Raquel Gonzalez wins NXT Women's Championship at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver

Io Shirai's historic reign as the NXT Women's Champion came to an end tonight on Night One of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. She dropped the championship to Raquel Gonzalez in the main event.

Gonzalez, who has been nothing short of dominant ever since her debut on the black and gold brand, showed the NXT Universe why she deserved to become the new Women's Champion by usurping Shirai.

It's time to usher in a new era for the WWE NXT Women's Championship!@RaquelWWE 🏆#WWENXT | #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/KF7Y0HhZjn

— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) April 8, 2021

Also, as noted by Twitter user K.C. Richards, Gonzalez is the first WWE Performance Center-trained superstar since Charlotte Flair to win the NXT Women's Championship.

Raquel Gonzalez is the first pure Performance Center wrestler to win the NXT women’s title for the first time since Charlotte Flair. #WWENXT @pcwesner

— K.C. Richards (@thelinedrive) April 8, 2021

Will Raquel Gonzalez usher in a new era in the NXT women's division?

Io Shirai is undoubtedly one of the best pure athletes in the world of professional wrestling and her long reign as NXT Women's Championship gives credence to that fact.

We'll always be #NXTProud of you, @shirai_io. ❤️ #WeAreNXT #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/Wy08ES9GjD

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 8, 2021

However, now that Gonzalez is the new NXT Women's Champion, perhaps there will be a change in direction with how things will be handled in the already talented women's division.

With new and upcoming talents like Zoey Stark, a repackaged Xia Li and newest recruit Sarray, the NXT women's division looks better than ever. All of these women can be the next in line for Gonzalez's title.

Hello WWE Universe, My name is Sarray. Nice to meet you.I’m here to bring you, number one Joshi Strong Style wrestling from Japan. I’ll aim straight for the gold and make WWE women’s division bigger!WWE、here I come!SARRAY ICHIBAN ☝️https://t.co/j8g51MZwx8@WWE @WWENXT pic.twitter.com/FFZqc2Mp3P

— SARRAY（サレイ） (@SarrayWWE) March 18, 2021

It remains to be seen how Gonzalez's reign as the NXT Women's Champion will be and whether or not the Genius of the Sky will ask for a rematch or move to main roster.