WWE NXT recap for September 18, 2019: We’re live pal

On this week’s WWE NXT we had some great matches, a crazy street fight, video packages, a title change and so much more!

This week’s edition of WWE NXT was fantastic from start to finish. As a fan of NXT, this had everything you could possibly want as a fan of professional wrestling. If this was your first time checking out the show we think you got a great idea of what the black and gold brand is all about.

Let’s not waste any more time and get right into it. This is your NXT recap for September 18, 2019.

We’re live on USA

NXT opened with a great video package and a short introduction from Triple H. It was exactly what it needed to be and it didn’t overstay its welcome. The black and gold brand immediately goes into what it does best, the in-ring action, as we get the fatal four-way to determine the No. 1 contender for Shayna Baszler’s NXT Women’s Championship to open the night.

The competitors are a who’s who of the NXT women’s division with Mia Yim, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and Candice LeRae. These four knew exactly what was at stake by opening this show first and they were all up for the task.

All four women got equal time to shine, and if this first you’ve seen these ladies you had to be impressed with the level of skill they all possess. Even with a commercial break in between, the match still flowed beautifully.

The finish of the match came when LeRae hit Yim with the Poisonrana followed by a springboard moonsault off the middle rope to secure the victory. She didn’t get to enjoy the victory for long, however, as Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke came out to confront her on the stage. They had a stare down and surprisingly, no one got attacked. That was a breath of fresh air.

We then got a brief video package of NXT Champion Adam Cole talking about whether or not the prophecy will be fulfilled tonight, that all four members of his stable, the Undisputed Era, would be draped in gold. It could happen later in the night if Roderick Strong is able to beat the current NXT North American Champion, The Velveteen Dream.

Blink and you missed it

We got a nice video highlight package on the feud with Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. Mauro announced that they would be having a rematch next week on NXT. If you haven’t seen any of their matches previously you are in for a real treat.

After that, we got a quick video package to hype the street fight between Matt Riddle and Killian Dain that will take place on the second hour of the show tonight on the WWE Network.

The second match of the evening, if you want to call it that, saw Sean Maluta go one-on-one with Cameron Grimes. The entrances were much longer than the actual match itself as Grimes won hitting his standing double foot stomp to his opponent’s chest mere seconds into the match. If you were trying to establish Grimes as a credible threat, that’s surely one way to do it.

We then got some quick video packages on Velveteen Dream and Damian Priest. We would expect a lot of stuff like this over the next couple of weeks to help the new viewers become familiar with the stars of the black and gold brand.

Will the prophecy be fulfilled?

It’s time for the North American title match between the challenger, Roderick Strong and the champion, Velveteen Dream. It’s clear that they are going to give this match a lot of time and with good reason. These two should be able to tear the house down and show the world what NXT is all about.

The Full Sail crowd was hot for this match from the get-go with a loud, dueling chant for both competitors. It is definitely weird to view NXT matches with commercial breaks but this is the new normal now and something we will have to get used to as time goes on.

We can’t help but mention that AEW bought commercials (on the cable broadcast, at least) during NXT for their debut on TNT October 2. That’s just smart marketing anyway you look at it. The Wednesday night wars are gonna be fun, folks!

Commercial breaks notwithstanding, Strong and Dream still put on a title match worthy of something you would see on an NXT TakeOver. It was a back and forth contest and no one clearly held an advantage for a long period of time over the other.

The finish of the match came when Dream was able to get to the ropes, breaking the Strong Hold submission and which brought out the rest of the Undisputed Era. There was an accidental ref bump which led to some interference and Strong hit End of Heartache for a two count. Dream tried to make a comeback and hit the Purple Rainmaker but Cole superkicked him off the top rope while the referee was distracted. It led to another End of Heartache for the three count and we have a new North American Champion.

NXT on USA went off the air with all four members of the Undisputed Era celebrating on the stage with their respective championships. Cole’s prophesy has been fulfilled.

Off to the WWE Network

The second hour begins with highlights from the title match we just witnessed. It really was a great match. If you didn’t see it live, definitely check it out when you get a chance. Meanwhile, the black and gold continues with the action that we all know and love, first pitting former NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne against Arturo Ruas.

For those unfamiliar with Ruas, they got an education tonight on how talented this individual is as he went toe-to-toe with arguably the greatest wrestler to come out of the NXT UK brand. The two beat the heck out of each other. It was intense, it was hard-hitting, it was everything you would expect from a Dunne match and Ruas was able to keep up and handle things on his end perfectly.

The finish came when Dunne landed the mounted triangle choke with his vicious finger manipulation to pick up the tap out victory. It’s really great to see Dunne wrestling on the NXT brand on a regular basis going forward. He’s truly a special talent and the future of this business for years to come.

205 Live is NXT?

After the match, it was announced that Oney Lorcan would be taking on a returning Lio Rush tonight with the winner becoming the No. 1 contender for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. There have been rumors that the 205 Live roster would soon be merging with the NXT brand and this certainly lends some credibility to that.

Up next we have another match in the NXT Women’s division as Xia Li goes one-on-one with Aliyah, who was accompanied to ringside by her tag team partner Vanessa Borne. While the match wasn’t very long at all, it was longer than the match we got from the men in the first hour. Li picks up the victory with a windmill kick to the back of the head. Definitely a showcase for for Li, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Up next we were supposed to have KUSHIDA in action against Denzel DeJournette, but that didn’t happen because DeJournette was attacked by three members of Imperium from NXT UK (Alexander Wolfe, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel). The crowd clearly wanted their leader, NXT UK Champion WALTER instead, and made their voices heard.

The crowd got their wish because after the trio took out DeJournette, WALTER made his way to the ring and talked about what Imperium was going to do in NXT going forward, calling the ring sacred and that they would bring honor and tradition back to the sport. This brought out KUSHIDA, who picked a fight with all four members of Imperium and lived to tell the tale. It was quite impressive and a nice surprise that I can’t imagine anyone was expecting tonight. The commentators teased a future match between WALTER and KUSHIDA. That could be a lot of fun!

Will Lio Rush collect a victory in his return?

The No. 1 contenders match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship is up next and Lorcan and Rush have an incredible match. We could easily make an argument for it being the match of the night. Rush got a very loud “Welcome back” chant from the Full Sail crowd and for the most part, the crowd was fully behind him for a majority of the matchup.

Lorcan started off early and took it to Rush which allowed him to dominate a good portion of the matchup, leaving Rush to fight from underneath throughout most of the contest. It was really good to see the 24-year-old piece of gold return to a wrestling ring after almost half a year. While he can shine on a microphone, which we saw when he served as a mouthpiece for Bobby Lashley, his true talent shines between those ropes.

The finish of the match saw Rush hit a standing Spanish Fly followed by a beautiful-looking frog splash, which they called the Dragon’s Call, to pick up the hard-fought victory. Anyone who questioned if NXT was going to be changed for the worse once they moved to this live two-hour format, that should most certainly be answered by now.

Its time for our main event

The two hours of this show have absolutely flown by as we reach the main event, a street fight between the King of Bros and the Beast of Belfast. This was an absolute crazy war and had all the makings of a fun way to close out a fantastic edition of NXT.

Riddle and Dain ended up brawling through the backstage area and then outside of Full Sail where Imperium, the Street Profits, Dunne, the Forgotten Sons and (probably) more got involved. It was difficult to keep track of it all.

The match eventually found its way back to the ring but the officials lost control and the match was thrown out. The show ended on the Network with pretty much everyone laid out. It was carnage, it was awesome — it was NXT.

After the show went off the air, NXT general manager William Regal addressed the live crowd and announced a rematch between Dain and Riddle for next week’s show, where the winner would be the No. 1 contender for Adam Cole’s NXT Championship.

We wouldn’t be surprised if that match ends up being the main event of their October 2 episode when NXT goes head to head with AEW for the very first time.

We think anyone that was worried that NXT was going to change should no longer be. It’s still the same brand we all know and love, just longer and now live. What did you think of NXT this week? What was your favorite match? Sound off in the comments section below!