WWE's Carmelo Hayes Survives Ilja Dragunov's Brutality to Retain NXT Title at Great American Bash

07/30/2023 11:17 pm EDT

The main event of tonight's WWE NXT Great American Bash was for the NXT Championship, and with Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov involved, it was bound to be a hard-hitting affair. It lived up to that and more, and Dragunov threw everything he had at the Champion. While Hayes continued to stay alive and bounce back from Dragunov's hard-hitting array of offense, he was definitely feeling the physical toll, and at times Trick Williams went into overdrive trying to get Melo back in the fight. Hayes was more than up for the task though, and he would finally connnect with Nothing but Net and take down Dragunov to retain his Title.

Hayes and Dragunov locked up right away, and then the two stars would exchange holds in the center of the ring, attempting to wear each other down. Hayes kept his hold locked in when Dragunov attempted to pick up some speed. Then Hayes delivered a monster chop to Dragunov, and that seemingly awoke the challenger. Hayes kept the attacks coming though, hitting a big boot to Dragunov's face and knocking him down to the floor against the commentary desk.

Dragunov looked to get back on track with a powerful kick to the face, and it rocked the Champion. Dragunov focused attacks on the back of the Champ and then caught Hayes and slammed him down with a German Suplex. Dragunov followed up with a clothesline and then hit a series of big German Suplexes to keep the Champion grounded.

Dragunov kept wearing the Champ down with shots to the ribs, the head, and the back of the head, and Hayes looked a bit out of it at this point. Dragunov followed that with loud chops to the chest and then hit Hayes with a flurry of punches to the chest. Dragunov went for the pin but Hayes kicked out.

Dragunov kept connecting with punches and chops, but the Champion got a second wind and hit the challenge with a superkick. Dragunov came right back though and slammed Hayes down. Dragunov kept wearing the Champ down, and while Hayes would get in a few shots at times, Dragunov would cut off any momentum from the Champ. Dragunov hit a clothesline and then hit another one, but Hayes kicked the challenger in the face multiple times, knocking Dragunov down and ultimately buying him a moment to regroup.

Hayes went for the superkick but Dragunov caught it and hit one of his own, though Hayes would reverse the next move and send Dragunov down to the mat face first. Hayes was aggressive and went right at Dragunov, but Dragunov reversed Hayes' move and rained down with elbows onto the Champ's shoulder and neck. Hayes hit a few elbows of his own and then hit the springboard DDT and went for the cover, but the challenger kicked out.

Dragunov caught Hayes on the top rope and threw the Champ down, and then went for a senton and connected. Dragunov went for the pin but Hayes kicked out, and then Hayes hit the First 48 on Dragunov. Hayes went up top and went for Nothing but Net, but Dragunov caught him and hit him with a powerbomb. Then Dragunov flew in with a forearm and covered the Champ, but Hayes kicked out.

Dragunov hit Hayes with chops on the top rope, but Hayes hit some of his own. Hayes hit a Cutter on Dargunov up top and went for the cover, but somehow Dragunov kicked out. Trick Williams encouraged Hayes from ringside and then Hayes and Dragunov exchanged clubbing blows. Then they hit superkicks at the same time, with Hayes rolling out to talk to Williams and Dragunov rolling out of the ring on the other side. Dragunov then came in and collided with Williams, and Hayes rolled Dragunov into the ring. Hayes went up top and hit Nothing but Net, and then would cover Dragunov and retain his Championship.

You can find the full card and updated results for Great American Bash below.

NXT Championship Match: Carmelo Hayes (C) def. Ilja Dragunov

NXT Women's Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton (C) def. Thea Hail – Submission Match

NXT North American Championship Match: Dominik Mysterio (C) def. Wes Lee vs. Mustafa Ali

NXT Tag Team Championship Match: The Family (C) def. Gallus

Roxanne Perez def. Blair Davenport – Weapons Wild Match

Gable Steveson vs. Baron Corbin – No Winner, Both Counted Out

Dragon Lee, Nathan Frazer, Yulisa Leon and Valentina Feroz def. Meta-Four – Eight Person Mixed Tag Team Match

NXT's Great American Bash is now streaming on Peacock.

What did you think of the Great American Bash? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!