6 Ups & 3 Downs From NXT Great American Bash 2023

by Scott Carlson

1. Melo Gets His Classic

Carmelo Hayes Ilja Dragunov
WWE

Carmelo Hayes has been a strong, reliable superstar in NXT, but he’s also been the epitome of the 3.75-star performer, having very good matches, but not quite breaking through to the classic that you would think he already has under his belt.

That changed at the Great American Bash, when Melo defeated Ilja Dragunov in a tremendous NXT Championship match to retain his title. The two went to war, starting slowly and exchanging holds before ramping up the aggression into a full frenzy of chops, elbows, kicks and strikes.

Both men countered each other’s signatures and laid everything in snug before Hayes capitalized on a Torpedo Moscow that struck Trick Williams – and the NXT title – knocking Ilja loopy. A quick Nothin’ But Net later, and Melo picked up the win.

Great match, giving Hayes the kind of showing he needed as champion. And for Dragunov, he certainly deserves a look at the main roster after this run in NXT. Throwing him in there with the likes of Sheamus, Gunther (again), and a host of others could be a lot of fun.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.