In December 2021, Johnny Gargano allowed his NXT contract to expire so he could stay home and spend time with his family following the birth of his first son. Following this, he was interrupted by Grayson Waller, who proclaimed he was the future of NXT, before violently attacking Gargano. In August 2022, Gargano returned to WWE and was promoted to the main roster on the Raw brand. Following his NXT Championship loss, Waller would go on to sabotage NXT until he got what he wanted. Despite being suspended, NXT General Manager Shawn Michaels agreed to talk things over with Waller at Roadblock. During the "Grayson Waller Effect" talk show, Waller challenged Michaels to a match at Stand & Deliver, but he declined, saying that as much as he wanted to, there was someone who wanted to have a match with Waller even more. Michaels then introduced Waller's opponent for the event, which turned out to be Gargano, returning to NXT for the first time in 15 months. On the March 21 episode, Gargano came up with a contract for an unsanctioned match between him and Waller, but Waller said he would only sign it on the next episode on the condition that Gargano would not be in the building, and Gargano agreed. The next week, Waller signed the contract to make the unsanctioned match stipulation official.
