Chairshot Wrestling News Report (9/23/2026): Catalina Wins Again, The Dusty Begins & Waller Meets His Match

La Catalina and Thea Hail beat NXT’s champions, the Dusty Classic begins and Mason Rook goes face-to-face with Grayson Waller.

La Catalina’s WWE run continues getting more substantial by the week.

One night after competing in a Money in the Bank qualifier on Raw, the AAA Reina de Reinas Champion teamed with Thea Hail to defeat NXT Women’s Champion Kelani Jordan and Women’s North American Champion Zaria. The win immediately produced another championship match, while the returning Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic began with two first-round bouts.

It’s the Chairshot Wrestling News Report for September 23, 2026!

La Catalina and Thea Hail Beat NXT’s Champions

La Catalina and Thea Hail defeated Kelani Jordan and Zaria after Hail countered an F-5 attempt into a rollup on Zaria. Catalina had entered late and controlled much of the closing sequence, attacking both champions before Hail secured the deciding fall.

The result gives Catalina another meaningful WWE victory without interfering with her upcoming Reina de Reinas Championship defense against Roxanne Perez. More importantly for NXT, Hail pinning Zaria immediately created a reason for another championship match rather than letting the tag result exist in isolation.

NXT confirmed afterward that Zaria will defend the Women’s North American Championship against Hail next week. That gives Tuesday’s result a direct consequence while preserving Catalina’s own AAA-focused story heading toward Worlds Collide.

WWE NXT Results — September 22, 2026

The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic returned Tuesday with Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno scoring the first upset of the tournament, while former winners The Creed Brothers advanced convincingly. BirthRight also stole a six-man victory despite another dominant showing from Zilla Fatu.

• Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round – Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno defeated Los Americanos
• Skylar Raye defeated Kali Armstrong
• La Catalina & Thea Hail defeated Kelani Jordan & Zaria
• Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round – The Creed Brothers defeated Harley Riggins & Jax Presley
• BirthRight defeated Zilla Fatu, Sean Legacy & EK Prosper

The opening Dusty match was the biggest tournament development because Los Americanos entered with enough momentum to look like legitimate contenders. Dar and Moreno instead moved forward and will face Axiom and Nathan Frazer in the next round.

The Creed Brothers had a much easier night, dispatching Riggins and Presley in under four minutes. Their history as 2022 Dusty Classic winners immediately makes them one of the most credible teams in a field designed to pull talent from multiple WWE-affiliated brands.

Mason Rook Finally Gets to Answer Grayson Waller

Grayson Waller and Mason Rook closed NXT with an extended verbal confrontation ahead of their NXT Championship match. Waller spent much of the segment mocking Rook’s size and questioning whether he had the mentality to survive a championship-level match, while Rook responded by targeting Waller’s return to NXT and suggesting his main-roster run had stalled.

The segment mattered because Rook needed to demonstrate he could survive opposite Waller without the confrontation becoming completely one-sided. Waller’s greatest strength remains his ability to make an opponent uncomfortable on the microphone, so simply matching that energy was useful preparation for Rook’s title challenge.

The actual championship match now has more than a size-versus-speed hook. Waller believes Rook will quit when the match becomes difficult, while Rook believes Waller is using NXT to escape the limitations of his main-roster run.

BirthRight Keeps Escaping Zilla Fatu

BirthRight defeated Zilla Fatu, Sean Legacy and EK Prosper after Arianna Grace distracted the referee and Stacks capitalized against Legacy. Fatu again spent much of the match overpowering multiple opponents before Lexis King escaped direct confrontation at the finish.

The story remains simple and effective because BirthRight keeps winning without proving that King can actually handle Fatu. Every escape makes the eventual singles confrontation easier to justify.

NXT also continues presenting Fatu as unusually difficult to hurt, which creates its own challenge. That dominance can make him feel special, but eventually somebody has to find a believable way to make him vulnerable.

Dorian Van Dux Is Out With a Punctured Lung

Dorian Van Dux was not medically cleared for Tuesday’s six-man tag because he is dealing with a punctured lung. EK Prosper replaced him alongside Zilla Fatu and Sean Legacy, while Legacy emphasized that Van Dux needs to recover before their Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic match.

The injury matters because Van Dux and Legacy are still part of the tournament field. WWE has not announced whether the team will be removed, replaced or simply given enough time for Van Dux to recover.

That uncertainty gives NXT another tournament variable beyond wins and losses. A multi-brand bracket becomes much more interesting when availability can alter the path before every scheduled match reaches television.

NJPW Adds Junior Tag Gold to Road to Destruction

New Japan added an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match after El Desperado and Místico challenged SHO and DOUKI during Tuesday’s Road to Destruction event. The challenge followed a multi-man match where Desperado, Místico, Shota Umino and Taichi defeated House of Torture.

The same show continued several stories heading toward Destruction in Kobe, including Jeff Cobb’s issue with Callum Newman and the developing tension between United Empire and Unbound Co.

This is today’s broader wrestling-world item, and it fits the current late-September schedule well. New Japan’s Kobe card already contains several high-profile singles matches, and adding championship stakes around the junior tag division gives the surrounding tour another consequence beyond simply previewing those matches.

AEW Goes Three Hours Before All Out

AEW presents a combined three-hour Dynamite and Collision broadcast tonight from Indianapolis in the company’s final television stop before All Out. Swerve Strickland and The New Level will defend the AEW World Trios Championship against The Demand, with the winners moving directly into a title defense against Hangman Page, Bandido and Brody King at All Out.

• AEW World Trios Championship – Swerve Strickland & The New Level (c) vs. The Demand
• Will Ospreay & Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Gabe Kidd
• TBS Championship – Persephone (c) vs. Hyan

The trios match carries the most immediate consequences because Saturday’s title match cannot be finalized until Wednesday ends. Ospreay’s tag match is more about giving Jon Moxley’s orbit one final opportunity to physically disrupt the champion before their world-title match.

AEW does not need to add much more to All Out at this point. Wednesday’s job is making the matches already announced feel hotter rather than making the card longer.

Tuesday belonged primarily to NXT, and the show used that space well. Catalina remained important, Hail earned a championship opportunity, the Dusty Classic began with an upset and Mason Rook finally gave his championship program the verbal confrontation it needed.

This report includes information from: PWTorch.com, Fightful.com, NJPW-related reporting, AEW.com, and DraftKings Network.