WWE held their WWE NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver Global Press Conference ahead of tomorrow and Thursday’s shows. Wade Barrett opened the show, welcoming everyone, with the NXT talents participating in the global press conference seating on opposite sides of Barrett’s podium.

The first question came from Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated asked Adam Cole about Kyle O’Reilly ahead of their match. Cole put over Kyle O’Reilly as a great wrestler, but said that he has become an idiot and that Kyle is a better tag team wrestler than a singles wrestler, effectively knocking back Kyle’s chances against him.

The next question came from CBS Sports and asked Finn Balor about himself and Karrion Kross having titles taken away from them due to injury and the similarities between both of them. Finn Balor said that while that has happened, that is where the similarities end, as he has proven himself time and time again that he is the best wrestler in the world, while Kross has only proven that he can return and that if anyone thinks that he is passing the torch, they’re sadly mistaken. Karrion Kross responded by stating that Balor was full of s***.

The next question asked WALTER whether he considered Tommaso Ciampa a worthy enough opponent that he would actually travel to defend his title against at Takeover. WALTER said that this is not just about himself, but about European wrestling and that he wishes that he was facing the Tommaso Ciampa of two years ago as that was the wrestler that he respected and that the question now is whether Tommaso Ciampa is still the same wrestler that he used to be and if Ciampa still has it as he does not think that wrestling is the most important thing in Ciampa’s life anymore. WALTER said that when he steps in the ring, it is the most important thing as he leaves it all in the ring because wrestling is the most important thing to him.

The next two questions were short-answered questions, with the first asking Raquel Gonzalez what she needed to do in order to defeat Io Shirai. Gonzalez said that she would do whatever is necessary to become the NXT Women’s Champion. The second asked Io Shirai what her strategy was. Shirai said that tomorrow night, she is simply going to take down Gonzalez.

The next question came from Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com and asked Karrion Kross about how important it was that he has a great performance at this Takeover, as his last one resulted in injury. Kross said that this was the biggest opportunity of a lifetime and that people want to tell you every week how tough they are, but that fans saw someone separate his shoulder, try to push it back in and still became the Champion with one arm, so he will do whatever it takes to become the Champion once again.

The next question asked Santos Escobar about the late Hector Garza. Escobar said that the one thing that he learned from Garza was to always enjoy every second of his time that he had inside the ring.

The next question, once again came from Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com who asked how Tommaso Ciampa’s personal and mental preperation has changed over the past year. Ciampa said that his mental game has changed as he has become a father and had neck surgery, while this is the most anxious and excited for a Takeover event that he has been since NXT Takeover: New Orleans and that he is going to remind the world and WALTER just exactly who Tommaso Ciampa is.

The next set of questions all featured short-based responses. Kyle O’Reilly was asked about his future after Takeover and responded stating that it was foolish to look past Thursday and said that he’s 100% focused on Adam Cole and then will set his sights on becoming the Champion. Jordan Devlin was asked what he thought about Santos Escobar’s NXT Cruiserweight Championship reign and whether he has looked to past names for inspiration. Devlin said that he did not enjoy anything about Santos Escobar being gifted a title reign and defending it for a few matches that had his goons getting involved and said that on Thursday, he will take out Escobar. Io Shirai was asked about defending the title against Raquel Gonzalez and said that she was Champion for many years in Japan and that there are many things that Raquel is better than her at, but not being Champion. Io said that she learned the word “meathead” and that tomorrow, Raquel will be just that. Raquel said that if Io Shirai thinks that she is going to try and play mind games today, then good luck as tomorrow, she will take her down and become the new Champion.

The next question asked Adam Cole about his history prior to WWE with Kyle O’Reilly and how this will differ from the past. Adam Cole said that he is a different professional wrestler now, because he used to be about proving that he was the best to the world, while nowadays, he does not need to prove anything to anyone and that his 403-day reign as NXT Champion proves that. Cole said that the only thing he has to prove anything to is Kyle O’Reilly and that is proving that he is going to beat Kyle O’Reilly again, just like he has done 99.99% of the time. Cole said that he has proven that he can hang, while Kyle can not and that Takeover is about hurting Kyle and making sure that he is never the same again.

The next question asked Kyle O’Reilly about what aspects of mixed martial arts have translated well to his style and what has not. Kyle said that he tries to compete with the most authenticity as possible in a style and that if you do it with passion and conviction, then it will do well and that since it historically came from Japan, it does well there, but that it is just a matter of time before that style becomes more prevalent in sports entertainment.

The next question asked Tommaso Ciampa about him potentially jumping to NXT UK if he beats WALTER for the title. Ciampa said that he has thought about that possibility since seeing NXT UK develop and put over the title reigns of Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne and WALTER and said that you would be hard-pressed to find a stronger title with more credibility and that the fans in Europe are special, noting that there are a lot of talents there that he has not stepped into the ring with yet. Ciampa said that he held on to the NXT Championship for some time, but that it is time for him to have some time with the NXT UK Championship starting at Takeover.

Karrion Kross was asked about the NXT Championship Match and said that Finn Balor is the best NXT Champion of all-time and that there is no one better to compete against, noting that Balor will bring out the best in him. Finn Balor said that a win over Karrion Kross will mean that his title reign will go to 211 days and beyond.

The next question asked if the Ladder Match stipulation complicates Jordan Devlin’s match against Santos Escobar. Devlin said that he can see why they went with a Ladder Match, but that there is not a match that he can not be beaten in by Santos Escobar and sees the similarity to the Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon match at WrestleMania 10, where he is the legitimate Champion and Escobar has been walking around as a pretender. The next question asked WALTER why European stars are usually tougher than other stars from around the world. WALTER said that he can only say that he thinks that he is tougher than most of the talents, including Tommaso Ciampa. WALTER said that this is a chance to step-up and prove that European wrestling is the most exciting sport right now. The next question asked Io Shirai about her biggest personal and professional challenges in moving from Japan to Florida for an opportunity with WWE. Io said that there are a lot of challenges and differences privately, but that in the ring, she found herself by bringing out the dark side of herself and that is how she became more successful.

The next question came from Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com and asked how important it was for Santos Escobar to carry the legacy of lucha libre in the ring this week as himself and Devlin have two unique and different styles. Escobar said that he thinks that lucha libre is a unique style and the most exciting one in the world, noting that he is the emperor of it and that the Cruiserweight style is based on what he represents, lucha libre, noting that he owns the division and will forever own the division as it is in his blood and runs through his veins and for Jordan Devlin to overcome him, he has to go through him. Devlin said that the Cruiserweight style may have been born in Mexico, but was perfected in Ireland.

The next question asked Raquel Gonzalez about how tomorrow will prove herself. Raquel said that it has been her time and that tomorrow, whatever happens, she is going to take every opportunity available to become the new NXT Women’s Champion and that if her win at WarGames and against Rhea Ripley have not shown that she has already proven herself, then she will be opening a lot of eyes tomorrow. The final question came from Nick Hausman of WrestlingINC and asked how the energy of Takeover differs to that of WrestleMania for Finn Balor. Finn said that it does not matter the energy of the crowd, but the energy of the wrestlers and that if he is in a parking lot or somewhere like Madison Square Garden, he fights the same and that the energy is the same.

Raquel Gonzalez said that it has been her time and tomorrow whatever happens, she is going to take every opportunity to win the title. If her win at Wargames and her win against Rhea Ripley haven’t already proven herself, she will be opening a lot of eyes tomorrow.