We have four matches announced for this week’s night two of The Great American Bash. The main event is Adam Cole vs Keith Lee in a Champion vs Champion – Winner Take All Match. Candice LeRae and Mia Yim continue their feud in a Street Fight. Johnny Gargano and Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott have a match after Scott tried to separate Yim and LeRae last week. And there’s a six-man tag featuring Legado del Fantasma against Drake Maverick & Breezango.

 

Results

Candice LeRae def. Mia Yim

Bronson Reed def. Tony Nese

Johnny Gargano def. Isaiah Swerve Scott

Legado del Fantasma def. Breezango & Drake Maverick

Mercedes Martinez def. Santana Garrett

Keith Lee def. Adam Cole

 

 

Review

Candice LeRae vs Mia Yim – Street Fight

This one started without complete entrances. LeRae was the first out and Mia Yim started battering her before she got beyond the stage. Once LeRae had been thrown into the ring, via a trip into the steps, Yim filled the ring with toys and the match got underway officially.

If I were going to pick two of NXT’s women to have a street fight, it would probably be these two. They used all the toys, chairs and tables, kendo sticks, and a fire extinguisher, and a refreshments table got destroyed when they strayed from the ring.

There wasn’t much to separate them, no obvious dominance. Mia Yim put on a knuckleduster, but LeRae blocked the punch with a chair. They fought on top of a table perched across a corner, which looked incredibly precarious. The landing didn’t look much less scary. Candice LeRae brought them down in a diving swinging neckbreaker onto a pile of chairs. She landed with her arm across Mia Yim and got a pin she was largely unaware of.

They had them lay in the ring for a really long time after the match, just to drive home how brutal it was.

 

Mark Henry predicted a win for Keith Lee in the Champion vs Champion match.

 

Bronson Reed vs Tony Nese

Bronson Reed was granted this match by William Regal after Tony Nese was mean to Leon Ruff. It took longer than I expected and turned out to be a pretty good match. Reed made his point, and a possibly permanent impression on Nese’s ribcage, with a splash from the top for the win.

 

Robert Stone tried to recruit Shotzi Blackheart to his brand. Not only did she say no, he accidentally threw coffee over Killian Dain and got thrown into a packing crate before Blackheart ran over his leg with her tank.

 

Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott vs Johnny Gargano

Any Swerve match is fine by me and I enjoyed this one. Johnny Gargano is much more entertaining when his mouth is shut and when he’s got an interesting opponent to deal with. It was a fast-paced and clever match, with all the athleticism. Gargano seemed convinced it was his right to control and ultimately win the match and grew visibly frustrated as Swerve kicked out and rebounded time and time again.

I want to see Isaiah Scott with NXT gold but he needs wins to build a case. He got close a couple of times but a shove into the post followed by a poisonrana on the outside had Swerve rocked. Gargano got him back in the ring and delivered One Final Beat for the win.

 

In the hype package for Io Shirai vs Tegan Nox, Nox said she is sick of being called the comeback kid and she doesn’t need the sympathy. The package concentrated on the similarities in their journeys and the difference between their approaches. It has the potential to be an epic match, and it happens next week.

 

Legado del Fantasma vs Breezango & Drake Maverick

Breezango were Conquistador-esque luchadores for their entrance, but only until Drake Maverick came out, then it was all business. Drake Maverick is a very angry man and is desperate to get hold of Santo Escobar. Escobar seemed less keen, he was more interested in letting his associates, Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza, do the majority of the work. It’s genuinely great to see them involved in something meaningful, they’ve waited a long time.

Maverick was made useful by Fandango, when he threw him over the top rope onto the other team. Unfortunately, when Fandango followed, he tweaked his knee. A knee first trip into the steps made sure he couldn’t stand, and his opponents had a target. They took turns punishing him, but eventually he caught a break and tagged Maverick in to finally get his hands on Escobar.

Breezango were kept buy fighting Wilde and Mendoza to keep them from interfering, but Maverick couldn’t get it done. Santos Escobar pinned him with a Phantom Driver after kicking his legs out from under him on the turnbuckle.

 

Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae said they’re the best power couple in the world, or maybe the universe. Gargano is still holding a grudge against Finn Balor, and it sounds like LeRae has some old scores she wants to settle as well.

 

Imperium got a hype package this week.

 

Drew McIntyre picked Adam Cole as the winner of the Champion vs Champion match.

 

Mercedes Martinez vs Santana Garrett

Santana Garrett is always a lot of fun to watch. But it is Mercedes Martinez who has been getting the hype packages, so there was no chance Garrett was winning. She gave Martinez a decent match before taking the fisherman buster and getting pinned.

 

Damian Priest has arranged another match with Cameron Grimes for next week. He’s going to make sure Grimes regrets getting his attention.

 

Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels were both far from certain in their Champion vs Champion predictions. Foley said Keith Lee if it’s short and Adam Cole if it goes over ten minutes. Michaels said Adam Cole but had Keith Lee written on a piece of paper.

 

Keith Lee vs Adam Cole – Champion vs Champion – Winner Take All Match

After the opening couple of minutes being all about Lee’s strength, the first significant advantage went to Adam Cole. He avoided Keith Lee’s Pounce and Lee sent himself through the plexiglass safety barrier. To his credit, he kept the advantage for a while, but failed to do anything useful with it.

Lee eventually recovered and got back into it. Contrary to Mick Foley’s prediction, it was Cole who appeared to be tiring as the match progressed. Where he was having to land a series of blows to make an impact, a single blow from Lee is invariably devastating. Cole may need new nipples after one of Lee’s double chops, and he had his spine rearranged several times. On one pin attempt, Cole saved himself with a single fingertip on the ropes.

Keith Lee did get to Pounce Cole, and slam him into the mat, but Adam Cole kicked out. He also kicked out of Lee’s moonsault and countered the Big Bang Catastrophe. In turn, Lee kicked out of the Last Shot and a Panama Sunrise and three superkicks to the head.

Cole delivered another Last Shot and went to the second turnbuckle for another Panama Sunrise. Instead, Lee caught him and he took a Spirit Bomb and a Big Bang Catastrophe and got pinned. Keith Lee is NXT and NXT North American Champion.

Unifying the titles is still a stupid idea, but at least they unified them on the right person.

Karrion Kross and Scarlet were shown watching the celebrations and laughing.

 

 

 

Final word

I like NXT doing these themed ‘not quite TakeOver but a bit special’ shows. Maybe they could make it a thing and go through a bunch of old formats. This week and last were truly entertaining shows, and that’s all I want out of wrestling.