Heart in the Sky (Io Shirai x OC)

Chapter 25: Stand Up & Deliver Big

Tonight was NXT Stand & Deliver, and the crowd inside the Capitol Wrestling Center were all excited and hope to see the end of the Toxic Reign of Terror over the women's division, the Don putting the Iron King behind bars, the chaotic main event for NXT's top prize and Descendant getting his first taste of NXT gold.

The match card were as follows:

Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne) (c) vs. Team 2001 (Cora Jade & Roxanne Perez) - Tag Team match for the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship

The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed) vs. Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) - Tag Team Street Fight

Tony D'Angelo vs. Joe Coffey - Jailhouse match

Mandy Rose (c) vs. Io Shirai - Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship

Carmelo Hayes (c) (with Trick Williams) vs. Ilyas Rizal - Singles match for the NXT North American Championship

Bron Breakker (c) vs. JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov - Triple threat match for the NXT Championship

While Ilyas was warming up in his locker room, Io was at the gorilla watching the NXT Women's Tag Team title match go down, watching the 4 young women putting on a clinic. The Genius of the Sky watched the ending of the match closely as she saw Cora Jade neutralizing and taking Jacy Jayne out by throwing her over the timekeepers' area. While inside the ring, Roxanne Perez kicked Gigi Dolin in the gut and executes the sunset flip in which she calls Pop Rox for the pinfall win.

Io smiled and clapped for the new NXT Women's Tag Team Champions and already see a vision of Cora and Roxanne holding the WWE and Women's World titles. Then Cora and Roxanne walked backstage to see the creative team giving them an applause while Io went to go hug and kiss their heads.

(Fast forward)

The next two matches saw the Creeds getting their well deserved revenge against the young and arrogant Pretty Deadly while Tony D'Angelo has put Joe Coffey behind bars. Now it was time for the Women's title match as the Rose Goddess defends against the Genius of the Sky. All pressure was now on Mandy as Jayne and Dolin lost their tag titles earlier tonight.

Mandy Rose makes her entrance all on her own without the back up of Dolin and Jayne, ensuring a clean one on one match. Rose got in the ring and raised her title while she blew a kiss to the camera. Then the Wrestling Center went dark as Io's theme started to play. The Joshi Judas made her way to the ring while the NXT faithful crowd chanted her name.

Io got in the ring and did a pre-match split while the referee raised the women's title, getting the contest underway. The two women begin to lock up for a test of strength with Mandy getting the advantage due to her strength, but Io managed to push the champion back to the corner and break the referee's 5 count before taunting Rose by patting her head.

Mandy was not in a mood for games and went for a clothesline, but Io ducked Matrix style and catches the champion with a dropkick as Rose rolled out of the ring to catch her breath. Io sees her opportunity and takes down Mandy with a suicide dive. Shirai threw Rose back in the ring for an early pinfall, but the champion managed to kick out at 2.

(Fast forward)

The chances of the match being one on one went down as Gigi and Jacy came running down on Mandy's behalf. Dolin distracted the referee while Jayne slid the title in for Mandy, giving Rose the opportunity to cheat as she hits Io with the title, knocking the challenger down. Rose went for the pin, but Io managed to get her shoulder up before the third count. All three members of Toxic Attraction were in shock and awe as their plan failed.