WWE NXT on USA: Live Results, Highlights, and Grades for Sept. 25

Killian Dain vs. Matt Riddle – Street Fight, Winner Gets NXT Championship Match

After last week’s disastrous, chaotic ending to the first attempt at this match, both Riddle and Dain seemed a bit more subdued early on. Sure, it’s a Street Fight, but with a title match hanging in the balance neither superstar wanted to risk making a mistake early.

Still, it’s a bit odd to see a “wrestling match” during a Street Fight. The weapons came out during the commercial break, though, with Riddle swinging a kendo stick like it’s his job. Coming out of the ad break, Riddle swung the advantage into his favor with a flurry of offense — a few Broton drops and a penalty kick as the icing on the cake.

Dain is nothing to be trifled with, though, and he responded in kind by dropping a senton of his own on the Original Bro. Still, Riddle found the fortitude to dig down and hit the big man with a HUGE Alabama Slam.

Riddle ended up on the outside of the ring, which gave Dain a great idea to join the Dijakovic/Lee “Lucha Hoss Party” and take to the skies with a topé suicida. The Street Fight rules came back into effect as Dain just threw a chair at Riddle to keep him down before the fight headed to the staging area.

After a crossbody through some equipment took us into a second commercial break, the pace picked up in the final few minutes. A Broton through a table slowed Dain, and the action returned to the ringside area.

Major props to the perpetually barefoot Riddle, who somehow managed to avoid turning an ankle on any of the chairs laying at ringside (meanwhile, I sprain my ankle while wearing shoes just walking in my backyard).

A series of Vader Bombs from Killian Dain looked like the end was nigh for Riddle, especially when the chairs and kendo stick came back into play. Riddle wriggled out and hit a Van Daminator version of his knee strike finisher — prompting writers lesser than I to make lousy weed related puns about the similarities between Riddle and RVD. However, I promise to take the high road (ah dammit, couldn’t help it).

I love the fact that a Street Fight actually ended with someone literally giving up — Riddle should be using submissions as finishers all the time since he’s got the legit MMA background. It’s a perfect end to matches with that stipulation, and it doesn’t happen often enough.

Winner: Matt Riddle

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

I don’t think any of the USA matches touched Dijakovic/Lee, but Riddle/Dain was terrific. The post-match angle with Cole sets up next week’s match nicely, and Riddle escaping from the UE means he’s got some brains to come up with a plan. We’re in great position for next week’s “official” two hour premiere.