Background
The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event established in 1985. Following WWE's acquisition of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in March 2001, [1] the promotion revived the event as their own annual pay-per-view (PPV) event in 2004, [2] which continued until 2009. Following this 2009 event, The Great American Bash was discontinued as a PPV. In 2012, WWE revived the event to be held as a special episode of SmackDown but was again discontinued. In 2020, WWE again revived the event, this time for the developmental brand NXT as an annual television special of the NXT program until the 2023 event, which aired via WWE's livestreaming platforms. [3]
On July 7, 2024, during Heatwave, the 12th Great American Bash under the WWE banner, the fifth annual for NXT, and the 26th overall, was officially announced to return, but as a television special of NXT like the events from 2020 to 2022. [4] It was originally scheduled for just August 6, but was expanded to a two-part event on July 30 and August 6 at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The special episodes of NXT are airing in the United States on Syfy due to coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics airing on NXT's regular channel, the USA Network. This is also the first two-part Great American Bash since 2020, as the events from 2021 to 2023 were only one-night events. [5]
Storylines
The event includes matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT, and the supplementary online streaming show, Level Up . [6] [7]
On the July 9 episode of NXT, Chase University's Ridge Holland told fellow stablemate Thea Hail she was ready for another shot at the NXT Women's Championship, held by Roxanne Perez. [8] The following week, Perez expressed frustration at the lack of respect towards her and said Hail did not deserve a title match. Hail interrupted and said Perez was not owed anything and vowed to take the title from her. The two brawled before Holland appeared and restrained Hail. [9] On the July 23 episode, it was announced that Perez would defend her title against Hail on Night 1 of The Great American Bash. [10]
On the July 9 episode of NXT, Wren Sinclair witnessed No Quarter Catch Crew (Charlie Dempsey, Myles Borne, and Tavion Heights) presumably murdering (kayfabe) fellow stablemate Damon Kemp—this was done to write Kemp off television following his release from WWE. [8] The following week, Dempsey approached NXT Heritage Cup champion Tony D'Angelo for advice, to no avail. Sinclair expressed her desire to join the Catch Crew, but Dempsey declined. [9] On the next episode, Sinclair blackmailed Dempsey and stated that if she did not win her match that night, she would tell everyone about the Catch Crew's actions. Sinclair won her match after interference from Dempsey. Backstage later that night, D'Angelo said he respected the Catch Crew and agreed to put his Cup on the line against Heights during Night 1 of The Great American Bash. [10]
On the July 23 episode of NXT, Meta-Four's Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend defeated Karmen Petrovic and Sol Ruca. After the match, they challenged Raw's The Unholy Union (Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn) to a match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship on Night 1 of The Great American Bash. Fyre and Dawn accepted their challenge via X and the match was made official. [10]
In June 2024, Joe Hendry from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) began making appearances in NXT via a partnership between WWE and TNA. On the July 23 episode of NXT, it was announced that Hendry would perform a live in-ring concert on Night 1 of The Great American Bash. [10] On Night 1, Hendry sang a song mocking Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), who had been feuding with Hendry since his debut in NXT. Gallus interrupted the concert and attacked Hendry, who got the upper hand. Hendry later challenged Joe to a match on Night 2 of The Great American Bash, which was made official. [11]
In May 2024, Meta-Four's Noam Dar and Oro Mensah were attacked by an unknown assailant, later revealed to be the debuting Ethan Page. On the June 18 episode of NXT, Page competed in a 25-man battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Championship at Heatwave, but Mensah attacked him just seconds into the match and Page was never officially eliminated. Page used this to his advantage to work his way into the title match at Heatwave, which he won to become champion. [12] On the July 16 episode of NXT, Mensah attacked Page after the latter's successful title defense and pinned him. [9] The following week, an increasingly manic Page argued that the pin was not official since the referee was not present, only for Mensah to pin Page again with a referee present. Later that night, Page demanded NXT General Manager Ava to give him a match against Mensah with his title on the line. Ava announced that a contract signing would take place the following week, with the title match scheduled for Night 2 of The Great American Bash. [10]
On the July 16 episode of NXT, Lola Vice defeated Jacy Jayne, only to be attacked by Jayne and her allies, Jazmyn Nyx and Fallon Henley after the match. However, Karmen Petrovic and Sol Ruca, who had been feuding with the three women, came out to save Vice. [9] On July 27 in a video on X, Jayne, Nyx, and Henley expressed frustration at not earning a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match and decided that they were going to take matters into their own hands. After several back and forth posts on X, NXT General Manager Ava scheduled a six-woman tag team match between the two teams for Night 1 of The Great American Bash. [13]
On the July 16 episode of NXT, Tatum Paxley asked NXT Women's North American Champion Kelani Jordan if she wanted to play dolls with her, which Jordan declined, saying they are too old to play with dolls. After Jordan walked away, Paxley unveiled another doll reminiscent of Jordan. [9] Two weeks later, Paxley again asked Jordan if she wanted to play with her, but Jordan declined. Paxley then proposed to play with Jordan's title instead. It was later announced that Jordan would defend her title against Paxley on Night 2 of The Great American Bash. [11]
After losing the NXT Championship at Heatwave, Trick Williams approached Raw's Pete Dunne for advice, only for Dunne to tell Williams to "figure it out." [9] One week later, Williams defeated Cedric Alexander, but Dunne attacked him after the match. [10] On the next episode, Williams challenged Dunne to a match on Night 2 of The Great American Bash, which was made official. [11]
On the July 9 episode of NXT, Wes Lee addressed failing to regain the NXT North American Championship at Heatwave, seemingly announcing that he would be stepping away from NXT, but was interrupted by his former Rascalz stablemates Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz from TNA. Miguel and Wentz, formerly known as Nash Carter in NXT, convinced Lee to reunite with them. [8] Two weeks later, The Rascalz defeated Je'Von Evans and NXT Tag Team Champions Axiom and Nathan Frazer in a six-man tag team match after Wentz pinned Axiom. [10] On the next episode, the Rascalz recounted how Lee and Wentz, once again using their former tag team name, MSK, never lost the titles in the first place and set their sights on reclaiming them. It was later announced that MSK would challenge Axiom and Frazer for the titles on Night 2 of The Great American Bash. [11]
