WWE NXT Great American Bash

As the USA of America nears its 250th birthday, WWE NXT presented its annual Great American Bash PLE. For the primary time, The CW played host to a WWE PLE, and the show featured all the pieces from a brand new women’s champion to the retention of the lads’s world title. All those results and more could be found on the WWE NXT Great American Bash – 6/28/2026 Results Page.

It’s now time for the Wrestling Inc. Staff to inform you what they loved, and what they hated. In spite of everything, Sunday was a busy day, stuffed with Slammiversaries and Forbidden Doors, possibly you wish a fast update on what was good at The Bash, and what very much wasn’t. There have been tremendous highs, just like the major event, or the surprise appearance of Kevin Owens, and there was plenty to hate, which we’ll get to right after the jump. If you must keep the conversation going, the comments section might be open, as all the time.

Without further ado, the most effective and the worst of Sunday’s patriotic show.

As nearly all of us predicted, Myles Borne retained the NXT North American Championship on the Great American Bash. What we didn’t foresee was the shortage of an aftermath following his title match against his former tag partner, Tavion Heights.

Last week, Heights made it clear that he didn’t need Borne’s assist in securing a singles title opportunity. On “WWE NXT,” Heights then claimed that Borne “forgot” about their friendship once he found his own singles success. That is why Heights ultimately vowed to come back into their NA Title clash with a “selfish” mindset.

When Borne later pinned him, though, Heights didn’t snap; he actually kept things respectful by shaking Borne’s hand. He didn’t even interrupt Borne’s post-match promo, which asserted that Borne would hold the NXT North American Championship for a very long time, no matter who challenged him for it.

With Heights visibly disillusioned by his loss to Borne and his overall repeated failure in obtaining singles gold, I expected to finally reach his breaking point in that moment. Logically, it might make sense. Moreover, it would give him an additional edge to finally be put right into a position to hold it. By simply walking away and leaving Borne unscathed, I now query what his future looks like in “NXT.”

Written by Ella Jay

I do not think it’s any secret that I have been an enormous fan of the storyline between Shiloh Hill and Tristan Angels over the past several weeks. As goofy as it could be, I’ve had an absolute blast seeing where it goes next every week, and it’s consistently been a highlight on “NXT” programming tonight. For that reason, it should not be much of a surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed their match at The Great American Bash.

From bell to bell, there wasn’t any point of their match that I felt was lacking or lagging in any way, shape, or form. The 2 men placed on a banger of a match to make for something that was even between them, well-paced, and hard-hitting. I also really liked the little unique touches they added to the match, equivalent to the part where Angels answered a phone under the ring, just for Hill to sneak up behind him wearing a Jason Voorhees mask after which teleport behind Angels on the skin. I used to be also a fan of Hill delivering a spear to Angels off the ring steps and thru the center rope from the ring apron. It added that out of the ordinary fun touch to this match, and made it stand out to go away that rather more of an enduring impression in my mind.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

One had hoped heading into the match between Saquon Shugars and Dion Lennox tonight that it might be an ending to the months-spanning story. Clean vengeance. Shugars is moving on to greater and higher things, while DarkState attempts to do the identical. What else is there really to explore between these characters?

DarkState kicked him out, and Lennox said he couldn’t wait to be done with him. Shugars eventually won the match, putting him on the trail to that clean vengeance and a simple ending. But then Lennox, Osiris Griffin, and Cutler James attacked him. Their injuries on the night had been feigned. Why didn’t they only help him win the match and never pretend to be injured?

Anyway, they set him up for Lennox to hit along with his baseball bat. The angling of all the pieces and the stalling on Lennox’s behalf made it feel as if someone was coming out to avoid wasting Shugars. Nobody got here, he was hit with the bat, and it’s extremely clear that things aren’t going to be over. One does accept that, per the booking rulebook, this sort of rivalry normally calls for a match with a bit of more something; a plunder match of some type, often.

But that is still irksome. Especially when it feels as if the story between these characters has run its course. DarkState are removed from probably the most compelling act on the brand, nevertheless it’s to not say that they’re bad. They may use higher and different stories somewhat than being what they’re presently. Shugars is a bit of more refreshing.

The priority is that running things back with DarkState stands to dull that flame. All the things has been explored, and Shugars either gets one other win that does no favors for the group, or he loses ensuing a trilogy, and truthfully, the concept of the story running that long is nauseating.

It could have been nice to see a clean break. They’re so rare now.

Written by Max Everett

I’ll just come out and say it: I miss Kevin Owens. I feel nearly all of Wrestling Inc. staff miss him, too. That is why it was a nice surprise to see him announced as a guest for the “NXT” Great American Bash tailgate party and watch party. It was much more exciting to see the previous NXT and WWE Universal Champion in physical form on the GAB broadcast.

Owens first commented on the opening NXT Championship match between Tony D’Angelo and Naraku. In typical KO fashion, he then unleashed a moment of rage when the gang responded to his support for Tristan Angels, whom he worked with on “WWE LFG,” with a sea of boos. Whether he’s a babyface or heel, it’s hard to not chuckle when “raging” Kevin Owens comes out, even for a temporary second. And on such a highly stressful night like tonight has been for us pro wrestling writers, I definitely needed laugh.

Owen’s appearance also gives me hope that he might be back on WWE TV for good within the near future. Yes, he’s served as a coach on season three of “WWE LFG,” but across the more outstanding programs of WWE’s major roster and “NXT” of late, fans have rarely seen him. As a result of his serious neck injury, he hasn’t competed within the ring for the reason that 2025 Elimination Chamber premium live event either.

Owens is a national treasure-level talent, so at this rate, I’ll take any screen-time dose of him that I can get.

Written by Ella Jay

Now, for probably the most part, I didn’t really have a difficulty with the NXT Championship match between Tony D’Angelo and Naraku. I assumed that it was some solid motion from two very solid performers, and I assumed it was selection for the opening match on this show. My problem mainly got here with the closing few moments of this match. There wasn’t really any buildup or tension leading as much as the top of this match, making it feel prefer it was incredibly abrupt and sudden. I truthfully expected an ending that had a bit of more pizzazz, considering that “NXT” has positioned the storyline between D’Angelo and Narkau as something of a blood feud. It just got here out of nowhere for me, and was a bit of underwhelming to observe as a viewer for that reason.

I also wish that this match had been given a tad bit more time on this show to play out. It felt short to me as compared to other title matches, equivalent to those for the Women’s North American Championship or North American Championship, and I just felt prefer it could’ve used an additional couple of minutes to create some more tension and flesh out the ending a bit more. It might not have been a foul match, nevertheless it was actually hampered by the style by which it ended.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

The appropriate move was made as Kendal Grey dethroned Lola Vice as NXT Women’s Champion, crowning the highest prospect in the ladies’s division and who seems like a future WrestleMania headliner. Vice was a terrific champion and stays herself headed to the celebs – many would argue that is already occurred – but that is also why this win was more essential for Grey at this stage.

This match was the culmination of a story spanning months back to the lead-in to Stand & Deliver, the previous Evolve Women’s Champion entering the pursuit of Jacy Jayne’s NXT Women’s title as Vice sought to finish her own years-long hunt. Grey had won the Iron Survivor in December and felt very much on the strategy to getting her moment, but Stand & Deliver felt just like the time for Vice to engrave her name on the belt.

Even still, she never fell to Vice, pinning her whilst she submitted to send them each to face Jayne. Vice won, as she should, but even then Grey was not beaten. This weekend saw that come full circle as Vice did not beat her for a 3rd time, and the third time proved to be the charm as Grey was crowned at the fitting moment for her.

Vice losing the title actually feels as if she is free to explore an ending to her story within the brand and to eventually – hopefully sooner somewhat than later – make her step up. Grey feels as if she will carry the brand forward perfectly. And if her first opponent is Kelani Jordan, as her cameo within the match suggested, then the NXT Women’s title is in good hands for the foreseeable future.

Written by Max Everett