NXT The Great American Bash 2025: A Good Show Caught Looking at Tomorrow

The opener understands the assignment immediately. Troy is enormous, Evans is elastic, and the taped ribs give every power move a target. Troy spends most of the match throwing Evans into objects or across the ring, while Evans survives long enough to make every burst of speed feel dangerous.

The German suplex on Troy is the visual the match needs because it briefly lets Evans overcome the size difference rather than merely escape it. Troy eventually catches another aerial attempt, but Evans turns the Black Hole Slam setup into a flash pin.

The finish protects Troy's size and gives Evans the result he needs. Simple wrestling usually works when the contrast is this obvious.

This is a developmental match in the best and worst senses of the phrase. Ruca and Dame attempt enough difficult offense to make the match interesting, but several transitions show the seams. Ruca's athleticism remains absurd, while Dame's power offense increasingly looks like something she can build a full match around rather than merely a collection of moves.

The ringside involvement from Tatum Paxley and Zaria adds noise without swallowing the match. Dame gets a protected nearfall when Paxley places her foot on the rope, Zaria removes the interference, and Ruca ends it with the Sol Snatcher.

Not polished enough to be great, but much more ambitious than routine.

This is the one match that treats Great American Bash like the payoff. Page and Saints begin fighting immediately, leave the ring before the audience has time to settle, and use Center Stage as part of the match rather than as decorative scenery. Kendo sticks, trash cans, a fire extinguisher, chairs and the concourse all show up, but the violence keeps following the rivalry instead of replacing it.

The throat injury Page had previously caused remains part of the psychology. Saints keeps returning to revenge, Page keeps returning to the damaged area, and the match escalates naturally into the chair and barricade spots near the ring.

Jasper Troy's interference complicates the finish without making Saints look helpless. Saints survives it, fights back to the stage and nearly regains control before Page counters and launches him with Ego's Edge through four tables below. It is excessive in exactly the way a Falls Count Anywhere match should be.

Two large men decide subtlety is somebody else's department. Femi and Inamura spend thirteen minutes throwing shoulders, chops, suplexes and power moves with enough force that Center Stage feels smaller every time they hit the mat.

Inamura is a good challenger because his offense is credible without requiring the audience to believe WWE is actually changing the championship. The match's best nearfall comes after the interference sequence, when Inamura still refuses to use Josh Briggs' chain and nearly wins on his own terms.

The Briggs material is the one deduction. It advances their story but interrupts a heavyweight match that did not need help generating drama. Femi eventually catches Inamura and finishes with Fall From Grace.

The main event is built less around winning than around introducing Blake Monroe as someone NXT expects the audience to care about immediately. She gets the showcase sequences, Grace supplies power and credibility, and Fatal Influence understands that its job is to make the new arrival work for the spotlight.

The match becomes busier late, with Jazmyn Nyx interfering and TNA Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich arriving to neutralize her. Once the ringside equation is even again, Grace creates the opening and Monroe pins NXT Women's Champion Jacy Jayne with the double-underhook DDT.

As a match, it is good. As a main event, it is slightly misplaced. As the final image before Monroe turns on Grace the next night, it becomes more interesting in hindsight.