NXT The Great American Bash (2023) — BrandWiki

NXT The Great American Bash (2023)

Overview

NXT The Great American Bash

promotion	WWE
brand	NXT
date	July 30, 2023
attendance	4,252‡R1R‡
venue	H-E-B Center at Cedar Park
city	Cedar Park, Texas
wwenlast	Money in the Bank
wwennext	SummerSlam
event2	The Great American Bash
lastevent3	2022
nextevent3	2024
event3	NXT major events
lastevent4	Battleground
nextevent4	No Mercy

The 2023 NXT The Great American Bash was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was the fourth annual Great American Bash held for the promotion's developmental brand NXT, the 11th Great American Bash under the WWE banner, and the 25th Great American Bash event overall. The event took place on July 30, 2023, at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park, Texas and, unlike the previous three years, which aired as special episodes of NXT, the 2023 event aired via livestreaming, marking the first Great American Bash to air on both Peacock and the WWE Network. Although the event returned to being a television special of NXT in 2024, it returned to livestreaming in 2025.

Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the pre-show. In the main event, Carmelo Hayes defeated Ilja Dragunov to retain the NXT Championship. In other prominent matches, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio defeated Wes Lee and Mustafa Ali

Production

Background

The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event established in 1985. Following WWE's acquisition of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in March 2001,[2] the promotion revived the event as their own annual pay-per-view (PPV) in 2004,[3] which continued until 2009. Following this 2009 event, The Great American Bash was discontinued as a PPV. In 2012, WWE revived the event to be held as a special episode of SmackDown but was again discontinued. In 2020, WWE again revived the event, this time for the developmental brand NXT as an annual television special of the NXT program.[4]

On May 28, 2023, during Battleground, it was announced that the 11th Great American Bash under the WWE banner, the fourth annual for NXT, and 25th overall, would be held on Sunday, July 30 at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park, Texas. Instead of airing as a television special like the previous three events, the 2023 event was held as a livestreaming event, marking the first Great American Bash to air on WWE's livestreaming platforms, Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets.[5][6]

Storylines

The event comprised seven matches, including one on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand,[7][8] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT, and the supplementary online streaming show, Level Up.

At the end of the second week's episode of the Gold Rush special on June 27, Bron Breakker went berserk in Shawn Michaels' office before storming out of the room screaming that he had done his best in NXT and Michaels could not control him.[9] The following week, during a promo where Breakker talked about his match against Raw's Seth "Freakin" Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship during the first week's Gold Rush special, he was interrupted by Ilja Dragunov, who said that Breakker was between him and the NXT Championship. The two then brawled.[10]

Event

Pre-show

During the pre-show, Nathan Frazer, Dragon Lee, Yulisa León, and Valentina Feroz took on Meta Four (Noam Dar, Oro Mensah, Lash Legend, and Jakara Jackson) in an eight-person mixed tag team match. In the closing stages, Frazer delivered a springboard inverted DDT on Dar, but Jackson broke up the pin. Leon and Feroz then delivered a diving dropkick/DDT combination to Legend, but Dar broke up the pin. Mensah then delivered a spinning leg lariat to Frazer, but Dragon Lee immediately delivered a tornado DDT to Mensah. Frazer then delivered a reverse Springboard Spanish Fly to Mensah and a tope con giro to Dar, allowing Dragon Lee to deliver an Asai DDT to Mensah for the win.

Preliminary matches

The actual event began with Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) (with Joe Coffey) defending the NXT Tag Team Championship against The Family (Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo). In the closing stages, D'Angelo delivered a spinebuster to Mark Coffey for a two-count. As Wolfgang was attempting a senton on D'Angelo, he unintentionally delivered the senton on Mark Coffey. Wolfgang then delivered a Pounce and a moonsault to Stacks for a two-count. Gallus then delivered Gallus Gate to Stacks, but D'Angelo broke up the pin. D'Angelo them delivered a powerbomb to Mark Coffey onto Wolfgang into the steel steps. D'Angelo then hit Joe Coffey with a crowbar, allowing D'Angelo and Stacks to deliver the Bada Bing to Wolfgang to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions.

In the next match, Roxanne Perez faced Blair Davenport in a Weapons Wild match. In the opening stages, as Perez was making her entrance, Davenport jumped over the barricade and attacked Perez. Perez then delivered a diving crossbody from the barricade to Davenport. As Perez was attempting a suicide dive, Davenport threw a trash can into Perez. Davenport then delivered multiple chair and golf club shots to Perez. As Davenport was attempting a chair shot to Perez, Perez blocked it and threw a chair into Davenport. Davenport then started beating Perez with a leather belt. Perez then hit Davenport with a cowbell and started throwing Davenport across the barricade. As Perez was attempting the Pop Rox, Davenport countered it into an Alabama Slam. Davenport then delivered a Falcon Arrow to Perez onto a trashcan for a two-count. Perez then delivered a knee strike into the steps, a diving splash onto a table and a Pop Rox onto a pile of chairs for the win.

Next, Gable Steveson faced Baron Corbin. In the closing stages, Steveson delivered a German suplex onto the outside and locked in the ankle lock, but Corbin escaped it and threw him into the ring post. Corbin then delivered a Fireman's carry driver and a lariat for a two-count. Steveson then threw Corbin over the announce table, but Corbin immediately delivered a flying forearm. Both men then threw themselves over the announce table as the referee reached the count of 10, forcing a double countout. After the match, Steveson and Corbin continued fighting, with both men attacking WWE Security and Steveson delivering a belly-to-back suplex to Corbin into the barricade.

Next, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio (with Rhea Ripley) defended the NXT North American Championship against Wes Lee and Mustafa Ali. In the opening stages, Ali and Lee delivered simultaneous chops in the corner to Dominik. As both Ali and Lee were on the top rope, Dominik pushed both men to the outside. Ali and Lee then delivered Three Amigos to Dominik at the same time for a two-count. Lee then delivered a diving Meteora to Dominik, but Ali broke up the pin. As Ali was attempting a 450° splash on the apron to both Lee and Dominik, both men moved out of the way. Dominik then delivered a schoolboy pin to Lee for a two-count. Lee then delivered a suicide dive to Dominik. As Lee was attempting another suicide dive to Dominik, Ripley stood in front of Lee to prevent him, but Lee immediately delivered a tope con giro over Ripley and onto Dominik. As Lee was attempting to bring Dominik back into the ring, Ripley stopped him and delivered a Riptide to him through the table. Dominik then hit Lee with the Women's World Championship for a two-count. As Dominik was attempting the Frog Splash, Ali delivered a dropkick to Dominik and delivered the 450° splash to Lee but Ripley pulled Ali out of the ring to stop the pinfall attempt, allowing Dominik to deliver the Frog Splash to Lee to retain the title.

In the penultimate match, Tiffany Stratton faced Thea Hail (with Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) in a submission match for the NXT Women's Championship. In the opening stages, Stratton locked in the Romeo Special, but Hail reversed it into the Fujiwara armbar, but Stratton escaped. Stratton then delivered a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a handspring back elbow. Hail then delivered an avalanche fisherman suplex, but as Hail was attempting the springboard senton, Stratton countered it into a bodyscissors. Hail then locked in the Kimura Lock, but Stratton reached the ropes. Stratton then threw Hail into the steel steps, delivered the Prettiest Moonsault Ever and locked in the Boston Crab, but Hail refused to tap out. As Hail was attempting to reach the ropes, Stratton dragged her back into the ring and locked in a half Boston Crab. To prevent more damage to the back, cornerman Andre Chase threw in the towel, forcing the referee to call the match and thus Stratton retained the title.

Main event

In the main event, Carmelo Hayes (with Trick Williams) defended the NXT Championship against Ilja Dragunov. In the opening stages, Hayes delivered a shoulder tackle, a springboard clothesline and a pump kick for a two-count. Dragunov then delivered an enzeguiri, a german suplex and a lariat for a two-count. Dragunov then delivered a jumping kick and a German suplex for another two-count. Dragunov then delivered a ripcord forearm and a chop for a two-count. Hayes then delivered a superkick, but Dragunov immediately delivered a lariat for a two-count. Dragunov then locked in the Cobra Clutch, but Hayes countered it into a pin for a two-count. Dragunov then delivered a roundhouse kick for another two-count. As Hayes was attempting a leg lariat, Dragunov blocked it into an enzeguiri, but Hayes immediately delivered La Mistica. As Dragunov was attempting a chop, Hayes delivered a knee smash, a lariat and the springboard DDT for a nearfall. As Hayes was going to the top rope, Dragunov pushed him down and delivered a diving senton for a two-count. As Dragunov was attempting the Coast-to-Coast, Hayes countered it into a Codebreaker, but as Hayes was attempting the Nothing But Net, Dragunov countered it into a powerbomb and delivered a jumping forearm for a two-count. As Dragunov was attempting an avalanche fisherman suplex, Hayes countered it into a mid-air cutter. As Trick Williams was talking to Hayes on the outside, Dragunov delivered a Torpedo Moscow to Williams, allowing Hayes to bring Dragunov back into the ring and deliver the Nothing But Net to retain the title.

NXT The Great American Bash (2023)

Production

Background

Storylines

Event

Pre-show

Preliminary matches

Main event

Reception

Aftermath

Results

External links

References