PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH TIP SHEET IS NOW ONLINE

WWE NXT will present the 2023 Great American Bash in Cedar Park, TX on Sunday.  Here's our take on what will happen on the show.

NXT Men's Champion Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov

Dave: First off, I have to say that NXT has been a lot more enjoyable lately.  Part of it is the main roster talent coming to Tuesday, the rest is the NXT UK stars coming stateside.  I love Ilja, the dude is fantastic.  If it's me, I put the belt on him tonight but I could see HBK making us wait for it.

Mike: I don't see a title change here, although I think a strong case can be made that Dragonuv should win and have a run with the title as Hayes chases him.  On paper, this should be a hell of a main event as these are two performers who have an awesome work ethic and really go all out with intensity and athleticism.

Richard:  I was not a big fan of the end of the show segment between Trick and Ilja because it took away from the match on Sunday.  With Trick angry at an accidental Torpedo Moscow during the six man tag match, they could always have Trick get involved in the match and have that as the reason why Hayes loses the title.   This will be a hard fought match that probably goes 20 to 25 minutes.  At some point, Ilja will make a tactical mistake and that will allow Hayes to take control of the match while Dragunov survives many near falls.  Hayes misses Nothing But Net and Dragunov is able to hit Torpedo Moscow to win the title.  If Trick does not get involved in the match, I think Bron will.

NXT Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton vs. Thea Hail in a Submission Match.

Dave: I expect a great performance out of Hall, which will elevate her.  But Stratton is a stuf and I don't see her losing the belt any time soon, unless it's to be called up.

Mike: No way there is a change here.  Stratton is just getting going as champion.  Hail is a great prospect and I love her work but I don't see her getting the title yet.  My feeling is we will get some sort of screwy finish here when Hail is KO'd and unable to continue.

Richard:  Thea has a lot of upside, but is it the right thing to give her the title at such a young age?  I think Tiffany had a great rise to the title, but has she shown that same character since she won the title?  Do we see Charlie, Drew, and Damon show up to off set Duke and Andre since she has apparently shunned them despite taking what she learned from them.  The stipulation could hurt this match because it could be 45% Thea trying to lock in the kimura and Tiffany escaping or quickly getting to the ropes, 35% Tiffany doing whatever submission hold she knows (have we ever seen her use one before?), and 20% of Thea doing Thea stuff around the ring.  I would have Tiffany retain due to something Duke does only so I can hear Andre insult "Duke" (because of his Tarheels fandom)   We don't need another Chase U celebration (are we sure they aren't affiliated with Greendale where they have celebrations for everything instead of dances?)

NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio vs. Wes Lee vs. Mustafa Ali.

Dave: Dom will use the other two getting in their own way to leave with the belt.  He is bringing viewers to Tuesdays (yes, you read that correctly).  No way in hell I would take the belt off of him.

Mike: I don't see a title change here.  My gut is that Ali is here to be the one pinned to protect Wes and allow Dominik, who is easily the ratings draw for NXT in recent weeks, to be the victor.  On paper, this should be a ton of fun.

Richard:  I jokingly suggested that Dom would be a champion at the end of the Great American Bash, but I thought he would be beating Carmelo Hayes.  I don't know if Rhea gets involved in this match, but I think in the end, Lee and Ali will screw each other over in the match and allow Dom to get the 'typical Triple Threat victory' by coming in and getting the easy pin after Lee hits the Cardiac Kick.  Let's see how this crowd treats their champion in this match.

NXT Tag Team Champions Gallus vs. The Family

Dave: I will never, ever pick against Gallus.  They are my guys.  They might lose the Titles here but not if I am booking, especially not to the goofy soap opera stuff.

Mike: I am calling The Family here.

Richard:  Can we file a lawsuit to stop this match.  I have lost interest in this feud because of the Law and Order:  Special Vince Unit way we got to this match.  All signs point to Tony and Channing winning the titles, but I still think we see that Channing was planning a family take over that Tony wasn't aware of and he costs them the match and he aligns with Gallus.  It is more likely that we do get new tag champs.  Then we can get Part 2 of Tony and Tina's Wedding for the celebration on Tuesday night (assuming there aren't any other celebrations that happen because of matches above)

Gable Steveson vs. Baron Corbin.

Dave: I expect Steveson is ready.  Corbin will get some stuff in but there is no way anyone sane has Gable lose his first match.

Mike: Steveson has to win, but the real question is what will he look like inside the ring?  Will he be a Kurt Angle or a Jun Akiyama that just blows everyone out of the water by being just innately great immediately?  Will his collegiate success translate to the WWE world?  I'm very interested in seeing how this one goes above everything else on the show.

Richard:  I guess this shows that the man who is championed by Andrew Twiss is respected enough by the higher-ups that he is put in the ring with Gable Steveson in his first match.  It is a double edged sword that Gable is in this match.  A good performance and he beats a guy who has no confidence in himself, but if he loses, what does that mean for his future in NXT?  I don't want to belittle Steveson, but I would rather see his brother wrestling on this show (put him and Catch Point 2.0 [Drew and Charlie]) in a six man tag instead).  Steveson gets the win and Corbin goes further into the abyss (where he was before)

Roxanne Perez vs. Blair Davenport - Weapons Wild

Dave: If it's me, I book it close and Perez has it won when Davenport does something nefarious to steal the win, and it builds up another match.

Mike: The brawl this week gave Perez an edge that we haven't seen out of her before and Davenport has been a good foil for her.  I am curious to see how intense this comes off given they have the weapons legal here.  My feeling is Perez should win here but Davenport would be a better victor to set up future bouts.

Richard:  The brawl at the store was an interesting step for this feud (at least Roxanne did not do anything in the parking lot since Blair is the Asphalt Assassin).  Will the winner of this match move on to become the next challenger for the Women's Title or will this be run back again before they move on.  Perez has been in a bit of a rut recently, but maybe being closer to home will light a fire under her and she returns to where she was when she was the champion.  I think Perez gets the win.  If the closest one wasn't an hour away, I would want this match to take place in a Buc-ee's.

Dragon Lee, Nathan Frazer, Yulisa Leon, and Valentina Feroz vs. The Meta-Four on the Kickoff Show

Dave: This should be fun.  I expect that Frazer's team gets the win.

Mike: Team Lee, hopefully as soon as possible.

Richard:  If you thought WWE would ever make an NXT show 'Appointment TV' again, we have the answer and it is an emphatic YES.  This match has been teased for weeks and now that Noam Dar is no longer playing Bernie Lomax, he can wrestle again.  On paper, this should be an easy victory for the REAL Heritage Cup Champion and his team, but they don't wrestle on paper (I have watched too many of these kickoff shows that I am turning into a cliché machine)  I can see some sort of chicanery to allow Dar to pin Frazer to set up the next Heritage Cup title match.  At least the momentum of the match won't be killed since there are multiple men and women in the match.  This is truly the Great American LASH!!!!! (Embrace it, Mike)

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet