WWE NXT on USA Results, Highlights: Drew Gulak vs. Lio Rush

The latest episode of WWE NXT featured three big matches. The Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak put the title on the line against No. 1 Contender Lio Rush. Get all the results and highlights in our review!

Well, it’s been a wild week for WWE, hasn’t it? The debut episode of SmackDown on FOX was going fine until Brock Lesnar treated Kofi Kingston like a chump. Hell in a Cell was a disaster from a booking standpoint. Raw was a big fat nothing burger because nothing can happen until after the draft. Anyway, it’s time for WWE NXT!

The black and yellow brand has thus far been a consistent source of good to great wrestling on the USA Network. While the powers that be in Stamford would probably like some better news in the ratings department, it’s undeniable that NXT has been among WWE’s best programming inside the ring.

As we head into this week, there are a lot of questions raised by the first two-hour edition of WWE NXT on USA. Many of these questions were addressed in WWE’s official preview for the Oct. 9 show. Let’s jump into the preview and see what we’re working with!

While last week there were three title matches on NXT, this week there’s just one: Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak against No. 1 Contender Lio Rush. The Man of the Hour earned this title match in a fantastic bout with Oney Lorcan a few weeks back. Was Rush able to get his first taste of gold in WWE? Or did Gulak beat him into submission?

Two other champions were in action in non-title matches. First, WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER went one on one with Kushida. The beef between these two goes back some way, when Kushida stopped Imperium from wreaking further havoc. How did the battle between the two shake out?

North American Champion Roderick Strong was also in action, taking on Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. Roddy has played his part in the Undisputed Era’s “Golden Prophecy” quite well, racking up victory after victory. But Scott has also been making a big impact on WWE NXT. With something having to give, who picked up the big win?

Besides these three matches, there were still questions to be answered. How will Finn Bálor’s return to NXT affect the landscape? What about Tommaso Ciampa’s surprise return to confront Adam Cole and “Goldie”? And Shayna Baszler is in need of a new challenger — who is ready to step to the champion?

To answer all these questions and more, continue reading and check out our complete WWE NXT review for Oct. 9!

NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match

Drew Gulak (c) vs. Lio Rush

I guess Lio tries to represent his last name in the action, because the start of this match was FAST. Like, I stopped for a quick second for a bite of dinner during the ring announcements, and before I could finish chewing Lio was hitting a suicide dive on the floor. Rush, indeed.

It didn’t take long for Gulak to slow things down, which clearly brought the advantage to the champion. As Beth Phoenix pointed out on commentary, Gulak’s strategy was to work Lio’s legs, neutralizing the aerial attack that is Rush’s forte. Surprisingly, Gulak took to the skies — albeit VERY briefly — with a dropkick to knock Rush off the top turnbuckle.

During the picture-in-picture, Gulak went right back to his slow pace, trying to wear Lio down with a series of submission holds. The technical ability of Gulak is among the best in NXT — hey, if the Cruiserweight Championship is now officially under the NXT umbrella with its name, Gulak is an NXT superstar.

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1182087608391761920

The battle of the dragon sleepers was a nice touch, but — dare I say — Lio’s looked better? Gulak couldn’t get his arm under Rush’s chin, so it was more of a stretch hold than a sleeper hold. Have to question Drew not realizing where Lio was on the pinfall shortly thereafter — how does a seasoned veteran not realize his opponent is in reaching distance of the ropes?

What made it even worse was that Gulak looked like he was aware when he held down Lio’s hand and hooked the near leg. Why not hook the far leg? It’s little mistakes of that nature that make a champion more likely to lose their title.

Winner and NEW Champion: Lio Rush

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Welp, and that’s what happened. Lio hit the rebound stunner — apparently now called the Come-Up, which okay — and followed it up with a brilliant frog splash for the 1-2-3. For me, it was a bit unexpected, but that’s great. I hate never being surprised (in a good way, you know; WWE never fails to come up with new disappointing surprises).

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1182088573949861888

After the match, William Regal tried to present Rush with the title, but Gulak returned to do so himself. A nice show of respect from the now former champion, and a good little match to start things off this week. I just wish Gulak, billed as a technical wizard, didn’t make such glaring “errors” in this one, like the poor Gu-Lock and his inability to keep Rush from reaching the ropes on a pin attempt.

Rhea Ripley vs. Aliyah (w/ Vanessa Borne)

Matches like this are great to watch, but torture to write about. How on earth am I supposed to get to 250-ish words on a match that lasts about 2 1/2 minutes?

But Ripley has all the potential to be the biggest damn star on Wednesday nights for a long time. In around 90 seconds, she exerted her will over Aliyah — who, accurately but hilariously, is billed as the “veteran of NXT” — without breaking a sweat. The crowd loves her, and so long as she minds her social media behavior, the sky is the limit for her.

Winner: Rhea Ripley

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Rhea’s leg-lock giant swing is a great maneuver for her, especially because I have no doubt in my mind that she can get any superstar in that hold. Following her submission victory, Ripley grabbed a mic and did something relatively expected — challenged Shayna Baszler.

Well, maybe “challenged” isn’t the right word. Rhea WARNED Shayna that she’s coming for her. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you build a real star. The actual promo work was a mixed bag — reciting Shayna’s catchphrase was a little brutal, but the aloof tone on the warning was sublime.

But Rhea Ripley will be the biggest face in the NXT Women’s Division heading into WrestleMania season, if you ask me. And since I’ve still got a few words to go on this block, let me tell you to check out the Aussie wrestling scene if you enjoy Rhea Ripley. PWA is home to a wealth of talent, like Mick Moretti, Jack Bonza, Madison Eagles, and the VeloCities. You won’t regret it.

Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango) vs. The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler, w/ Jaxson Ryker)

Not gonna lie, the random construction noises and young ladies in hard hats confused the hell out of me. Once the lights came up and I saw it was Breezango, I couldn’t stop laughing. I hope this is their new schtick — taking on a new persona and entering the arena trying to confuse the crowd.

Apparently, Prince Pretty and Dango were supposed to face Ever-Rise, but they got the stuffing beat out of them backstage by the Forgotten Sons, who then took their place. I get the feeling Ever-Rise is going to be a fairly big deal moving forward, because NXT seems to be augmenting its tag team division. (Gee, I wonder what could have made them do that?)

But they weren’t a part of this one — instead, Cutler and Blake got to showcase their burgeoning tag team skills in putting together a victory. Fandango is a great hot tag, but the numbers game in this contest was just too much for the former Fashion Police.

Winners: The Forgotten Sons

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

Ryker is the clear wild card of the Forgotten Sons group, as he can still go in the ring but is clearly inhabiting more of an advisory role to the younger members of the trio. But once Ryker took care of Tyler Breeze to prevent any further involvement in the match, Cutler and Blake had the bout locked up.

One thing I would do for the Forgotten Sons if I had any power in WWE NXT whatsoever? Give them a new finisher. Neither Cutler nor Blake is a “set the world on fire” kind of guy, but they’re both capable of more than “stomp a guy your partner is holding in the air.”

Boa vs. Cameron Grimes

Did you watch the premier hour of WWE NXT on USA way back on Sept. 18? If so, you saw this entire match — only replace Sean Maluta with martial arts expert Boa. Bell rings, double stomp to a standing opponent, exit the arena for Grimes. Ho hum.

Winner: Cameron Grimes

Rating: N/A

But what’s different this time is the appearance of Killian Dain. Hell, the entire post-match beat-down lasted longer than the match itself. Dain put the boots to Boa, eventually bringing him over to the announce desk and ominously yelling “this is just the beginning.” Uh, not for Boa, big guy — I think he’s done.

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1182096692696403969

First things first, I don’t like this Cameron Grimes angle. I said as much back on Sept. 18, and alluded to it a week later when he had a “real match” against Raul Mendoza. Unless you have a giant being booked as a monster to hide deficiencies in the ring, LET THE WRESTLERS WRESTLE. It shouldn’t be a difficult concept.

Second, is Dain feuding with Grimes? Is he just being booked as a loose cannon who will attack anyone at any time? No idea — which may be a good thing, but it may be awful. Commentary played it off as an unknown, so maybe they’re slowplaying this to build the intrigue. But it’s gotta be paid off sooner rather than later or it becomes a detriment to the program.

And I have no idea who Boa is, or what he can do, but who did he upset and what did he do to upset them? You’d think he’d at least get a fair shake instead of being annihilated os fast.