Watch Cody Rhodes' Intro for WWE's NXT: The Great American Bash 2023

WWE has released Cody Rhodes' special introduction video for tonight's NXT: The Great American Bash event

By Connor Casey

WWE's NXT brand has been utilizing The Great American Bash branding for annual events ever since July 2020, first for special episodes of the weekly NXT show and later for pay-per-view events on the Peacock network. The show's name was originally created by Dusty Rhodes for Jim Crockett Promotions back when it was a prominent part of the National Wrestling Alliance and the trademark was eventually absorbed by the WWE following its purchase of WCW in 2001. 

Shawn Michaels confirmed ahead of Sunday's pay-per-view at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas, that Cody Rhodes, Dusty's son, will narrate the intro video for the show. Back when Rhodes was an executive vice president with AEW, he openly stated in interviews that he wanted to get back the trademarks for pay-per-views his father created to continue on his legacy — specifically The Great American Bash and Starrcade. He returned to WWE in April 2022.

"The Great American Bash is the realization of a dream," Rhodes says. "From the creation of this very event to building the foundation of NXT, the influence of Dusty Rhodes is palpable. In the city where 'The American Dream' was born, NXT has returned to the Lone Star State. And it's time for this generation of NXT Superstars to show the world that their desire, their will and their ambition is Texas-sized. Championships are on the line. History is within reach. Careers will be defined. And destiny is on the doorstep. My advice — hold onto it and shoot for the stars. Welcome to NXT's midsummer classic. Welcome to The Great American Bash!"

Cody Rhodes Confirms AEW's Plans for His "Heel" Run

Rhodes revealed in an interview with ComicBook this week that his pseudo-heel run he was on for most of his final year with AEW was supposed to culminate in a match with Sting. However, Rhodes left the company long before those plans were ever set in motion. 

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"I was going to wrestle Sting," Rhodes confirmed. "I don't think I've ever shared that with anybody and nothing was on paper or anything like that. But I can say I got a tremendous offer from AEW creatively, financially, the full package. You won't hear me say anything bad about AEW or Tony (Khan) or my time there. It was a tremendous offer, but the offer wasn't right for me. What I wanted to get back to was the first goal that I ever had (winning the WWE Championship). But yeah, that probably would've been the endgame. That's what had been discussed, was to get one (match) with one of my heroes, Sting.

"And it's one of those things, you can wrestle one of your heroes or you can work with one of your heroes and he can be the head of creative (Paul Levesque), you can't have it all," he continued. "And I think one thing I do pride myself on as a wrestler is I will make a decision. It might be a left turn, it might be exactly where you think I'm going, but I will make a decision. I will not get stuck because I felt like I'd been stuck early in my career and never want to be that way again."

NXT: The Great American Bash (2023) Card

  • NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov
  • NXT North American Championship: Dominik Mysterio vs. Wes Lee vs. Mustafa Ali
  • NXT Women's Championship: Tiffany Stratton vs. Thea Hail (Submission Match)
  • NXT Tag Team Championship: Gallus vs. The Family
  • Roxanne Perez vs. Blair Davenport (Weapons Wild Match)
  • Gable Steveson vs. Baron Corbin
  • (Kickoff) Dragon Lee, Nathan Frazier, Yulia Leon & Valentina Feroz vs. The Meta-Four

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