WWE NXT on USA Network: Live Results, Highlights, and Grades for Sept. 18

Fatal 4-Way Match, Winner Named Number One Contender to NXT Women’s Championship – Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair vs. Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae

After Papa Haitch introduces the brand to the USA audience, things got heated in a hurry. All four competitors shone a spotlight on themselves in the early goings — LeRae ran at Shirai before the bell, playing off their history. Belair displayed her incredible mix of strength and agility with a press slam and a moonsault. Yim took it upon herself to pump the brakes on Belair’s momentum. And Shirai leveled everyone with a moonsault to the outside.

After the commercial break, there wasn’t a lot of change to the proceedings. The overly-cliché WWE Branded Women’s Match Tower of Doom spot sent all four superstars to the mat to regroup. Yim broke up a LeRae octopus hold with a vicious boot to the head, before Shirai took down Belair with a Mantis bomb.More fast and furious action saw a flurry of bodies flying around the ringside area. Belair hit a KOD on LeRae, but the pin was broken up by Yim.

Shirai got involved with Yim, but a double spear from Belair took them both out.

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1174476751197442048

The closing sequence was, like the rest of the match, pretty bonkers. Yim prevented Shirai from hitting a moonsault and potentially ending the match by tossing her onto Belair outside the ring.

With no one left to break up pins, LeRae finally hit a poisonrana on Yim, following up with a springboard moonsault for the victory.

Winner: Candice LeRae

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 Stars

This was a heck of a way to start off the NXT on USA era. There was no let up whatsoever — all four Superstars were running in high gear from bell to bell. Opening with the women’s match may seem like a bold strategy to some, since despite WWE’s efforts to sell their “women’s evolution” it still seems like the more casual viewer isn’t as interested in the women’s division as the hardcores.

Well, I’m hardcore, and I don’t know why casuals wouldn’t want to watch this. Great wrestling is great wrestling, and this was great wrestling. I could have done without the Tower of Doom spot, but everything else was terrific. Baszler showing up at the end gets the new viewer’s eyes on her, and we’ve got a big title match coming up soon. Love this start!