On June 24, 2020, WWE announced that the eighth Great American Bash under the WWE banner would take place as a special two-week event during the July 1 and July 8 episodes of NXT. Both episodes were taped on Wednesday July 1. One scheduled match for July 8 was a champion vs. champion match between Adam Cole and Keith Lee for the NXT Championship and NXT North American Championship. The Bash went head to head against AEW's Fyter Fest, which was held on the same nights.
Results:
Night 1 (July 1, 2020)
Fatal four-way elimination match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship
Tegan Nox def. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, and Mia Yim
I was a little surprised that Tegan Nox would win this when it seemed like they were going with Dakota Kai getting a shot at the title next. All four of these women are solid workers, but I have to be honest when I say have remotely no interest in any of them challenging nor holding the NXT Women's Championship. I enjoyed Mia Yim as Knockouts Champion when she was going by Jade in IMPACT Wrestling, but her current gimmick isn't doing anything for me in terms of gravitating towards her character. Candice LeRae has been a massive dud since her and her husband have turned heel. Tegan and Dakota's feud has had some highs and lows, but NXT needs to be careful not to beat a dead horse.
Singles Match
Timothy Thatcher def. Oney Lorcan by submission
This was the best "pure" wrestling match between both NXT and AEW on across both shows for the evening. I love this shoot fighter gimmick they have going with Thatcher as that fits him perfectly, especially if that means that he's going to end every single one of his feuds with a Fight Pit match in NXT.
Handicap match
Had Ripley lost, she would have joined the Robert Stone Brand.
Rhea Ripley def. Aliyah and Robert Stone by submission
I didn't understand why did this match drag out for so long. The former Robbie E from TNA/IMPACT Wrestling is entertaining in this role as Robert Stone, but homeboy needs to invest in some socks to go with his church shoes. On a side note, he might want to cover up his physique in the future as it's hard to buy him as some cowardly wimp when he's just as jacked and cut as most of the other guys on the NXT roster.
A win for Rhea here was good and all, but it does nothing for her since her momentum has been in a nosedive over a cliff since losing to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania. I still don't understand what was the long-term booking plan of having Charlotte Flair beat Rhea Ripley. Rhea went home crying like a baby after the loss and on top of that she wasn't able to reclaim said title in the triple threat with Io Shirai involved. Now Charlotte's back on the main roster, despite being written off on injury leave currently, with Rhea wandering around aimless and directionless. Feuding with Charlotte may have been good on paper but it was more damaging for Rhea Ripley in the long-term than blowing their loads on a match that WWE could have waited on, especially if they were going to call her up to the main roster sooner more than later.
The more I see of Aliyah, the more I ask myself how does she still have a job, especially after the wealth of talent releases over the last few months? She's not any better since when she was first starting NXT back on that Breaking Ground show.
Strap match
Dexter Lumis def. Roderick Strong
This wasn't bad. It was boring and it dragged on and on and ON throughout multiple commercial breaks. Normally, Strong is able to get a great competitive match out of anyone on this roster, but it wasn't happening in the least with this slow, methodical demeanor that Lumis seems to be forced into working into his fighting style here in NXT. Back in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, I don't remember him being this slow at moving around when he was Samuel Shaw.
Singles match
Io Shirai def. Sasha Banks (with Bayley)
This was easily the best match of the night with a lot of great back and forth from Io and Sasha. This was a dream match-up for a reason and you can easily see why by the time it was all said and done. The right woman won though, thanks to an assist from RAW Women's Champion Asuka. I marked the hell out to see Io and Asuka standing in the ring together in a WWE ring. For the love of all things holy, I need an Asuka vs. Io match in WWE. Let's get Asuka vs. Io, Asuka vs. Kairi Sane, and Io vs. Kairi too while we're at before Io and Kairi head back to Japan if the rumors are true about their departures from the company once their current WWE contracts expire this year.
Night 2 (July 8, 2020)
Singles Match
Tony Nese def. Leon Ruff
I looked away from the television for what felt like a minute and this match was over faster than it had begun. Thanks for comin', kid. This would actually setup Nese's match later in the show.
Street Fight
Candice LeRae def. Mia Yim
This feud isn't doing anything for me. I will be happy once both of these women move onto something else. I've seen far worse matches than this to be honest as it wasn't a bad match. It was just a pretty boring one. This was a far cry from Mia Yim's hardcore matches with Rosemary back in IMPACT Wrestling. That being said, the right woman won as Candice LeRae desperately needed the momentum for this heel turn.
Singles Match
Bronson Reed def. Tony Nese
I really want to like Bronson Reed, but every single time I look at him and his work, he reminds me of Bull Dempsey and I remember how that turned out. They pushed him to an extent and cut him out of company like they were trimming off the fat on the Thanksgiving turkey. Tony Nese has been killing it since the Cruiserweight Classic and it baffles me that this guy is still a glorified enhancement talent more often than not, especially when he's not being stifled in the cruiserweight division over on 205 Live.This match wasn't bad. It was just there on a show that was essentially a one match card as everyone is waiting to see the main event.
Singles Match
Johnny Gargano def. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott
Both of these guys are great in the ring. Gargano has headlined several NXT TakeOver specials and Scott was a cornerstone in MLW rising to prominence over the past few years after he spent some time in Lucha Underground as Killshot. That being said, this was just an average match between these two and easily forgettable, especially if you're familiar with both men's body of work. Much like his wife's win, Gargano's win was much needed as Johnny Failure and his wife have been nothing but all talk since their heel turn started.
Six-Man Tag Team Match
Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Raul Mendoza) def. Drake Maverick and Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango)
While I applaud NXT for trying to do something positive with Fandango and Tyler Breeze after the main roster has squandered their talents for years, I didn't give a damn about them in this match. I much rather see the original version of Tyler Breeze make a comeback on NXT without being paired up with Fandango. On the positive side, Escobar's group needed this win to get the wheel rolling forward as a show of force.
Singles Match
Mercedes Martinez def. Santana Garrett
Even though I hate that Santana Garrett is a glorified enhancement talent here in NXT, I thought she was the right opponent for Mercedes Martinez's debut here. Mercedes came off like a killer - like she should be, especially given her history being aligned with Shayna Baszler. If NXT were smart, they would pair Shayna's cronies with her in the meantime since they are still green and need seasoning before they could be called up to the main roster with Shayna and allow them to get the rub from Mercedes in a similar manner. That way, when we do have Shayna and Mercedes reunite or butt heads in the future there could be this rift between them in terms of Jessamyn Duke and Marina Safir taking sides of who to follow. By that point, I think either Ronda Rousey would be back with the company or Nicole Savoy can quit dodging the inevitable and have a Trifecta reunion under WWE's banner.My only issue with this debut is that it seems like NXT has too many heel women and not enough significant babyfaces to oppose them.
Winner Takes All singles match for the NXT Championship and NXT North American Championship
Keith Lee (North American) def. Adam Cole (NXT)
This is match definitely lived up to the anticipation and hype, despite the fact that the ending was spoiled a week prior to this airing. To be honest, it really didn't matter as it drew even more interest on NXT that night over AEW, who were running with Chris Jericho against Orange Cassidy in their main event in opposition. Cole tried everything in his bag of tricks to get the job done, but ultimately couldn't put Keith Lee away. The only thing that I was a little puzzled by was the lack of interference from the rest of The Undisputed Era, much like the rest of Cole's title defenses - not like it would have made a lick of difference anyway once Keith Lee fired up and started HULK SMASHing everything in his way. Putting away Adam Cole was no different. This win made for a great moment to top off this show and well worth the wait for two weeks.The show closed with the shot of Karrion Kross and Scarlett watching from above as it seems to hint at Kross is the next in line to challenge for the NXT Championship. I honestly don't think they should jump the gun on Kross in that title picture. The guy only had one appearance on TakeOver to date outside of a few squash matches.
Closing Thoughts
Simply put, Great American Bash Night 1 was a two match show, with Timothy Thatcher vs. Oney Lorcan and Sasha Banks vs. Io Shirai being the highlights of that card above the rest while Night 2 was essentially an one match show, with the Winner Takes All title match between Keith Lee and Adam Cole was arguably the best thing on the entire show. I can't knock NXT too much as they don't do anything that's not completely insulting to the wrestling business as a whole, but they do have a few acts and numerous matches on these shows that are a total slogfest to sit through, especially when you're just waiting for the headliner for these cards. That is to NXT's detriment as well when they have some of the best finely tuned athletes in the sport today, but that doesn't help excuse the fact that a lot of these matches are just flat out boring. I applaud their efforts and hard work, but I can't deny that a wealth of the talent and matches on these cards bored me to no end.
I can see why AEW keeps their fans engaged. They always have some sort of a car wreck or insanely stupid spectacle going on their programming that keeps you engaged from bell to bell, whether it's good or bad.
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