WWE NXT Great American Bash 2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s not-exactly-annual review of "WWE NXT" Great American Bash, which was a PLE two years ago before reverting to a TV special last year and then getting its PLE status back this year! Last time we wrote an opinion column for this show, the D'Angelo Family were still together, Tiffany Stratton held a different championship, and Gable Steveson's WWE career was prematurely put out of its misery by a random crowd in Cedar Park, Texas, so needless to say, things have changed!

This time around we had Je'Von Evans taking down Jasper Troy, Oba Femi defending the NXT title, and Blake Monroe making her "NXT" debut by pinning the women's champion. We won't quite be giving our thoughts on the entire show — Ricky Saints vs. Ethan Page was a perfectly good Falls Count Anywhere wrestling match — but you've always got our GAB results page if you've missed anything. If you want to know what the WINC staff thought, there are three things we hated and three things we loved about "WWE NXT" Great American Bash 2025!

There are those rare times where the opportunity to just let things be as they are to great effect is there, and for a short time it felt as though that was the case in "NXT" with Jasper Troy. The winner of "WWE LFG" with a jetpack strapped to him since arriving on the brand, immediately looking to dethrone one of the most dominant champions in the NXT title's history as he faced Oba Femi. 

Despite being an immense fan of Femi and his work with the title, I personally felt like Troy should have dethroned him on the night, just letting the avalanche continue to build and find the monster to rival "The Ruler." That didn't happen, but as said I am an immense fan of Femi and didn't necessarily see it as the worst thing that could happen to Troy. A loss against the champion is unlike any other loss. 

That notion completely flew out of the window when he was defeated yet again, this time for the opportunity to face Femi again – silly me for thinking a rematch made sense – to Yoshiki Inamura. But he had found his way onto the Great American Bash card, with a fellow NXT title hunter and hot prospect in Je'Von Evans and the potential of halting the slide on a Premium Live Event. 

Alas, Evans picked up the win after a match that saw Troy dominate for the most part, getting caught in one of clumsiest looking roll-up pins. Sure, there is always time to turn it around, but it's been an abysmal turn for Troy as of late and one that indicates he isn't right at this level. We have seen this kind of booking almost completely derail wrestlers in their development, little dents made to the credibility until nothing is left. Losing to Oba Femi is one thing, but going on to lose against Inamura and then Evans in quick succession feels like a burial. Time to turn it around or call it what it is.

Written by Max Everett

Sol Ruca finally got her hands on Izzi Dame after weeks of meddling — the only catch: it was for Ruca's beloved "WWE NXT" Women's North American Championship. I was originally skeptical about this match as "NXT" took over Atlanta Saturday afternoon, but as Ruca and Dame locked up inside of that ring, my skepticism swiftly fell away into admiration. What was originally a match I was tepid about at best quickly became a highlight of the night, both in part to its ambitious and intense in-ring action and its status as a testament to Dame's improvement and Ruca's sheer talent.

This might be the best match Dame has had in "NXT" to date, hands down. I know that's not a very high bar to clear — Dame is unfortunately not an "NXT" standout — but it's true! Dame had this newfound grittiness to her as she put the champion under considerable pressure; she tossed Ruca around the ring with energized comeback sequences, rocked the champion with top-rope Codebreakers and strikes — Dame looked like more of a formidable threat than she ever had before. Of course, it wasn't perfect — Dame wasn't in position for Ruca's ambitious top-rope Sol Snatcher to the outside, and got a boot to the head for it — but the difference between the Dame of two weeks ago and the Dame of Saturday afternoon was night and day. I don't know what happened with Dame, if she and Ruca are good friends outside the ring or what, but she absolutely shone tonight.

Dame's tangible improvement could be contributed in part to her in-ring partner, Ruca. I genuinely think this might be the Summer of Sol Ruca, because Ruca is on absolute fire. From an impressive main roster debut on the most recent episode of "WWE SmackDown" to tonight's even more impressive title defense, Ruca is keeping up with the massive push she is receiving. Ruca was a great performer for Dame to use as a stepping stone for her own improvement: Ruca matched Dame's energy and encouraged her to be better, hit harder, move faster with her own electrifying comeback sequences, top-rope acrobatics, and Sol Snatcher attempts. The match-ending Springboard Sol Snatcher was a thing of beauty. This is definitely the Summer of Sol Ruca.

Of course, Zaria and Tatum Paxley played their ringside positions well. The aggressive Zaria went for Paxley before Dame and Ruca could even lock up, which introduced an element of chaos from the opening bell forward. When she wasn't writhing from a Zaria bump, she was right by Dame's side, like the obsessive fangirl she is. Zaria's end-of-match spear to Paxley was utterly gnarly — she might have one of the best women's spears in WWE right now — and it felt like a nice ending to the chaos sandwich the two ringside associates created.

All women played their parts extremely well. From Dame's insane in-ring improvement to Ruca's high-energy offense — all the way down to Zaria and Paxley's outside shenanigans, all four women proved themselves tonight.

Written by Angeline Phu

"WWE NXT's" Great American Bash event was, by all accounts, good. The matches were solid across the board, with great lock-ups and story moments to satisfy even the tougher wrestling critics. There weren't many surprises on Saturday's "NXT" card, but the surprises Shawn Michaels and his team did execute were just grounded enough to keep the Atlanta crowd engaged for the entire two-hour-and-some-change event without being overly gratuitous. That is, except for the Darkstate interludes.

Okay, I think "hated" might be a strong word, but we have a formula to keep up. I don't hate Darkstate, but I am still at a loss for what exactly they do. It's my understanding that Darkstate show up, are creepy, and occasionally run the numbers game on some babyfaces before heading home. Darkstate has little to no impact on the overall diverse, fast-paced, stand-out-or-stand-aside "NXT" ecosystem. This faction is kind of like a group of guys with some cool vibes, but they ultimately are still unemployed and just loiter around buildings all day with their friends. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing — if you are in between opportunities, I get it — but why did we have to make space for them on an otherwise very clean, very organized Great American Bash card?

Darkstate's shenanigans first started with a weird, creepy glitch message during an opening backstage segment between Zaria and "NXT" Women's North American Champion Sol Ruca. When I make the unemployed, "what does he even do" jokes about Darkstate, I'm referring to this. Like, Darkstate had no involvement in Ruca's North American title defense against Izzi Dame, and while I thought they might be trying to recruit Zaria for whatever reason (her vibe could feasibly mesh with theirs), they didn't even try and confront her — not in the ring, not after the match, not in a weird backstage segment, nothing! What are they doing here with these Wyatt Sicks-adjacent segment interruptions? It's not something that I despise, but it's something that I can't help but find myself wishing away. What's all the hubbub about?

Darkstate's tomfoolery continued to the end of the TNA contract signing between Trick Williams, Joe Hendry, and Mike Santana (which my peers have plenty of opinions about). At least here, they were a bit more involved as they attempted to corner Hendry and Santana. Still, what exactly does Darkstate do? I don't see them getting super involved in the Williams/Hendry/Santana feud, for the sheer reason of seven being an utter crowd. If they're going to feud with any one of those men, why not wait until after the TNA debacle is all said and done with? We'd have the resources and the time to make that Darkstate feud a good one.

That's what it comes down to: resources and time. I don't know why "NXT" is stretching themselves thin by trying to insert Darkstate everywhere, when they can cut Darkstate for the time being and focus on elevating an already solid Great American Bash card.

Written by Angeline Phu

I love Joe Hendry, Trick Williams, and Mike Santana all as performers and characters but I honestly couldn't have thought of a sillier thing to put right in the middle of Great American Bash as the TNA Championship signing ahead of Slammiversary. It really felt like WWE was trying to placate TNA in their partnership or something, since one of WWE's guys is TNA Champion and all. To me, it felt as though WWE was just going, "Here, fine, we'll promote your event in front of a bigger audience than 'NXT,' whatever," and this is what we got.

The signing itself started off with Hendry and Santana going back-and-forth, with TNA Champ Williams just kind of sitting in the background. Hendry and Santana fought about who was the bigger force in TNA, then Williams interjected and let everyone know that he was the best TNA Champion, all as the crowd chanted for AJ Styles. This really didn't accomplish anything for me, outside of being reminded that Slammiversary is coming up, but it didn't get me clued in enough that I would know the exact date or time of this upcoming triple threat bout without looking it up.

There were other things that could have easily taken this spot on the card. WWE ran a video package promoting the D'Angelo Family War, the triple threat pitting Tony D'Angelo against Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo, and Luca Crusifino. The video certainly made it seem like the match was tonight, but it's coming up on Tuesday. That match and this contract signing could easily have been swapped to make a lot more sense of things.

Outside of getting Blake Monroe on a premium live event for her debut match, and huge victory, I overall didn't think Great American Bash accomplished much other than existing as counter-programming to All In Texas. This contract signing certainly helped prove that, and furthered my thought that the show was pretty much as glorified episode of "NXT," just on a Saturday afternoon.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Yoshiki Inamura, I am so sorry. I was unaware of your game.

Inamura took on one of his toughest opponents yet in Oba Femi at Saturday's "WWE NXT" Great American Bash festivities, and their contest was easily Match of the Night for me. Inamura attempted to be the unstoppable force to Femi's immovable object as the two aggressively locked up in Atlanta, and while Inamura took a loss to "The Ruler," courtesy of Josh Briggs, I would argue that Inamura walked out of that contest looking like more of a winner than he ever had on "NXT."

The ancient wrestling texts have said that there is a difference between five star matches and thirty minute classes, and big, meaty men slapping meat. While Inamura and Femi's match deserves the recognition of being the former, the truth is obvious: this was absolutely a match where big, meaty men slapped meat. Inamura and Femi attempted to run some aesthetic pro wrestling moves in the beginning of the match (Inamura's diving apron Elbow and spinning Powerslam onto Femi was impressive, and one of the first things that got me buzzing about this match), but eventually, their contest devolved into an honest-to-God slugfest. Like, we got glimpses of that when Femi first sent Inamura to the Shadow Realm with a resounding chop to the diving Japanese Superstar, but when the two of them really dug deep and just started rocking each other, that's when the match truly started to bleed, in all the best ways. I didn't know I could like striking matches as much as I enjoyed this contest (I'm an Ospreay fan, so I enjoy my flippy matches), but Inamura and Femi's strikefest was so brutal and simple that you couldn't help but really feel the pain of professional wrestling. There is worth, valor in the simple spectacle of big, meaty men slapping meat.

Briggs really shone in Saturday's match as well, albeit from a character standpoint. Briggs had never super stood out to me — he was a name I recognized, but ultimately one that got washed away in the hustle and bustle of the incredibly competitive world of "NXT." However, Briggs' performance as Inamura's heelish ringside associate put him on my radar. Briggs played his role as a friend so obsessed with victory that he procures it at the cost of his honor very well. His character work was put on further display during Femi and Inamura's post-match backstage segment (which I'm so glad that they did, because Femi and Inamura absolutely deserve that exchange of respect). Briggs also cued viewers in to tune in to Tuesday's upcoming episode of "NXT —" marketing genius! Like, I'm going to tune in now! Between a respectful Inamura and a less-than-belligerent Femi, Briggs was the villain we needed to really make Saturday's meaty slugfest mean something.

While I will never complain about women taking the main event, this match was truly main event caliber. Sometimes all you need is big, meaty men slapping meat.

Written by Angeline Phu

Great American Bash saw Blake Monroe – who suspiciously looks like former AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May – stamp her arrival in "WWE NXT" with the win over Women's Champion Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley alongside Jordynne Grace. Grace will be challenging for the title on Sunday and while the win will be important in her getting the momentum ahead of that, it felt like this was the time to have Monroe take center stage as she finds her place presumably opposite whomever walks out with the title after this weekend.

That's almost exactly what happened, with her not only taking the winning pinfall but getting it on the champion, planting the seed that should blossom into her eventual title claim. Of course, much of where the story goes hinges on the title match and what transpires. But for what it was this was a solid way of positioning Monroe in the title picture, leaving open directions for her stories with either Jayne or Grace.

For Grace's part, the win tonight was exactly what she needed heading into her title shot, and having Monroe as a potential title feud feels like a promising opportunity. Only time will tell but the right team won on the night and the right person got the pinfall. What's not to love?

Written by Max Everett