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The following report originally published 5 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
KELLER’S NXT ON USA TV REPORT
“GREAT AMERICAN BASH” SPECIAL
JULY 1, 2020
AIRED ON USA NETWORK
Announcer: Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, Beth Phoenix
[HOUR ONE]
[Q1]
-A video package previewed the matches on the event with the red, white, and blue Fourth of July “Great American Bash” theme.
-Mauro introduced the show and said the Bash is back under the black and yellow brand.
(1) TEGAN NOX vs. DAKOTA KAI vs. CANDICE LERAE vs. MIA YIM – Elimination Match
Phillips said G.M. William Regal said there will be no outside interference in this match, so Raquel Gonzales is barred from ringside. (So we’re to believe Regal is often otherwise okay with outside interference?) There was a rough spot with LaRae yanking Kai off the ring apron. Yim eliminated LaRae a few minutes in after a drop down knee to the face. Yim trash-talked LaRae afterward. They cut to a break, but stayed with the action on split-screen. [c]
Back to full screen, Kai and Yim double-teamed Nox and piled on her for a two count. Phillips praised her power to be able to kick out with “two Superstars on her at one time.” Yim popped Nox in the face, then struck a pose in the ropes. Mauro said Nox is trying to secure her first title shot. Yim gave Kai a dragon suplex and then dove onto both opponents on opposite side of the ring a minute later in rapid-sequence. Yim scored a near fall with Code Blue on Nox. Nox rolled to the floor. Kai then rolled up Yim for a leverage three count. It came down to Kai vs. Nox. They cut to another split-screen commercial break that turned into a full screen break. [c]
[Q2]
Nox and Kai were going at it after the break. Mauro talked about their last battle at Takeover and called them “bitter rivals” with so much pride and animosity in play. A graphic advertised the Roderick Strong vs. Dexter Lumis strap match later. Nox put Kai away with the Shinest Wizard to earn a title shot. She reacted with elation and disbelief as the referee raised her arm. Mauro talked about her journey to this moment including double knee surgeries.
WINNER: Nox in 21:00 to earn an NXT Title shot.
(Keller’s Analysis: As with four-way matches, a ton of action early that felt a bit random, but it was never boring and largely crispy executed.)
-In a backstage promo, Damien Priest cut off McKenzie Mitchell’s question. He apologized and said he has to direct this at one person. He said Cameron Grimes slashed his tires and won’t claim it, he attacked him to win a match but won’t own it, and now he has his full attention. He said he will regret it. He challenged him to a one-on-one match with no games. He said the beating he will give him will live forever.
(Keller’s Analysis: Priest is a mix of Roman Reigns and Diesel, and in a good way in terms of the deep voiced all-business alpha tone and tenor of his personality and delivery on promos.)
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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[Q3]
(2) TIMOTHY THATCHER vs. ONEY LORCAN
Thatcher marched to ring with a scowl. Mauro said he’s a Thatch and Thatch Connoisseur. Phoenix said Lorcan demanded this match or else he was going to start kicking some ass. They circled each other as the bell rang. Mauro called them throwbacks, citing Thatcher’s dental work as evidence. They wrestled each other largely mid-ring, trading a wide array of holds to ground each other and counter each other; no dives, no running the ropes; no climbing the ropes; no whips into the ringside steps. They cut to a break five minutes in, but stayed with the action on split-screen. [c]
Thatcher gave Lorcan a belly-to-belly. Lorcan rolled to the floor. Phillips said Lorcan has been favoring his elbow. Lorcan blocked a suplex on the ring apron and then gave Thatcher a suplex onto the back of his neck. He followed with a running European uppercut for a two count. Thatcher kicked him off of him, but Lorcan popped up and chopped Thatcher hard in the chest. This took on the vibe of the classic Ronnie Garvin-Greg Valentine matches in the WWF 30 years ago. Lorcan took Thatcher down into a single leg crab mid-ring. Thatcher crawled toward the bottom rope, but instead reversed Lorcan into a knee lock. Lorcan then tried to crawl to the bottom rope. Instead, when Thatcher tried to shift to a Fujiwara Armbar, Lorcan escaped. Thatcher grinded Lorcan into the mat and scored a two count, then went for another submission. Lorcan fish-hooked Thatcher’s mouth; Thatcher turned it into a Fujiwara armbar for the tapout. Thatcher didn’t break right away after the bell and got a maniacal look on his face. The ref yelled at him to release and he did. Lorcan clutched his arm in pain.
WINNER: Thatcher in 12:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: Anyone who gave this a try, despite its style being so lite on modern style high spots, had to find it compelling. I’m surprised they gave them 12 minutes, but not disappointed. I’m curious how this did in minute-by-minute viewership compared to AEW.)
[Q4]
-A video package aired on Killer Kross and Scarlett. Scarlet said the brand’s identity will be defined by the torment and suffering others endure. Kross said, “It’s never been about the time you put in, it’s about the time you take away. Tick tock.”
(Keller’s Analysis: The branding of that act continues to be top notch.)
(3) RHEA RIPLEY vs. ROBERT STONE & ALIYA – Ripley Must Join Stone Brand If She Loses
Stone came out looking eager for a fight. He played up his entrance like a boxer before a big fight, wearing a big boxing robe. Phoenix called Stone “a walking Ponzi scheme.” She then rhymed something with it, making it sound suspiciously like something Mauro wrote for her to say. Stone wore comically oversized boxing shorts. Phillips broke into that “forced WWE announcer laugh” as Stone looked eager to take on Ripley. Ripley chopped down Stone early, and he rolled to the floor. Aliya went after Ripley and took her down with a flying head scissors. She scored a two count as Mauro worried aloud that Ripley might have to join The Robert Stone Brand. When Ripley made a comeback and went for a pin, Stone yanked her off the cover. Stone dove at Ripley over the top rope, but Ripley simply stepped aside (take note everyone!) and Stone crashed to the floor. Aliya then leaped through the ropes and yanked Ripley by her head into the mat on the floor. They cut to a break as she threw Ripley into the ring and scored a two count. [c]
Half the commercial break was split-screen with Aliya dominating Ripley. Back from the break, Stone joined in, but Ripley suplexed both of them at once. Stone and Aliya regrouped. Stone whipped Aliya at Ripley, but Ripley countered her and took over control. He threw Aliya into Stone in the corner head-first into Stone’s crotch. “That will definitely affect the stones in the Stone family,” said Mauro. Stone tried to roll up Ripley, but she blocked it and head-butted Stone. Ripley put both Stone and Aliya in her Prism Trap at the same time and they both tapped out. Mauro wondered with results like this how long The Robert Stone Brand will be a brand. Phoenix said it’s time for Stone to go back to the drawing board.
WINNER: Ripley in 10:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: I’m almost a little disappointed we don’t get a series of skits with Ripley forced to be part of the Robert Stone Brand. I thought there was potential there. Of course, it could have gone really wrong too.)
-Phillips plugged Strong vs. Lumis in “NXT’s first-ever strap match.”
[HOUR TWO]
[Q5]
-A vignette aired with Roderick Strong in therapy discussing how Lumis’s constant staring freaks him out. “He just keeps staring at me!” he said. Then he talked about the disconcerting drawings, but also that he is ready to face his fears. “Tonight I look fear in the eye,” he said.
(Keller’s Analysis: Isn’t the whole point of a strap match supposed to be a heel being nervous about being attached to a babyface opponent? Didn’t Strong just try to escape getting anywhere near Lumis to the point of getting counted out last week? They’re not playing that card at all here with the hype. The strap gimmick just feels arbitrary.)
(4) DEXTER LUMIS vs. RODERICK STRONG – Strap Match
As Strong made his entrance, Phillips said this is going to be an hour of NXT with the least possible commercial interruptions thanks to a soda sponsor. When Phoenix said Lumis is causing Strong to question his own sanity, Mauro hauntingly said under his breath, “I do that every day, Beth.” (Yikes!) Phillips explained the rules that you win by pinfall or submission. He finally noted that Strong cannot escape Lumis if he wants to win because you can only win if you are still attached. This isn’t the typical strap match rules where you drag your opponent to all four turnbuckles. Before the ref could attach Strong, he lunged at Lumis with a barrage of forearms. Strong yelled, “I told you I wasn’t scared of him!” Lumis fired back with an attack. They got strapped together and then the bell rang to officially start the match.
Mauro talked about the first-ever strap match at the Great American Bash being between Wahoo McDaniel and Jimmy Garvin. Strong got the advantage at ringside briefly and whipped Lumis. Lumis made a comeback and threw Strong into the ring. Mauro said Lumis doesn’t speak much, but his eyes say it all. Beth talked about the damage the strap can do to human skin. Phillips said Strong isn’t over the trauma of being locked in the trunk. Phoenix agreed. Lumis mounted Strong and punched away at him. Strong caught him with a boot as he charged to turn momentum. At ringside a minute later Lumis took over, including yanking Strong into the ringside steps. Mauro said he would say Lumis is sporting his game face, but that’s the only face he’s seen on Lumis. Lumis battered and whipped Strong up onto the stage. Lumis eyed a car that was part of the Bash set. Phillips said it’s a Dodge Viper, which has a smaller than the average trunk. Lumis opened the trunk lid. Strong recovered and took over offense on the ramp. Strong controlled Lumis for several minutes in the ring.
[Q6]
Lumis made a comeback, but Strong cut it short and began berating Lumis. The audience chanted “Dexter likes it” when Strong was whipping him. Lumis fought back with a hard clothesline. Strong flip-bumped. They battled back and forth for a while. Strong superplexed Lumis and then wrapped Lumis’s ankles and applied a Boston Crab variation. Lumis crawled under the bottom rope and dropped to the floor. Phoenix said Lumis moves unlike any other Superstar, slithering out of the hold. Lumis took over. They battled back and forth for a while. Lumis wrapped up Strong with the strap and applied his Silence finisher for the tapout win.
WINNER: Lumis in 16:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: I thought this was a lost opportunity to play up Strong being petrified being strapped to Lumis. They rushed into the stip with no set-up – just an easy-to-miss announcement at the end of last week’s show – and it diminished the opportunity to tell a different more compelling story here. The match was too long. Given the story they decided to tell, which was just a straight forward match without Strong really selling the actual storyline of being completely freaked out by Lumis, it didn’t have the content to justify over 15 minutes.)
-A vignette aired with Keith Lee talking about why this is the biggest opportunity of his career to face Adam Cole next week for the NXT Title. He talked about the journey he’s been on. He talked about the people he’s learned from as images aired of Lee interacting with Mick Foley and Triple H behind the scenes, and in the ring with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. He said it’s an opportunity to make history by holding both singles titles. He said the match has to deliver and he’s not letting anyone down. “NXT is now N-X-Lee.” He said he’s had his sights set on Cole’s title for a long time, but he’s waited patiently and he has earned his opportunity. He offered his respect and congratulations to Cole for an amazing, epic, and legendary title reign.
Then the video shifted to Cole discussing Lee taking Lesnar to the limit at the Royal Rumble and winning the North American Title. He said not many people can say they had a better year than Lee, but he can. He said Lee on Smackdown doesn’t happen if he doesn’t defend the NXT Title against Daniel Bryan, and Lee on Raw doesn’t happen without him defending against Seth Rollins. He said he is responsible for his success. He said he will end the night with both belts and prove he is the greatest champion in the brand’s history. He said in one week, he’ll be the winner who takes all. “And that’s undisputed,” he said. Lee said while Cole might be undisputed, he is unstoppable.
(Keller’s Analysis: That’s how you build up a main event one week before it takes place. Tremendous feature. A lot of elbow grease, so to speak, went into that and it paid off. Quite frankly, AEW should shift away from spending time goofing off on YouTube with incongruent and frivolous storylines and put more effort into features like that on Dynamite on TNT. Or find a way to do both. It’s not one or the other with their resources.) [c]
-A sponsored video aired on Balor.
-Backstage Mitchell tried to interview Gargano and LaRae. LaRae complained about everyone ganging up on her earlier. LaRae ran off screen. Gargano began talking, then smiled and went over to see that LaRae had attacked Mia Yim. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott tried to separate them. Gargano shoved him and told him to get his hands off of his wife. They were separated by officials.
[Q7]
-Santos Escobar with Raul Mendoza and Jacquin Wilde came out. Mauro said Escobar is poised to rule the Cruiserweight Division for a long time. Escobar talked about how the Lucha Libre culture used to make them movie stars. He said their historic tradition turned into a side show. “You were led to believe Lucha Libre was a bunch of guys, in masks of course, doing flips.” The audience chanted, “That is Lucha!” (Huh?) He said he is more than a mask, and they are going to remake Lucha in his image. “We are going to restore its honor. But more importantly, we are going to leave a legacy we can be proud of. We are going to right the wrongs of what it truly means to be a Lucha Libre artist. We are going to build our empire.”
Out came Drake Maverick, wearing a neck brace. Escobar & Co. welcomed him to the ring. He arrived, and they attacked him. Escobar called him a “little guy” and said no one can touch him. Breezango ran out to make the save. They cleared the ring. Fandango told them next week on night two of the Great American Bash, they will have nowhere to hide.
(Keller’s Analysis: That’s a good setup for next week. I like the match.)
-Mitchell interviewed Grimes about Priest’s challenge. Grimes mocked Priest’s deep voice. “For a man who claims he is going to live forever, he sure is in a hurry to come after me, Cameron Grimes!” He said he doesn’t have time to worry about the past because he has his foot on the gas. He said he wants the winner of the Lee vs. Cole match. He declared himself the no. 1 contender and said he’s going to the moon.
(Keller’s Analysis: That was Grimes’s best interview, in part because he eliminated the fake ha ha pro wrestling laugh mastered by Jeff Jarrett in the ’90s. It still feels “put on” and performed, but he’s on a path to potentially having a distinctive, effective obnoxious heel persona, but he’s got a long to go before it doesn’t feel like a bad backyard wrestling performance intended to be a parody of a heel pro wrestling promo.) [c]
-The announcers hyped the Cole vs. Lee match next week
[Q8]
(5) IO SHIRAI vs. SASHA BANKS (w/Bayley)
Sasha rode to the ring in a Dodge convertible with Bayley and her dog. Shirai came out second. Shirai landed a missile dropkick early and then dove through the ropes onto Sasha to the floor. Shirai landed a Tiger Kick and then a springboard missile dropkick for a near fall at 4:00. A horn honk by Bayley distracted Shirai and led to Sasha taking over. She applied a Bank Statement mid-ring. Mauro noted Sasha’s last singles match in NXT was a win over Bayley in a 30 minute Iron Woman match. Shirai broke free and landed a double-stomp. Shirai climbed to the top rope, but Sasha got up and knocked her off balance. Shirai was hanging upside down in the corner. Sasha yelled, “You wouldn’t be here without me.” Shirai recovered enough to sit up and avoid a slidekick by Sasha. Banks came back with a Meteora seconds later for a near fall.
Both were slow to get up. They battled on the ring apron. Sasha knocked her off the top rope with a kick to the head. Sasha then dove through the ropes and landed a sunset powerbomb of Shirai into the plexiglass. Cool spot. When Sasha went for a frog splash, Shirai moved and then applied a mid-ring crossface. Bayley encouraged Sasha to crawl to bottom rope. She then threw a tag title into the ring. As the ref got rid of it, Sasha hit Shirai. The ref didn’t see it, but was suspicious. Bayley tried to take her belt back. Sasha grabbed the other belt. Asuka, though, grabbed it from her and then sprayed her with mist. Shirai scored a near fall with a quick roll-up. Shirai delivered a wrecking ball dropkick to Bayley, then leaped off the top rope with a moonsault onto Bayley’s back for a three count. Asuka and Shirai taunted Bayley and Sasha afterward.
WINNER: Shirai in 14:00 to retain the NXT Title.
(Keller’s Analysis: Very good match. One of the better matches clocking in under 15 minutes in recent memory. The shenanigans at the end worked well in terms of building up the Asuka-Sasha match, as this was a quick stopover for Sasha and not a full-fledged feud being paid off.)
-Phillips plugged the six-man tag set up earlier, Yim vs. LaRae, and Lee vs. Cole for next week’s Great American Bash week two line-up.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was good for a regular TV show and also good if considered the first couple hours of a PPV style event. It’s hard to give off a “big event” vibe when it’s in the normal timeslot in the normal venue, but the fresh graphics and the matches that had more build than usual and a main event with a “guest star” worked enough to make it feel like more than just a typical TV show. The show breezed by with a good pace, with more in-ring wrestling than usual (good for a special themed event like this), but also a variety of styles of matches to keep things feeling fresh.
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