Two big matches announced for NXT debut on USA

NXT looks to be stacking the deck as they have announced two monumental matches for NXT’s huge debut debut episode on USA.

New promotion All Elite Wrestling looked to be going into Wednesday nights with the advantage over WWE and NXT due to their TNT program being live and two hours long, but NXT has rocked the boat with a big program change.

NXT will be debuting their new two-hour version of their program on September 18 on the USA Network, which hosts SmackDown Live until October 4 and continues to host Monday Night Raw. This will be a whole new level of exposure for NXT and its plethora of world class talent, and it seems that NXT is already gearing up to feature some stellar contests for their USA debut.

A No. 1 contender’s match for the NXT Women’s Championship was announced by general manager William Regal which will feature Bianca Belair taking on Io Shirai and Mia Yim. The three women featured in this contest have all recently challenged for Shayna Baszler’s title and came up short so this match will be a direct line for redemption for the winner. The three of them met in a four-way No. 1 contenders match previously, and that match was won by Belair.

The other marquee match that was announced for the live debut was the North American Champion Velveteen Dream defending against Undisputed ERA’s Roderick Strong.

Strong and Dream are no strangers to each other as they recently competed in a triple threat match at TakeOver: Toronto alongside Pete Dunne. Strong didn’t come away with the win, as Dunne was pinned by Dream, and he is using the fact that he wasn’t pinned to demand a rematch.

Dream seemed blasé about the idea of a match between the two but Strong may have incensed the champ as he burned Dream’s signature velveteen couch in the Full Sail parking lot on Wednesday’s episode of NXT TV.

Both of these match should be TakeOver-level contests that should help draw in viewers for the live debut on USA on September 18.