The Great American Bash came back for the first time since a special on SmackDown in 2012. This time it was for the black and gold brand. The show will be over the course of two weeks, and for the first night, the women dominated as they had three out of the five matches.
The first match was a much-anticipated match to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. This was a Fatal 4-way Elimination Match that involved Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai. Nox was able to pull off a victory after delivering a Molly-go-round and the Shiniest Wizard.
To view that report, click here.
Announced for next week’s second night of this event will be a street fight between Mia Yim and Candice LeRae which furthers their current rivalry.
Another vignette was shown for Mercedes Martinez and she has been announced for next week. I am very excited to see where she is heading, which should be right to the top.
We had a handicap match that was a rematch between Aliyah and Rhea Ripley, although this time Robert Stone teamed with his new client as they faced The Nightmare. The stipulation was if Ripley lost then she would join the Robert Stone Brand.
It was a cute exchange but was definitely more of a filler match. I find it a little bit of a head-scratcher why they would try to make the Robert Stone Brand a way to elevate talent only for them to lose. They did this same thing with Chelsea Green at first. Aliyah going over on Ripley would have been a shocker, but maybe that’s what we need more of. Ripley picked up the win as she had both Aliyah and Stone in a double Prism Trap submission.
The third women’s match, a dream match, and the main event to close the show were NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Women’s Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks in a non-title match. Needless to say, the match was great and it has left me wanting a round two.
The entrance of Banks was great as she rode in with style along with her best friend and tag team partner Bayley. Also, she was accompanied in the car by her doggo.
The match begins as the two exchange wrist locks on to have Shirai break away and show off her athleticism with several backflips. A missile dropkick sends Banks to the outside as Shirai follows up with a massive suicide dive into a crossbody. Shirai gains momentum as she gets Banks back in the ring and backs her into the corner, hoisting her up on the turnbuckle.
With Banks comes Bayley and the SmackDown Women’s Champion tries to help her best friend by honking the horn of a car that was set up at ringside for the event. This causes the distraction on Shirai as Banks was able to knock her down from the top turnbuckle. She tried to capitalize with a chin lock. Banks attempts to wear down the Joshi Judas as she bends back her fingers.
Moments later, Shirai hits a Frankensteiner, and after a missile dropkick and a Tiger Feint Kick she is only able to get a near fall. Banks counters a suplex and gets Shirai into the Bank Statement. Shirai was able to get free and hits a sunset flip into a jumping stomp.
Banks then misses and slaps her and misses a meteora as Shirai would then miss a moonsault but land mostly on her feet. After a drop toe hold, Shirai misses this time as she went for another Tiger Feint Kick. The two then end up traded forearms with Shirai on the apron and Banks in the ring over the top rope.
As the match comes to an end, Shirai locks in a cross face with Banks doing everything in her power to get to the bottom rope to break the hold. Bayley tosses one of the tag belts in the ring which distracts the referee and as he attempts to get it out of the ring, Bayley takes advantage.
She hits Shirai to break the cross-face hold and then she gets into a tug of war with the referee over the tag belt. While they are busy on the opposite side of the ring, Banks goes for the other tag championship but it is being pulled by Asuka! Asuka hits Banks in the face with the green mist. This allowed Shirai to take advantage of the blinded Boss and she hits a moonsault to pick up the pin and the victory. Asuka and Shirai celebrate in the ring after the match.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the week:
WINNER: Tegan Nox
I personally felt this was a surprise victory. I thought out of the four, Tegan would be the last to win this match. In the minority here but I am glad she is getting this shot and how/when she is getting it. To be honest, we know Io Shirai is not dropping the title anytime soon. So this most likely will just be a one and done. However, Tegan has had a hard road, and despite what the majority feels, she deserves this.
WINNERS: Sasha Banks & Io Shirai
What a great match. It could have been better without a doubt, but this makes me just want to see it again. Banks does a great job getting others over while at the same time losing while still looking good. The surprise appearance of Asuka was great. The athleticism between these two needs to be seen again. Perhaps at Survivor Series?
The transitions, bumps, and spots in the match I felt were great. The future has so much potential when it comes to these two fighting again.
LOSER: Aliyah
I was very happy that she finally picked up a win a few weeks ago, but that was short-lived. I feel that this should have been done with someone other than Rhea Ripley. Someone who Aliyah would have gone over on and then that person would have to join the brand. This would make the brand be built up correctly.
What did you think of this week’s NXT with The Great American Bash? Who were your Winners & Losers? Let us know in the comment section below.
