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

WWE NXT makes its full time debut on the USA Network after years of airing on Hulu and the WWE Network. Follow along with our live review throughout the monumental episode!

September 18, 2019, is a huge day for WWE NXT. After a few episodes during WWE Week in the past, the brand is moving permanently to the USA Network. Not only that, the show will air live every week from Full Sail University — not taped in advance — and it gets a spiffy new two-hour time slot. Like I said, huge day.

With the major change for what some, like Johnny Gargano, are calling a main roster brand, we here at Daily DDT are taking the opportunity to do a live review. Since there’s only a few weeks until the much-hyped “Wednesday Night Wars,” odds are good that WWE, NXT, and everyone involved will bring their A-game tonight.

Per the official preview for WWE NXT, three matches have been announced for the show. First, Velveteen Dream will put his North American Championship on the line against Roderick Strong. The Messiah of the Backbreaker is the only member of the Undisputed Era without championship gold — can he change that tonight against the Dream?

Next, Matt Riddle and Killian Dain continue their heated rivalry in a Street Fight. The Original Bro and the Beast of Belfast have been at each other’s throats for some time now. But with no rules to hold them back, to what lengths will each man go to earn a victory?

More from NXT

• Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
• WWE NXT DeadLine 2023 Predictions: Trick Williams Will NOT Become Iron Survivor
• The End of Trick and Melo Gang Will Break NXT Fans’ Hearts
• Dominick Dijakovic is doing his best work in WWE NXT
• Quick predictions for NXT Halloween Havoc Night Two

Finally, the NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler is in need of a new challenger for her title. What better time to determine one than now? Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, and Bianca Belair are scheduled to compete in a fatal four way match, with the winner getting the next crack at Baszler. All four superstars have had issues with each other, so tempers will be running hot in this one. Who will outlast the rest to earn the coveted championship opportunity?

Tune in to the USA Network at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT to catch the first hour, and switch to the WWE Network for hour two. And be sure to follow our live review right here all night long!

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!

Sean Maluta vs. Cameron Grimes

Ok, let’s get this out of the way: Dominik Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee III next week, and if that doesn’t get people watching, I don’t know what will. Also want to throw out kudos to the WWE NXT crew for advertising matches a week ahead of time. So long as the match actually happens, there’s something NXT has as an advantage over Raw/SmackDown — following through on what’s advertised.

We got a nice little video recapping Matt Riddle’s feud with Killian Dain ahead of their match, announced to happen in the second hour. Then Sean Maluta and Cameron Grimes came out for their match, and I’ll give you the whole play-by-play below:

Bell rings, Grimes with a running knee, match over.

Yes, much like the infamous Sheamus/Daniel Bryan match at WrestleMania XXVIII, Grimes picked up a very quick victory. It looks like the goal here is to make him seem like a “can get you from out of nowhere” kind of guy. I guess, he’s Randy Orton with a hat? We’ll see how this goes on in the future.

Winner: Cameron Grimes

Rating: 1.0 out of 5 Stars

It’s nice that NXT on USA is keeping the formula pretty much the same off the bat. A couple of longer matches will balance out with the “showcases” for the up-and-coming superstars. It may have served everyone better to give Grimes a bit more time to show what he can do, but the commentary team was talking Maluta up pretty well. A quick victory over someone like that can do wonders long-term.

Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong – North American Championship

Look, I understand that this is technically just a regular episode of TV for WWE NXT. Historic or not, it’s not a TakeOver or other major event. So I get why Dream came down to the ring in his standard attire, with no bells or whistles.

But OH MAN what a missed opportunity to theoretically tone him down for tonight. He’s a guy you HAVE to be all in on, especially if you’re introducing him to an assumedly larger audience — substantially larger, by most estimates. Throw him out there dressed like Shawn and/or Gus from Psych, or one of the Chrisleys who isn’t in trouble with the Feds, or Pearson from, uh, Pearson? GET THAT NETWORK SYNERGY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

Once this one finally got going, it was a VERY different match from the opener. Not that it’s a BAD thing, but it’s great for all wrestling fans to be able to tune into one show and see a lot of different wrestling. Raw and SmackDown don’t really offer that; most matches are the same basic formula with the parts interchangeable. AEW may be in position to do this, but until their weekly program starts, it remains to be seen.

(It should be noted that AEW ran an ad during hour one of NXT because of course they did, and Vince will probably try to do the same on AEW’s premiere because of course he will.)

But this championship bout began with a little more brawling than the opener offered, maintaining a bit of a slower pace. Personally, I like that for a championship singles match — both superstars demonstrating how important the match is to them, so they don’t want to make any mistakes by going too fast.

Resthold Roddy made an appearance after the first commercial break, really slowing things to a crawl to sap Dream’s energy. And once the backbreakers kicked in, Roddy was fully in charge. Not sure why the crowd kind of died out once Strong started his run of backbreakers, they’re really a thing of beauty.

After the final commercial break, things picked up big time for me. Roddy spent the match working Dream’s back, and what happened? The damage done made it incredibly difficult for Dream to hoist Roddy up into the fireman’s carry for his finisher. It’s simple storytelling, folks.

But the longtime champion fought tirelessly to hang on to his gold, like all great champions do. Roddy threw everything he had at him, and Dream kept fighting back. Half a dozen running forearm shots while you’re tied up in the ropes? Not enough. Roughly 60 seconds trapped in the Stronghold? Nope, Dream made it to the ropes after an eternity in agony.

The rest of the Undisputed Era came down to ringside, and it just so happened that referee Drake Younger was inadvertently knocked down. Cue the interference by UE, but Dream still kicked out of the End of Heartache, shocking everyone but the system.Dream looked poised to retain, but — once again, UE got involved, and Adam Cole knocked Dream off the top turnbuckle. Another End of Heartache sealed the deal, and just like that all of the gold in NXT belongs to the Undisputed Era.

Winner (and new NXT North American Champion): Roderick Strong

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Stars

You knew UE was going to get involved, but you still hate to see it. Dream losing clean wouldn’t have made it any less impressive a victory for Strong. Still, the visual of Cole, Fish, O’Reilly, and Strong all holding a championship is mighty nice, and it heralds in the new age of NXT on a high note.

Pete Dunne vs. Arturo Ruas

First things first, Pete Dunne deserves all praise in the world for stomping on Ruas’s bare feet to escape a hold. There’s rules against hair pulling, there’s rules against hitting below the belt, but slamming a wrestling boot onto exposed toes is NOT very comfortable. Atta boy, Peter.

And Ruas? Looked mighty fine in this one. He’s incredibly gifted in a technical sense, and his agility makes him a possibility to future star. To show as much as he was able to against someone as high up the food chain as Dunne is a sign of good faith, I think. Definitely looking forward to seeing more of the former Adrian Jaoude.

But on an episode like this, even with the switch from USA to the WWE Network, there was no way Dunne was losing. The innovation he demonstrated by utilizing his finger manipulation on the exposed toes was top notch. I also really like that the joint manipulation is being used as a potential finisher for Dunne. It adds layers to an already layered character and repertoire.

Winner: Pete Dunne

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1174492004132089856

Lots of good stuff in here to keep the crowd engaged after a lengthy championship bout, and a great transition into the Network feed. Hope both Ruas and Dunne remain featured players in NXT with the two-hour run time.

Aliyah vs. Xia Li

Full disclosure: I got my sart with Daily DDT back in January 2016 as the weekly NXT reviewer. A year later, I started doing Raw — and thus slowly dying a little every Monday. But the one good thing about Raw was what was great about the first hour of NXT tonight: commercials! It gives you a minute to catch your breath and finish writing a thought down.

But this match? Started while I was still finishing up on Dunne/Ruas. Can’t wait for October 2 when both hours are on USA!

The match was somehow both sloppy and crisp, and I’m still not sure how that happened. Li is incredible at adapting and adjusting, as evidenced by that weird moment in the corner. I’m actually kind of stunned at how Aaliyah has kind of plateaued, because this was a match I remember seeing from her in 2016.

As a showcase for Li, this worked fine. If this was supposed to highlight the pairing of Aaliyah and Vanessa Borne, um, not so much.

Winner: Xia Li

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Stars

Looking forward to seeing what Xia Li does next, and hoping for the best for Aaliyah. I really enjoyed watching her on Breaking Ground, which seems so long ago, but she hasn’t really moved forward much since then. Her skills have obviously increased, but she never really got to where I felt she could have, and that makes me sad.

A Brave New World

Kushida was supposed to be in action against Denzel Dejournette, but before Kushida could come down to the ring, Alexander Wolfe, Marcel Barthel, and Fabian Aichner surrounded the ring and demolished Dejournette.

With 3/4s of Imperium in the ring, the crowd wanted the final piece — WALTER, the riegning NXT UK Champion. And to the wonderful strains of Dvorak’s New World Symphony, out came the man. After a brief promo announcing an intention to restore professional wrestling to the glory it deserves, Kushida finally came out to the ring.

Claiming that it was “his time,” Kushida did what may seem unthinkable — he challenged WALTER to a match. And with that sentence, thousands of wrestling fans immediately became incredibly excited and hopeful for such an encounter.

Please please please, Mr. Regal, make this happen.

But that wasn’t all — Kushida actually made it to the ring apron, and fought off the four invaders from NXT UK. A few things are apparent here, so let’s break them down:

First, it’s clear that with the two hour time slot, NXT and NXT UK are more one unit than ever before. It was smart to allow the Imperium appearance to happen in hour two on the WWE Network, because people unfamiliar with their act would immediately think they were Nazis, and that would be awful. Ease them in, like they’re doing.

Second, 205 Live is likely getting absorbed into the WWE NXT brand, as rumored. Between Kushida and the following match, it seems like just a matter of time before that news becomes official.

Lio Rush vs. Oney Lorcan – Winner Becomes #1 Contender for WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Lio Rush being back is all kinds of awesome. The guy may rub some people the wrong way, but he’s a phenomenal talent who excels at so many things. He’s young, so he’ll grow up a bit (one would think). But for Lio to be practically blacklisted because he thinks highly of himself is absurd. This NXT deal could be great for superstars like Rush, who rubbed Vince McMahon the wrong way but have Triple H as an ally.

But let’s talk Oney Lorcan for a minute — how incredible are Baby Cesaro’s Big Boy Uppercuts? Seriously, I mean absolutely ZERO disrespect by calling Oney “Baby Cesaro” — he’s just a smaller version of one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet!

As a portly trumpet player, if someone called me “Fat Miles Davis” I’d probably take it as a compliment? Alright, not the best example, but I LOVE Oney Lorcan and his kamikaze attacks.

Hearing the crowd reaction for Lio was awesome, but I’m kind of surprised that the Full Sail faithful were so far behind Rush that Oney was almost the heel? I would have expected a more even split, but it’s clear where Lio falls in the eyes of the WWE NXT fans.

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1174498612195151872

I absolutely loved this match, which was phenomenal. Both Superstars are sooooooo good in such different ways, and their styles mesh so well. I could easily watch a best-of-seven series between these two and not get tired of it. The work Lorcan put in to try and ground Lio’s aerial attacks, Lio’s absolute refusal to abandon the high-flying stuff even to his possible detriment.

Winner: Lio Rush

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Stars

Seriously, just inject this into my veins. The entire closing sequence, the single-leg crab spots — all of it. I want more. Give me more.

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain – Street Fight

Does a match qualify as a HOSS FIGHT if one participant is only spiritually a hoss? Riddle is what, 230? Not exactly the typical hoss build, but he carries himself like one. You don’t get the bright idea to challenge guys like Goldberg and Brock Lesnar and not have a little HOSS in ya.

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1174500383613259776

Now, it’s not very common for a match that unfolds like this one to be a great match. Like, if an episode of Raw ended with literally everyone on the roster brawling in the middle of the ring, it means a) ratings are down and need a bump, or b) Undertaker has a match at the next Pay-Per-View, and everyone needs to “separate” him from his opponent to preserve the fight.

But this particular brawl was unreal. It started off innocently enough — Riddle and Dain brawled to the parking lot. And yes, Full Sail is really that small, the parking lot is literally like four feet from the back row of seats. WALTER was still hanging around, and apparently he remembers Riddle showing up in PROGRESS because once the Bro got close, IT WAS ON.

Imperium beat the stuffing out of Riddle, the Street Profits and Forgotten Sons (?) made the save, and when everything returned to the arena, it was pure pandemonium. I couldn’t even keep track of everything going on, other than Riddle and Dain trying to fight off the security guards randomly trying to separate them. Even Mauro Ranallo was apoplectic, crying out to let them fight since it was a street fight!

But alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as the brawl finally ended when Dain cannonballed himself from the ring to a pile of bodies on the arena floor. Just like it began innocently enough, it was over just like that.My initial thought, seeing Imperium, the Street Profits, and Forgotten Sons in the same place? WAR GAMES. We know it’s coming up, and a brawl like this is the perfect way to plant the seeds. How does a lineup of Imperium, Forgotten Sons/Killian Dain, and Street Profits/Riddle/Kushida sound? I mean, I’m giddy just typing it.

Before I get myself too worked up before bed, I’ll stop myself. Overall, this first episode of WWE NXT on the USA Network was a success, especially that first hour on the new channel. Hour two had its gems too, like Lorcan/Rush, which was my choice for Match of the Night. And the show-ending brawl? So good it HAS to be fattening.

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1174501396772601856

Winner: N/A

Rating: N/A

What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE NXT?