning Wednesday, April 7, on USA Network and continuing Thursday, April 8, streaming exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and on WWE Network everywhere else!