WWE NXT Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From Sept. 24

The September 24 edition of WWE NXT was the last episode for the gold brand on the USA Network. The show promised a major preview ahead of its debut on The CW Network.

NXT held a press conference for all of the big matches on the upcoming show. "All Ego" Ethan Page vs. Trick Williams, Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia, and Wes Lee vs. Zachary Wentz were all highlighted.

Kelani Jordan opened the episode by defending her Women's North American Championship against Wren Sinclair.

The Grayson Waller Effect returned to the gold brand and featured NXT tag team champions Nathan Frazer and Axiom.

Wendy Choo and Rosemary continued to torment the women's division, while Riley Osborne hoped to defend Chase U against Ridge Holland.

Lexis King and Oro Mensah fought again in their growing rivalry, and Hank Walker and Tank Ledger looked to pick up a second upset victory over Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

This show needed to deliver as the final stop before The CW.

Kelani Jordan was outnumbered by No Quarter Catch Crew outside, but after Wren Sinclair accidentally landed on Myles Borne and Tavion Heights, the champion turned the tide to win with the split-legged moonsault.

This was a solid match that was elevated by an engaged crowd. Both were going at a solid pace but not pushing to their limit. Perhaps that will come in a rematch down the line.

One unquestionable truth in NXT has been the sustained growth of Jordan as a top competitor. At this point, she is no longer a work in progress but a reliable big-match performer.

Hopefully, NXT has a plan to challenge her with a major rival again soon. Her reign has lacked for big stories, even if the matches have been strong.

Result

Jordan def. Sinclair by pinfall to retain the Women's North American Championship.

Grade

B

Notable Moments

• Jordan opened the match with a slap, a receipt from Sinclair's strike last week.
• Wren got her first sustained chant from the crowd, showing how much she has elevated herself since joining No Quarter Catch Crew.
• Borne and Heights excitedly cheered on Sinclair throughout.
  

Grayson Waller and Austin Theory tried to convince Nathan Frazer and Axiom that their tag team would not last.

Waller found a chance to cheap-shot Frazer, and A-Town Down Under stood tall with the championships.

This was not that interesting for how much time it got. It was more about the continued issues between Waller and Theory than anything related to Fraxiom.

Frazer was overacting throughout to sell how "serious" this was. Theory is still in an uncertain place as a character, which leads to awkward reactions from fans who are not ready to cheer him.

It may have been best to keep this upcoming tag team match build to quick backstage exchanges and let the action speak for itself.

Grade

D

Notable Moments

• The crowd booed the heels throughout, especially after Waller shut down a "welcome back" chant.
• Frazer poked holes in Waller's self-centered act, including questioning why the talk show did not include Theory's name.
• "All Ego" Ethan Page was the first man at the press conference, promising to stay on top of NXT. Trick later explained why he needed to win.
  
• Trick Williams spoke to CM Punk about his officiating. The Best in the World promised to keep the match clean for both sides.
• Page questioned Punk's intentions backstage. The Best in the World told Page that he needed to win this clean, no more funny business.
  

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came in with even more focus for this rematch, but Hank Walker and Tank Ledger still got the win with the Honk Honk.

WWE is trying hard to show Hank and Tank have reached the next level, but defeating The O.C. again hardly matters when there was no build after the last victory.

Gallows and Anderson have become the veteran tag team that cannot buy a win, while Hank and Tank need to show the ability to pick up wins against anyone else.

The action was fine here, but Hank and Tank were not hitting as clean as they should have. It all just showed that the two still have much to learn before becoming a serious title contenders.

Result

Hank and Tank def. Gallows and Anderson by pinfall

Grade

D+

Notable Moments

• Hank and Tank cut a confident promo on their way to the ring.
  
• Gallows and Anderson mocked Hank and Tank in a pre-taped promo.
  

Lexis King teased playing fair in this rematch with Oro Mensah, and he actually did just that when he refused to take a win with his feet on the ropes.

The Main Man had no qualms stacking up King with his feet on the ropes to win.

King and Mensah do not have the best chemistry, but they did solid work over four minutes to sell the revised story of their rivalry as the heel and face played the opposite roles in the ring.

This was an odd wrinkle for Mensah vs. King, but it at least adds some intrigue to a rivalry that was flat to start. It seems like the latter might be trying to turn over a new leaf.

While King hardly has shown he can be a crowd favorite, his heel run has been a mess that left him stuck in neutral throughout much of the past year. Perhaps Mensah could help him see the light.

However, it's more likely King will get frustrated over this loss and revert to his bad tactics.

Result

Mensah def. King by pinfall.

Grade

C+

Notable Moments

• Backstage, King and Mensah bonded over their views on their fathers. King wanted a fair fight that proved the "better man."
• The Family took Tony D'Angelo to a private gym for a training montage, pushing The Don past his fears of Oba Femi. It ended in a boxing match, if the Rocky comparisons were not too obvious yet.
• The Miz offered Miz TV for The Don and Femi next week in Chicago.
  
• Femi appeared at the press conference but only wanted to talk about how broken D'Angelo is.
  

Riley Osborne fought Ridge Holland with all his fire, but it took one Redeemer for the Englishman to win.

Afterward, the fight continued after the bell until officials intervened.

Holland was giving in this match, doing his best to stay in position when Osborne faltered. It was clear who the veteran was as the Chase U student was not always hitting his spots.

It may have been due to how little time the two had to sell the story, but Osborne was rushing to get to his spots.

Still, Osborne's fire jumped off the screen as he kept challenging Holland no matter the result of the contest. It was the most interesting he has been to date.

Hopefully, a rematch is coming that will allow them more time to sell that Osborne is more than the third man of Chase U.

Result

Holland def. Osborne by pinfall.

Grade

C+

Notable Moments

• Hail stood in front of Osborne as Holland's music hit, looking like she was ready to fight.
• Osborne jumped onto Holland during his entrance to start the brawl early.
• Holland taunted Osborne outside only for the Chase U student to send him through the barricade.
• Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz did not wait for the commercial to end as they came to blows in the Performance Center after Lee brought up Wentz's fiancee, Gigi Dolin.
  

Brinley Reece fought hard through a tough double-team beat-down in the ring.

Karmen Petrovic was not there to help her as she was distracted by Ashante "Thee" Adonis outside.

This allowed The Demon Assassin to take the win with As Above, So Below.

This was a fairly nothing match beyond the ending sequence, though the right team won.

It was nice to finally see Rosemary pick up a victory in NXT, and she and Wendy Choo look locked in together for what may be an extended run for one of TNA's most loyal veterans.

The drama on the outside of this match was Petrovic and Adonis. It is hard to fully tell the angle of this story, but it seems like a romance may be blooming.

If so, it will keep them relevant on TV for a while, but hopefully there are plans to make this less a distraction and more motivation for two stars with potential upside.

Result

Rosemary and Choo def. Reece and Petrovic by pinfall.

Grade

C+

Notable Moments

• Adonis continued to chat up the women backstage, distracting Reece and Petrovic from preparing.
• Rosemary choked out Reece with The Upside Down over the ropes, and Vic Joseph and Booker T argued over what the move was called.
  
• NXT celebrated the USA Network era with a video package remembering the biggest moments of the brand, not shying away from those no longer with WWE.

Grayson Waller and Austin Theory took over this match in the middle stretch but taunted too much rather than take a victory.

Luckily, Nathan Frazer and Axiom got involved and accidentally took out Cedric Alexander. This allowed Theory to hit the A-Town Down for the win.

Four talented men came together to deliver an OK match with perhaps a bit too much time, given how many contests barely got any throughout the night.

Evans and Alexander did not show the cohesion necessary to last this long with former WWE tag team champions. It seemed like the teams were never on the same page in the action, and the finish was heavily contrived.

It all led to what was a flat main event on a night that needed more credible action. It's unclear what the motivation was behind the whole bout as the future challengers looked outmatched by a lesser tag team before a fluke win.

Result

A-Town Down Under def. Evans and Alexander by pinfall.

Grade

C-

Notable Moments

• Waller and Theory mocked Evans and Alexander backstage to set up this match.
• The Young OG dived onto A-Town Down Under but got caught by Waller (with an awkward camera cutaway). Alexander then dived onto the heels successfully..
• Ava told Jaida Parker and Lola Vice that they would team up next week against Fatal Influence.
• At the press conference, Fatal Influence refused to reveal which two would fight Vice and Parker next week. Parker and Vice almost started the fight early.
  

Byron Saxton tried to keep the peace between Roxanne Perez and Giulia as both answered questions about their coming match. But it was Stephanie Vaquer who stole their thunder, interrupting via satellite to declare she was next in line for the winner.

NXT tried to do something different with this press-conference format, but it mostly didn't work. This was especially true for the final segment.

While Giulia's English is solid for a secondary speaker, this was a tough spot to put her in as the final build for her match with Perez. The Prodigy came off more confident than her challenger despite the opposite focus for the story build.

The pacing of this segment did not land, and this led to Vaquer's surprise promo falling flat. Perez and Giulia have been building heat but were left dumbfounded when Vaquer interrupted.

Unfortunately, this was the biggest misstep of the build and will push Perez and Giulia even more to rely on their actions in the ring next week to sell their rivalry.

Vaquer's appearance would have been better served as a CW surprise next week, coming out to confront the winner as a mirror to Giulia's arrival at No Mercy.

Grade

F

Notable Moments

• Funaki was at the table with Giulia to translate. Her first answer was confident but long, leading to a confused crowd reaction as they waited for the translation.
  
• Perez admitted she was a Giulia fan for a long time and studied every one of her matches, but she then took credit for bringing her opponent to the U.S.
  

• Giulia explained in clear English how excited she was to be in the country, but she was interrupted by an awkward "USA" chant from the crowd.

As a final sendoff to the USA Network era of NXT, this was a woeful episode. With so much heat building for The CW premiere next week, it seemed like officials were not prepared to sell this show on its own merits.

The action was almost universally flat, with the exception of the solid opener between Kelani Jordan and Wren Sinclair.

No one sounded on with their promos. If anything, the hype waned for some of the big contests coming up in the next two weeks.

Luckily, the Chicago card next Tuesday is too good to fail with three big matches that are basically guaranteed to make a splash.

The St. Louis show on Oct. 8 is strong as well, though it does not live up to what the debut will bring with the top two titles on the line.

A dud night will not hurt what is likely to be the strongest two weeks of television NXT could deliver coming up. It's just a shame that this was such a bad night on its own merits.

Overall Grade: D-