NXT: The Great American Bash (2021)

The 2021 NXT: The Great American Bash was the ninth Great American Bash professional wrestling event produced by WWE, and 23rd Great American Bash event overall. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event aired as a special episode of WWE's weekly television series NXT, broadcast on the USA Network. Unlike the previous year, which aired as a two-part event, the 2021 event was a one-night event that took place on July 6, 2021, at the Capitol Wrestling Center, hosted at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. This was the second Great American Bash to air as an annual television special of NXT.

NXT: The Great American Bash
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	NXT
Date	July 6, 2021
City	Orlando, Florida
Venue	Capital Wrestling Center
NXT special episodes chronology
← Previous New Year's Evil Next → Halloween Havoc
The Great American Bash chronology
← Previous 2020 Next → 2022

Production

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) in 2004.^[2] The event 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. However, in 2020, WWE again revived the event, this time for the developmental brand NXT to be held as a two-part television special of the NXT program. On June 13, 2021, WWE announced that the ninth Great American Bash under the WWE banner, and 23rd overall, would return as a special episode of NXT, thus becoming an annual event for NXT. Instead of a two-night event like the previous year, it was only a one-night event held on July 6, 2021, and aired on the USA Network.^[3][4]

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Main article: WWE ThunderDome

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March 2020, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set. NXT's programming was initially held at NXT's home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. In October 2020, NXT's events were moved to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, featuring the "Capitol Wrestling Center" setup, an homage to the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the predecessor to WWE. Like the WWE ThunderDome utilized for Raw and SmackDown's programming, LED boards were placed around the Performance Center so that fans could attend virtually, while additionally, friends and family members of the wrestlers were in attendance along with a limited number of actual live fans divided from each other by plexiglass walls.^[5][6] In April, fan capacity was increased,^[7] and in June, WWE increased capacity further to nearly 300 spectators. Nearly all COVID-19 protocols were lifted including physical distancing requirements and the requirement to wear masks although anyone who had tested positive, within the preceding 14 days, were asked to stay home. The virtual audience was also removed with the increased live audience capacity.^[8]

Storylines

The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand,^[9][10] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television show, NXT.^[11]

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times^[12]
1	MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee) (c) defeated Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher by pinfall	Tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship^[13]	11:53
2	LA Knight (c) defeated Cameron Grimes by pinfall	Singles match for the Million Dollar Championship Since Grimes lost, he became Knight's butler.^[14]	13:14
3	Io Shirai and Zoey Stark defeated The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell) (c) by pinfall	Tag team match for the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship^[15]	7:58
4	Adam Cole defeated Kyle O'Reilly by pinfall	Singles match^[16]	20:33
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

References

1. . March 23, 2001. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
2. Sokol, Chris (2004-06-27). "Bash provides surprise endings". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
3. Middleton, Marc (June 13, 2021). "WWE NXT Great American Bash Event Announced". Wrestling Inc.
4. "NXT Great American Bash results, July 6, 2021: Adam Cole outlasts Kyle O'Reilly in epic NXT Great American Bash showdown".
5. "Capitol Wrestling Center to be unveiled tonight at NXT TakeOver 31". WWE. October 4, 2020. from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
6. Defelice, Robert (October 4, 2020). "NXT TakeOver 31 To Feature The Debut Of The Capitol Wrestling Center". Fightful. from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
7. Thomas, Jeremy (April 7, 2021). "Note On Audience Changes at NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver". 411mania. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
8. Dias, Luke (June 13, 2021). "WWE Achieves Record High CWC Attendance for NXT TakeOver: In Your House". EssentiallySports. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
9. Grabianowski, Ed (13 January 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
10. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
11. Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
12. Moore, John (July 6, 2021). "7/6 NXT TV results: Moore's review of the Great American Bash edition with Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly, MSK vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher for the NXT Tag Titles, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell vs. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, LA Knight vs. Cameron Grimes for the Million Dollar Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
13. "MSK to defend against Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher at NXT Great American Bash". WWE. June 22, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
14. "LA Knight to defend Million Dollar Title in rematch with Cameron Grimes". WWE. June 29, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
15. "Io Shirai & Zoey Stark set to challenge The Way for NXT Women's Tag Team Titles". WWE. June 29, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
16. "Kyle O'Reilly looks to settle the score with Adam Cole once and for all at NXT Great American Bash". WWE. June 15, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.

External links

• WWE NXT Official Website