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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

Roderick Strong vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott

Well, this was predictably great. Until it wasn’t, after the match, but more on that later.

2019 has quietly been one of the best in Roderick Strong’s long career. I don’t know if it’s more the association with the Undisputed Era that has made him up his game, or if his veteran status has afforded him an opportunity to better assess what he’s doing. Whatever it is, though, it’s working.

And Isaiah Scott? He’s always been an exciting face in wrestling, but the larger platform of WWE NXT could be the thing that takes him to the next level. The crowd inside Full Sail was 110% behind Scott, too — impressive when he’s facing Roddy/UE, who the crowd can’t help but cheer.

Scott’s offense is beyond perfect for NXT, too. A slingshot double stomp to the outside? A cartwheel into a splash? Elevated DDT? Yeah, he’ll do just fine here.

Even though Undisputed Era eventually made their way down to the ring, they weren’t directly involved in the finish. Maybe Scott was a little distracted by their presence, but it was all Roddy at the end of this one. The End of Heartache led perfectly into the Stronghold and a submission victory for the North American Champion.

Winner: Roderick Strong

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Stars

Let’s not discount how good Swerve was in this match, even if by the end of everything he was the 7th most important person in the segment. He’s got a bright future in front of him in NXT, so keep that in mind as you read about what followed.

After the victory, Adam Cole put himself and the UE over, and he said the word “dream” which brought out the Velveteen Dream. In a segment that absolutely HAD to be written by Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself, Dream made a lot of jokes about Roddy’s, uh, manhood, before bringing out a photoshopped picture of Roddy’s junk.

It was as bad as it sounds.

Eventually, Tommaso Ciampa came out and did something, or maybe nothing, I honestly don’t know. All I know is that somehow a really great match between two awesome superstars ended with jokes my middle schoolers would think were dumb.

Dakota Kai vs. Bianca Belair

It took a while for me to get into this match, because the whole “Roddy has a teeny package” thing just REALLY took me out of the show. That’s not the NXT I know and love, and it’s probably not the NXT you know and love, either. And to put that garbage segment that I’m assuming was done to draw in younger viewers right before a women’s match between two of the best in the division? Disgusting.

Even worse than me being taken out of this match? The crowd was deader than dead for long stretches. Look, I’m just one schlub at a laptop, so if I tune out it just means my review suffers. But if the 500 or so people inside Full Sail tune out, the TV is so quiet you can hear a pin drop.

But from what I can tell, Dakota Kai did some kicks, Bianca Belair was a ridiculous combination of strength and agility, and Belair picked up the W. From the crowd reaction, there wasn’t a lot more to it.

Winner: Bianca Belair

Rating: a billion times better than the Strong/Dream segment, you pick a number

After the match, Belair says Rhea Ripley can’t just come in and say she gets to face Shayna Baszler. If Rhea wants a shot at the NXT Women’s Champion, she has to go through the EST.

That should be a fun match when it happens, hopefully sooner rather than later. Both Ripley and Belair have similar strengths — namely, their strength. I think Belair’s agility is the X-factor, but Rhea may be talented enough to overcome that difference.

Kushida vs. WALTER

The opening of this match ruled so hard, man. WALTER acting like a boss and just imposing his will on the smaller Kushida. Some tomfoolery from WALTER led to a return by Kushida, which just enraged the Ring General. Kushida running for his life afterwards and speeding up the match. Just truly great work all around.

I think WWE NXT was really trying to pull off the David vs. Goliath feel with this one. And, sure, if David was a Back to the Future-loving Japanese wrestler, and Goliath was a monstrous Austrian who can chop you to death without breaking a sweat, that’s what you had.

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There’s not enough good things to say about this match. Given the garbage with Dream and Strong, this was a HUGE palate cleanser. Just one guy trying to stick and move, while the other tried to stick him into the mat.

The best part of this one for me? No involvement from the rest of Imperium. Even when WALTER was at his most vulnerable, his cohorts remained in the locker room. It’s a very subtle difference from the Undisputed Era, but that difference is like night and day. Even when UE doesn’t directly get involved, they are out at ringside giving the impression they will. Imperium knows WALTER has everything under control, so they’re nowhere to be seen.

Winner: WALTER

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

For my money, this was the match of the night, just barely edging Roddy/Swerve. Kushida (and WALTER) were able to salvage a semi-botch, when Kushida slipped off the top rope. Besides that, it was a very well-executed match.

I especially enjoyed the rough look on some of the moves, like some of the inside cradles towards the end of the match. It’s more believable as legit competition — to me, at least — when some of the moves look like they were a struggle to execute. Not every suplex, especially late in the match, should look like a guy lifting up a toddler. There should be some resistance.

Kushida’s insistence on continuing to use the Hoverboard submission seemed like a good idea at the time, as it wore down WALTER’s arm. I actually thought the Ring General was tapping out, but he was just pounding the mat in pain. It wasn’t enough to slow the big man down, though, and the WWE United Kingdom Champion walked away with a hard-fought victory.

And that does it for this week’s episode of WWE NXT. What did you think? Sound off in the comments below!